Urban Wildlife

I saw hummingbird today. First one I've seen in a long time.

They are my favorites, I think. If you can grow Rose of Sharon bushes/trees, they love to eat from those. Crape myrtles also attract them. Do those do well as far south as you are? They are indestructible here.

I saw the first baby at the feeder. First one this season. It's been relatively quiet at the feeder for about a month. I expect we'll see a lot more activity now. On his way out, the baby got a dive bomb lesson from another bird who swooped right over his little head.

I don't what's plants are in the gardens but we do have day lilies along with red and yellow hibcus.

I just bought an orange hibiscus. Our day lilies are going crazy right now. I have loads of them along the road next to the front pasture fence.

Our lilies are blooming quite nicely here too.
I haven't seen many hummers at all this year. Just one at Brads feeder and one at mine....different hummers. If you're seeing babies at the feeders now it won't be long before we see them here (I hope).

I wasn't home yesterday during bird time, but the feeder is almost empty. I put about 1/2 full one out in the morning. Someone's been eating quite a bit. I figure it must be the babies since they're burning so much energy learning to fly and catch bugs.

I read that you should change out the feeders every 2-3 days. I've always known that because they get funky after that. But, apparently, they birds can get sick and die from some nasty stuff that grows in dirty feeders. Yikes!

I didn't know that. I'll take mine down and wash it before I refill it.

We have two sets of little feeders here, we swap out clean ones every time and take in the used ones for cleaning and refilling. We change them out every few days in the heat. They get cloudy. If the nectar is still nice and clear it's still good.

The wars have begun. The hummies are sharing the feeder and dive bombing each other off it. I need to make more syrup today and hang another feeder.

Haven't seen any baby hummers yet. No dive bombing, no wars, but one did chase off a seed eater that ventured a bit too close for comfort apparently yesterday during our movie at Brads.

We have official swarms now. I put out two 1/2 full feeders today, and they're almost empty. Normally, that much lasts two days.

Sigh... One of the hummingbirds is stuck in the barn. The roof is too high for me to get something for it to perch on to lead out the door. I've put a feeder in the doorway hoping to lure him outside. Hope for the best!

Escape vibes sent.

When that hummer tires out you might be able to catch it IF it has nowhere to land except near the floor.

I had to remove my suction-cupped mini window hummie feeder yesterday afternoon. I heard a loud THUMP!, the scrambling of nails against the glass, and see Mr. squirrel start climbing up the brick again. He tried launching himself at the window multiple times trying to get to it. All he could do was scale the brick of the building, reach from the side of the frame and find out it was out of reach, launch, slide down the glass, and try again. I have to figure out where to put that feeder so the squirrel knows he can't reach it no matter what. I was afraid he would break the glass and get hurt...plus I'd have to pay to replace that window.

He found his way out on his own. I didn't see it, but he wasn't in there when I went back.

And this afternoon, COPPERHEAD! I rode my bike, and when I got back was going to put my bike back in the well house. I opened the door, and there it was. I'm not for killing things, but i did smack at it with a shovel (blunt side, not edge). It slithered off under the building, but I'm not happy about it being there. We will have to make a LOT of noise and step carefully when we're going in there.

YIKES!!!! Contact your wildlife agency, they may be able to trap and remove him.

Not worth it out here. They just are around. I saw a dead bird in the well house too, so I'm sure that's what he was after. I removed the now empty nest, and raked the brush away from the foundation. My shovel and I are ready if he shows his nasty self back in the open. He can just slither somewhere else.

OMG! Aren't those snakes dangerous?

Another squirrel is raiding my garden. I think it's the same one I chased away from it yesterday....it's been eating my mom's green peppers and now a zucchini.

Anyone want these squirrels to fricassee?

They are poisonous, but rarely kill anyone. Reactions are nasty. Most hospitals and even doctor's offices here carry antitoxin because they're very common. Best thing to do is just to avoid them. I try to make lots of noise when I'm outside, and I only get aggressive (from a distance) when they're somewhere I can't go around or another way. This was the problem with it in my well house.

Ugh on the squirrels. They've been playing carefully here. Bingo has decided that they're fun to chase.

It was in your house. Double YIKES!!

Sue Short wrote:
It was in your house.  Double YIKES!!

squirrel or snake? I'd say triple yikes for a snake!

Oh! Neither one. The snake was in the well house, which is a converted summer kitchen. It's a separate building from the house where our water softener system and well pressure tank are. It's a pretty big building, so we keep our bikes stored there.

Thank heavens none made it into the house proper where you live, eat, sleep, etc. Still worrying that it chose to slither through your yard. I'd have preferred at least a county over!

They don't like houses - except if there's a lot of brush and junk around the foundation. I haven't seen it since, and I chopped down the bamboo and stuff that was growing up around the well house. We should be copperhead free now.

Today's sighting was a little green frog tucked into a corner of the porch. He was sound asleep. I wanted to touch him, but I resisted so he could get some good sleep.

Awwwww, bet he was cute for a frog.