Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
A Spring Morning.
Good morning everyone and Happy Saturday to all of you as well! It is such a beautiful morning here, the sun is shining brightly, the sky is a vivid blue, and birds are everywhere. The snow we had is gone and birds have been steadily arriving from the south. I was out at 6 am to feed the birds, the gulls were here for their breakfast, there were dozens of juncos also looking for food. There were a couple of robins singing joyfully from the treetops and that sounded so nice. It is definitely one of my favorite bird songs, especially in early spring. The chickadees and nuthatches, both the red-breasted and the white-breasted, were here as well looking for their sunflower seeds. I really should have the feeders out earlier but then the bears might still be around and I don’t want any more broken feeders.
The chipmunks are here gathering peanuts. Jasper was here too, but then Chase showed up. So Jasper has been busy chasing Chase for the last 45 minutes and they are still at it. They sometimes take a very quick break, less than a minute, then they are at it again. And do they run! And jump. That’s where Jasper has the other squirrels beat. He has had so much practice with the chipmunks and he can jump far from one branch to another. He landed right on Chase a couple of times and that really got a fight going, but surprisingly they never fell off the branch, however, both times it happened on a large branch. And when they run down the trunk of a tree, wow, I’m amazed they don’t fall they are going so fast. That led to some more direct fighting at the bottom of the trees. It’s like a ball of brown fur rolling around on the ground they are so tightly together.
I’m making a bit of a maze with these plastic milk boxes on the deck. It’s working good. Yesterday Freddie was here with Jasper and the chase was on! In and out of the boxes with Jasper chasing Freddie. But one time Freddie must have turned off into a different box and Jasper didn’t see him do it, so Jasper came out the other end without Freddie. He stood there and looked around for Freddie. That’s when Freddie came out slowly behind Jasper and bit Jasper’s backside. Jasper must have jumped a foot straight up, but he landed on Freddie and they tumbled together and finally Jasper chased Freddie back home. Chase must have given up and gone back home too, I only see Jasper around now and he’s lying in the sun relaxing. He must be tired after all that running. Good thing Sylvie made him do all that running around during the winter. I guess she left and went somewhere else to have her babies.
There’s a lot of evening grosbeaks here this morning too, plus grackles have shown up too, they were late getting here this morning. Bouncer, the bear, was back last night. He actually showed up at 9pm and was trying to tear down my bird feeder again so I had to go chase him away. I open the door and yell, he looks at me. I open the screen door, bang it and yell. He looks at me and starts to slowly walk away. When he is right across from me, which is about 2 feet away, but a door in between, then I open the door again and yell. This time he moves fast, for about 10 feet, then he stops at the top of the stairs, turns and looks at me. I yell at him again and he just walks slowly away. Probably thinking, “what’s wrong with that guy anyway”. Sigh. Oh well. I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve’s Bird Of The Day #56.
Hello once again! Today’s bird is the “American robin”. It was given it’s name by early settler’s who thought it resembled the English robin. But the American robin is not actually a robin, but a thrush and it is the largest thrush in N. America, about 10 inches (25cm) long. It is also perhaps the most well known bird in N. America and one of the most widespread. It breeds all over N. America from Alaska and the northern tundra regions of Canada down to Mexico. It will raise 2 and sometimes 3 broods per year, even this far north. Usually 3 to 5 eggs are laid each time, but only about 25% of the young will survive until November. Yet it is one of the most numerous birds on the continent. Although birds can live up to 14 years, few do so and on average there is a complete changeover of the population every 6 years. Few robins actually live longer than 2 years. They have many enemies, most notably hawks, owls and ravens. But robins are very adaptable birds, originally a forest bird they can now be found everywhere except in marshy areas. They have a cheerful song and are one of the earliest birds to return in spring. They are also the first bird to sing in the morning, normally while it is still dark, and the last to sing at night, well after darkness has come again. They will build their nest most anywhere and often pick some very odd nesting places. They average 180 trips a day building their nest. Both parents look after the young.
Thank you for reading, have a wonderful weekend and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 