swallows – The Hermits' Rest

Meteorological Warm Fuzzies

After all the horse hugging yesterday, I did not expect the weather to be nice to me today, but it was! Now, it’s still windy as heck, but I guess that’s typical March coming in like a lion stuff.

I’ve been unhappy with the weather, because all the flowers are coming up late, but it turns out it’s not just here. Friends elsewhere report similar late spring plant activity. I did go wander through the property today to check for flowers coming up, and they are there, just not up as far as usual. Whew.

The weather even blew a Barn Swallow into the house when a door blew open, which I’m sure was no fun for it. Luckily it found its way back out and the house isn’t all poopy.

The day was so lovely and sunny, though, which was a gift after so many days of angry clouds and dust. Imagine my surprise when we got a severe thunderstorm warning just as I was finishing a call with my financial advisor (depressing).

Can you see green leaves forming on the trees?

I went out to feed the animals and get everything all cozy, and even had time to ride Apache before it got ominous out. The rain that came was pleasant and didn’t last too long. Afterwards I noticed the sun came out while it was still drizzling. I knew was warm fuzzy gift that would bring!

It was one of the fullest rainbows I’d seen here in a long time. It was very intense, which is hard to tell from pictures.

Little things like light refracting on water droplets can make one’s day!

But more awaited me. The nearly full moon rose and peeked over some leftover rain clouds and was so pretty I had to stop my errands to watch it.

There were no clouds in the west, so all the color you see is from the setting sun hitting the clouds.

Right now, when our horizons are quite cloudy, pausing to enjoy gifts like rainbows and sunsets can make all the difference.

Me by Any Other Name?

If you had to change your name, what would your new name be?

I’d go for something matrilineal. Suna ní Brighid in Irish Gaelic would be my first choice. That’s vaguely in my heritage. Daughter of Brigid.

I could be some Spider Woman, Arachne, since I know how to weave.

I’m not sure if Sweden, another background ethnicity of mine, still allows matrilineal names anymore, since they have strict naming rules. If so, I could be Ada Edwinsdottir. Uh. Anyway, I also like Maeve. That’s Irish. And Ada.

Here’s a prickly poppy. That’s its name.

I could also take on my spouse’s name like a good little child of the patriarchy. I’d be SueAnn K Bruns. But I’m not. So anyway, I’m not changing my name.

And I’m not telling long stories, since I just used my blogging time being Facebook Technical Support for my 78–year-old friend who wanted to make a page. Just like when I’m at work, I realize that things are only easy for me because I’ve practiced. Most software is mystifying when you first try to do anything. I’m sure my friend will be just fine!

So, here are highlights:

I saw three kinds of swallows at the Walkers Creek Bridge.
I also watched a very large raccoon ambling along the creek bank.
Farther back on the creek bank I saw the bobcat again! It was drinking from the creek. Aww.
Next I heard a very loud Yellow-crowned Night Heron who then swooped right over me. That is a lot of creek action.
When I went to the tack room to feed the horses, I discovered Butternut the hen had been locked inside. She had plenty to eat, since she loves horse food and there was spillage.
This all balanced out a couple of sad things around here, so all in all, it’s fine.

Tomorrow we go on a trip! Somewhere hot but less humid! Kathleen will carefully go outside to take care of horses and chickens. Luckily, Apache now takes his medication like a pro as long as it’s buried in sweet feed.

Here’s the Temperature Blanket up to May 29. You can tell it’s warmed up.

Bird Report: Cliff and Cuckoo Edition

It’s been an interesting couple of days, bird-wise. We don’t tend to get many new or unusual birds this time of year, since no one’s migrating and we just have our summer residents. But yesterday, I realized we had new guests.

I thought the birds on our electric wire were the grackles who’ve been hanging out here the past few weeks. Earlier, they definitely were grackles. But these birds were shaped more like the barn swallows who nest at the house.

I thought maybe since the babies hatched, the swallows were gathering in new places. I do still see them, just not as many. However, the Merlin Bird ID app I’m so fond of these days clued me in yesterday morning. It heard cliff swallows. Huh!

I went in and got my binoculars, and once I got a closer look, I could confirm that we now have two different swallows flying around. Cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) are more brown than barn swallows, have a distinct rust-colored patch on their rumps, and their tails are more squared off. They have whiter breast feathers, too. Otherwise, they are similar to barn swallows. They’re found all over the US and nest on cliffs (duh) and under bridges.

Unlike barn swallows, who build separate mud nests for each family, cliff swallows have huge communal nests, also made of mud. They are more social than barn swallows, so if you see large groups flying or hanging out on wires, these are probably what you’re seeing. I noticed a cool thing—the birds always face away from the sun. In the mornings I always see them facing west, and in the evenings, it’s east, at least on our north-south wire.

I’ve been enjoying watching them feed over our front pond. The barn swallows seem to have claimed the back pond for their territory.

The back pond is also the favorite hangout of our yellow-billed cuckoos. I’ve mentioned before that I only realized we had them when Merlin Bird ID heard their sounds. You may have heard them, too. Go to this page and click the “listen” button. Sounds like the jungle!

Lately, many of my Master Naturalist friends are seeing them for the first time. I was getting jealous, since I’d only seen them way in the distance. My friend Donna even wrote a blog mentioning it.

Yesterday, I was reading something from my friend Carolyn Henderson about how she had just seen one, and feeling a jealous twinge, when right above my head was the unmistakable cacophony of a cuckoo, and sure enough, one was right above me, flying low. I guess it was saying, “Fine, here I am already!”

I guess this is the year of the cuckoo and painted bunting, thanks to the sound ID app. Even Lee knows when he hears them now.

A Weekend for Me

This entire weekend I did stuff I wanted to do, when I wanted to. Now, that’s relaxing! Even sweeping the chicken house and getting rid of feed bags was done on MY time. I didn’t breathe poop, by the way. Lesson learned.

I do have a funny horse story. I was out in the pasture heading to bring in Apache, who still likes to play hard to get. I know I’m sending off good vibes, because every other horse comes right to me. And that’s what was funny. Fiona had already latched on to my side as I walked to Apache. Suddenly I heard thundering hooves, then in a puff of dust, Drew’s head appeared directly beside my face. He was just SURE I was looking for him and he was concerned he was late, because he had to pee. Obviously I have no trouble catching Drew. Eventually I once again had to maneuver around three horses and a donkey who were dying for me to take them off to be groomed.

They are all right there. Happy to see me.

Now, once Apache decides he’s ready, he is no trouble at all, and seems to enjoy walking around, being groomed, and riding. He just wants to be the one to decide it’s time to go do stuff.

I’m working on letting Suna be the boss.

He’s so much fun, though. I’m not complaining at all. We have had many years to develop this relationship, so we’ll keep working and I’ll enjoy the ride, literally.

I got a bath, so I could roll and get all dirty again five minutes after this picture was taken.

The rest of today, like yesterday, was spent knitting, floating in the pool, napping, and hanging out. Lee, Anita, and I even got to go out for dinner! My sour cream enchiladas were great, plus they didn’t mess with the temporary crown I need to keep in until Friday.

Naturally, ha ha, I took some nature pictures. This little garden spider got quite a catch!

The aviary kept me all excited again today, though. We got to watch the wren feed her brood and enjoy all those fledgling barn swallows darting and swooping along with their parents. They seemed pretty proud of themselves to be able to sit on the light fixtures.

And to top it all off, there were more genuine clouds in the sky tonight (there were some yesterday, too, but no rain).

That led to an amazing moonrise and sunset. The moon was pretty such a short time. I’m glad I was taking my time and enjoying everything that came along tonight and the rest of the weekend.

It may be time for a new Facebook cover photo.

I hope you have a good week and that the weekend refreshed and renewed you, even a little. I certainly needed some time to reflect and treat myself kindly after beating myself up a bit last week!

I felt like the heron. At home in my place.

What’s Up with the Hermits’ Rest Aviary?

The fact that it’s boiling hot (figuratively) outside has not stopped our local birds from churning out new little bug-eating machines. Who am I to stop them? Besides, they’re darned entertaining!

The beautiful barn swallows may not get all the publicity that purple martins get, but their shiny navy blue backs, orange breasts, and striking forked tails entertain us just fine.

They are everywhere, eating bugs and feeding babies.

I sure enjoy watching them. It’s fun watching them build nests and raise babies. We must have a dozen nests around our house. They build mud nests in high places. Bridges are very popular, but so are the very front porches suburban homes. People in my old neighborhood hated them. They do poop a lot.

I’m glad we get more of the barn swallows every year, even with the poop. All you have to do is power wash the patio after they migrate.

Not all the swallow nests contain swallows, however. Our newest aviary residents, the house sparrows, are no longer content to just build giant, grassy nests in the dead light fixtures.

No, the incessant chirpers also co-opted a couple of swallow nests that aren’t being used by their creators. Of course, the busy non-native invaders have to add their special flair.

The decorations stayed even through the big wind storm last week.

These aren’t my favorite birds, I must say. We didn’t have any until a couple years ago when they must have flown over from Sara’s house (where they drive her husband crazy) and discovered my chicken scratch strongly resembles bird seed. Now I’m afraid I feed them as much as the hens. Sigh.

There will soon be more sparrows. This nest was chirping.

There’s a new exhibit at the aviary, though. A family of wrens has joined the porch crowd. It’s a Carolina wren group, judging from the song and they eye stripes. But I don’t have any photos of them, because they tend to bop around when I’m in the pool and phone-less. It’s the only time I don’t have a camera!

I guess it’s good that I put some drink trays from our chairs in this box so they wouldn’t blow away. It made a perfect nest area for wrens, who love to nest in human constructions (we’ve had them in flower pots, a wagon, and an old grill).

That’s the nest. I see an egg, I think, or babies and an unhatched egg. Hard to tell.

Since watching wrens bopping around and flicking their is something I enjoy a lot, I’m quite pleased with this new part of the aviary. I believe there ARE babies in there, because I got to see insect delivery this afternoon. It’s like Wild Kingdom around here.

The indoor part of our zoo features French kissing dogs. Eww.

Back to birds, I have a cute chicken story for you, from Lee. He had two pieces of stale bread, and thought he’d give them to the chickens, our traveling domestic exhibit. One piece fell under the shade of our evergreen tree and one fell in the sun.

When he came back later, the shady piece was gone, but the one in the sun was still there. He picked it up and tossed it into the shade, and the girls pounced on it.

The hens are glad we’re back from camping, because the coolest place they can find seems to be under Seneca the motorhome. He also drips water from the air conditioner that they prefer to their trough, though I refill it daily. I’m glad they’re taking care of themselves!

And that’s all the news from the aviary. Hope you’re safe from heat, smoke, or whatever climate issue is happening near you.

Always Something with Chickens

I knew it had been too long since we had any chicken drama. They certainly know how to get themselves in trouble, even with all these dogs guarding them. They can’t help it; they are chickens.

On Saturday, I noticed that Barbara, the dark black new hen that should lay very dark eggs, was sitting a lot. Now, lots of the chickens were sitting, because it was hot. But she was sitting a lot. On Sunday, I noticed she was dragging one of her legs. Oh no, she had hurt herself in all that rain and slop. And I quickly realized the other chickens were pecking away at her and pulling out her feathers. The only good thing about that is they weren’t pecking Billie Idyl (who is fine now).

Speaking of rain, you can see how high the water got on Monday

So, I took the advice I was given and let the other new hens into the big pen a week earlier than I had planned to. That led to a lot of squawking and chasing. Eventually, everyone has come to terms with the bigger flock, though each sub-flock sticks to itself, like rival street gangs or something. If a bug shows up, though, they all go for it.

Old chickens in front, new ones in back.

After a day of rest, Barbara seemed happier and was eating and drinking, but her leg kept folding under. So, when Kathleen, etc., came back yesterday, we decided to pull a Dr. Pol. That means we have been watching a LOT of veterinarian shows on television. The three of us got together and got a splint on Barbara. My job was holding her. She was good.

The splint was some flexible wire, with bandages under it to cushion her leg, and wrap around it. The first one had a bent leg, as shown above. She had a hard time with it. I realized that is not how they usually hold their legs. So, we redid it more straight.

This makes it easier for her to lay down and rest, and she can hobble around to get to her food and water. She seems okay for now.

My hope is that Barbara heals up and can get around soon. This morning she had obviously moved around a lot, and was standing. Good signs. I know she stands a better chance without all the pecking and trying to flee pecking. And these new ones made it 6 weeks before any accident, so not too bad.

By the way, it’s time for all the swallows to fledge, just like the purple martins at my friend Donna’s house. We have dozens and dozens of them flying around right now, including ones who have nests around our house. This morning, I looked out the window by our stairs, and saw at least ten of them sitting on the roof.

A few of the barn swallows, seen through the screen.

Upon closer inspection, I saw it was two families, four parents and their chicks, who had just fledged. Some of those babies were figuring out how to stand on solid surfaces. It was so cute, and really made me feel better as I set out to face yet another difficult day at work.

Enjoying a Pleasant Morning with a “Friend”

This morning was really pleasant. I went out to take a few pictures and check on the new pullets, then sat on the porch for a ten-minute coffee break. It was breezy, so the mosquitoes that tried to suck all my blood yesterday weren’t out. I took this picture to post on Instagram, planning to caption it “What I’d like to be doing the rest of the day.”

I thought I was alone on my break, but no, the rocking chair across from me had someone else enjoying a pleasant break.

Well, hey there rat snake. I thought, wow, what a cute little snake, but when I got up to get a better photo, I saw it’s not a little snake, not at all. It’s probably close to my height.

Since it was not actively in the process of eating eggs from my hens, I left it to enjoy its morning. And it is why we are keeping the grass near the house mown nice and short (as long as we can keep lawn mowers going).

Speaking of which, in addition to getting new blades that cut evenly, our good old riding mower also has a new feature designed to keep my brother-in-law more cool and less heat stroked: an umbrella! Most of the area we mow has no obstructions, but he can lower it to get close to fences and the house. I hear it feels twenty degrees cooler under there! With summer coming up, that is a fine thing.

Other “home improvements” that I took pictures of on my morning walk include this chicken ramp. I had put a board up to help them get high in their roost area, but it was too slippery, so they now have a custom ramp made from scrap wood. I know they used it last night, because there’s poop in the roost area in the cage! Yay!

Now the chickens have more area to spread out in, which is good, because they spend most of their time chasing each other, when they aren’t eating. At least they are all still with us!

I also figured out why we hear so much bird noise in the evenings. The barn swallows are nesting AT LAST, right outside the back door. Since that’s where the dog door is, we can hear them well. I’m quite relieved to see this, because they are running late this year (no doubt thanks to that bad ole Uri storm in February). This is good news.

I’m not the only one who got to see a pretty snake yesterday. This garter snake was over at Sara’s. It got run over, though. They’re so lovely.

That’s it for the morning ranch report!