About a week ago I was walking around the front yard when I heard the unmistakable buzz of a hummingbird passing me. It took several minutes before I saw the tiny bird, his swift flight taking him from one end of the yard to the other in fractions of a second. I went into the house and dug out and cleaned my hummingbird feeder and mixed up a solution of water and sugar. We're now on the second batch of solution and my solitary hummingbird is joined by a mate, although it is truly difficult to tell if they are matched as he won't let her near the feeder half the time.
For being the smallest birds in the world, they are territorial bullies. I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to capture a photo of them for past few days. When they see my reflection at the window they leave the feeder. The other evening, as I was barbecuing towards sunset, I observed them feeding quite heavily. I'm guessing they were fuelling up for the night. The male bird sat on a limb in one of the maples for several minutes before taking a final run at the feeder and disappearing for the night.
Today, Rob is working with a mentor of his own, a local carpenter. They will put up the animal shelter (it arrived Friday). Rob and Wally will act as his assistants. Rob will hopefully learn a few new skills in the process. Once the shelter is in place, we'll finish the fence line, build a holding paddock where the animals can settle for the first few days and make a final pass around the field to ensure there is no grass or brush remaining to short out the fencing. Hopefully within the next month both animals will be on site and all the chickens will be out on pasture.
I finished getting the garden planted. I need to hoe the weeds out of the area where the tomato seedlings will go; I'll probably wait and put them in after the full moon in June (June 4). That should be the last frost. I'm anxious to see seedlings sprouting the garden and to see it start taking shape.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.