Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Coffee Time #96. Those Eyes!
Good morning everyone! It’s a cool, kind of wet, spring morning today. But there’s lots of hot coffee to share, Muffin has everything set up nicely as usual. We are supposed to get some rain over the next few days which is good, we certainly need it. The forest is extremely dry right now, so the rain will be welcome. I heard Muffin growling last night so I decided to take a look. I knew it wasn’t the bear, or Muffin would be hiding with me. So I go look and there are two shiny eyes looking back at me. Actually startled me for a moment. Too many bear encounters I guess.
Anyway, it was just an orange cat, obviously come to visit Muffin. However, Muffin was not looking for a new boyfriend and she was trying to let him know that. Maybe he was hard of hearing? I waved. Nothing. I knocked on the window. Nothing. Muffin sat back watching. I grabbed a cushion and pounded that on the window. Wow, his eyes were huge and he was gone in such a hurry! Nice looking cat, but Muffin was just not interested and she did her best to let him know. Oh well. Bert, the bear, keeps coming back. Yesterday afternoon I was on my deck repotting a couple of plants and there’s that feeling again. But I can’t see anything, so I keep working. Then I brought the two plants indoors and went out to do another 2. Bert was out there munching away on seeds from my new bird feeder, which he had taken apart. Not nice.
That was also very fast. I open the door and tell him to leave. He turns and looks at me. Munch, munch. Then goes back to eating. So I go outside. Then he left. Slowly. He stopped at the stairs and looked back. Keep going, I told him. So he did, nice and casually. Sigh. I finished what I was doing and came back inside. It was only a few minutes and Muffin came running into the kitchen with me. Meow,meow=He’s back. I went to look. Yep, he was back. This time I kind of banged the door when I opened it and he ran and climbed the neighbor’s tree. He stayed there for about 10 minutes then came down and back over here. I think he likes me. I don’t like the fact he keeps breaking my bird feeders. I don’t want to stop feeding birds right now, it’s migration time. And I need pictures. Oh well. Maybe I can make a deal with him. I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve’s Bird Of The Day #49.
Hi everyone! Well, here we are with another sandpiper today, the “spotted sandpiper”. I know, you’re wondering where his spots are, right? They are only spotted in the spring and summer, fall (when this pic was taken) and winter, then they look like this. And for some reason I never see them in the spring and summer. These are the most common sandpiper in N. America and can be found over nearly all of Canada and most of the US. They like to teeter back and forth while they walk or even just standing, a great way to identify them. Even the chicks do this teetering as soon as they hatch. These birds have their roles opposite to most birds, the female arrives first, establishes a territory and defends it. The male incubates the eggs and looks after the chicks, though sometimes the female will help look after them too. The female also often has up to 4 mates within her territory, all looking after her eggs in separate nests. The female usually lays 3 to 5 eggs in each nest. They feed mainly on insects, larvae, worms and sometimes small fish. They are very active, seldom standing still. Have a wonderful day everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 