I Could Get Used To This

We've enjoyed a run of fine days here at the Aerie. If you discount the brief but heavy showers that moved through the area late Saturday afternoon, there's hardly been a cloud in the sky. Over night the temperatures have fallen to around 40 degrees and during the day they have been in the 65 degree range.

As a result, I've been spending time putting seeds and plants into the garden. Several rows of string bean and cucumber seeds have been sown and sixteen zucchini plants have been put in. If we have any success at all, we should have plenty of beans for the freezer, cukes for pickles and relish, and cukes and zukes for salads and the dinner table. And, if the zucchini do their usual thing, there should be plenty for zucchini bread as well. Maybe even some to annoy the neighbors.

The lawn I thought I had done a good job of clearing dandelions from has sprouted a host of yellow flowers that bears witness to the fact that I was sadly mistaken. Perhaps I should start harvesting some for a foray into wine making.

All but one of the shrubs I put in are looking pretty good. The one exception is a burning bush. It's looking droopy every afternoon despite a heavy dose of water. Both burning bushes had the weakest of root systems when they came out of the pots so it doesn't surprise me too much. If it doesn't recover in a week or so, I may have to go back and make a claim against Lowes' one-year guarantee.

I had planned on heading up to the Bolt Hole early in the week, but with the weather so nice, I've postponed that trip until Wednesday. That will allow me to do a little more yard work and attend the Grand Canyon Photography Club meeting Tuesday night.

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The cats have had assistance in their early morning wake up alarm system the last few days. One or more Hermit Thrushes have taken to adding their voices to the early morning cacophony. They, the Robins, the Towhees and a very persistent Yellowthroat make for quite a racket just outside the window at 5-5:30 AM. Perhaps these birds have also been waking the cats.

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I've not been putting the bird feeders out and that has pissed off the squirrels. They've been coming to the door and window of the Aerie pretty much demanding I get with the program. This has excited--and provided entertainment for--the cats who race from door to door to window following the squirrel protest marchers.

Without the attraction of the feeders, the number of daytime avian visitors has decreased considerably. Either they are out foraging on their own or they've found another sucker source of seed.

So far as I can tell, the lack of spilled seed and/or forgotten feeders has also cut back on our bruin visitors. We've had nothing on the deck since I pulled the feeders on Thursday night. That's a good thing. Mr. Bear has got to learn to find his own source of food elsewhere. Hopefully it won't include beans, cucumbers, zucchini, and onions.

White-breasted Nuthatch

At least one White-breasted Nuthatch has figured out what to do with the checks (splits) in the deck posts. Rather than taking a sunflower seed all the way out to a pine or some other tree with rough bark there to wedge it in place before hammering it open with his bill like a woodpecker, this bird uses the cracks in the deck posts.

Now, I can't be sure there is only one White-breasted Nuthatch that has figured this out as they all look the same. But I have only seen one do this at a time despite there being several posts on the deck that could--and have--been used. Conversely, I've seen more than one W-B NH at a time take a seed to the bark of a tree to perform the opening ceremony.

Below I've posted a sequence involving just one Nuthatch for your enjoyment.

Having placed the seed in the crack, the White-Breasted
Nuthatch does a quick inspection.

Finding it not quite to his liking, he makes an adjustment...

...and wedges the seed in more tightly.

He takes another look and then lines it up like a golf putt.

A-N-D....THWACK!!! It's lunch time!