squirrels

Between Seasons

Rae Spencer1 Comment

I had hoped spring would chase winter’s gloom into memory, but it hasn’t yet. Instead there are all these photos of hunger and snow, dating back to October.

Warbler Oct 28

Warbler Jan 15

Cedar Waxwing Jan 15

Tufted Titmouse Jan 29

Squirrel Jan 16

Squirrel Jan 16

Squirrel Jan 29

Dove and Finch Jan 29

Snow Jan 29

Snow Jan 29

Woodpecker Jan 29

House Finch Jan 29

Along with hunger and snow, this winter brought weeks of numbing cold.

Doves Jan 29

Cardinal Jan 29

Squirrel Jan 16

I was glad I had left the bird houses hanging because I saw chickadees retreating into them at nightfall.

Chickadee Dec 30

It’s not that winter was completely cheerless. The yard had a few winter blooms, and there were certainly days of sunshine.

Honeysuckle Jan 1

Paperwhites Jan 2

Warbler Oct 29

But I’m ready for spring. Real spring, with hours on end of warmth and nest building and bird song.

Squirrel Jan 15

I can’t be the only one who is fretful and impatient. Maybe that’s why it seems as if spring is embarrassed to be arriving so late. Instead of rushing in with thunder and rain-scented gusts, spring is edging into the yard like a guilty ticket holder who overslept and missed the opening scene. Bees are sluggish, the irises and pear tree bloomed while I wasn’t looking, and the house stays chilly despite bright sunshine and open windows.

Bee March

Irises April 5

Pear Tree April 5

I suppose I’ll be complaining about the heat, before too long, and wishing for a cool draft in the house. Because summer always follows, and fall after it. And then there will come a day, sometime in early September, when I will wish for winter. But for now all of my wishes are focused on spring.

A New Bird for a New Year

Rae Spencer6 Comments

The yard’s first bird of 2014 was a new bird for me. She showed up on New Year’s Day, but I was on my way out the door and didn’t have time to stop for a photo. Fortunately, she returned today…

Woodpecker Jan 2

(I believe this is a female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. I saw a juvenile sapsucker during my last trip to Alabama, but this is the first adult I’ve ever seen. Please comment if you can confirm or correct my identification!)

Woodpecker Jan 2

Woodpecker Jan 2

I followed her with my lens while she hopped from limb to limb in the pear tree, but I didn’t get a clear photo until something startled her and she paused.

Woodpecker Jan 2

Woodpecker Jan 2

She flew away a few minutes later, when a hungry squirrel climbed onto an adjoining branch.

Squirrel Jan 2

Squirrel Jan 2

Despite gloomy skies and an approaching storm, I can’t think of a better way to start a new year in the yard!

Unique

Rae Spencer4 Comments

Squirrel July 7

There’s nothing unique about this photo. Another squirrel in the bird feeder.

Except…

Squirrel July 7

I usually can’t identify individual squirrels in the yard, but I suspect this one is unique. It’s smaller than many of the yard’s other squirrels, and much more cautious. Understandably so.

Squirrel July 7

It seldom lingers in the feeder. Rather than settling in for a feast, it inches down the post, grabs a mouthful of seed, and retreats to the wax myrtle’s overhanging branches, where it can eat in relative safety.

Squirrel July 7

It also checks the far side of the fence much more frequently than our other squirrels.

Squirrel July 7

The first time I saw the tail-less squirrel bounding across our yard, I suffered a moment of intense confusion. It looked more like a very thin rabbit than a squirrel. A thin rabbit with short legs and even shorter ears. But then the strange rabbit scurried up a tree trunk, and my confusion transformed into amazement.

How does a squirrel with no tail survive in the wild? How does it balance as it races through the trees? How does it communicate, and what are its chances of reproducing?

Squirrel July 7

I’m tempted to ask other questions, as well, questions rooted in human perceptions of beauty and resilience. But such questions have no answers, and the world already has too many questions that can’t be answered.

Surfeit

Rae Spencer7 Comments

Squirrel May 31

Squirrel May 31

Squirrel May 31

Squirrel May 31

Squirrel May 31

Squirrel May 31

I tried to write something, to go with these pictures, but some stories don’t need words…

Squirrel May 31

Mid-May in the Yard

Rae Spencer7 Comments

Bee May 16

Earlier this week some parts of our area had overnight frost, then temperatures flared into the eighties. Bees and hover flies responded to the summer-like conditions with greatly increased activity, much to the delight of our Fourth of July rose.

Hoverfly May 15

Unfortunately, other insect activity also increased. The daisies and petunias were somewhat less delighted.

Daisy Damage May 15

Petunia Damage May 15

And this damselfly had to be rescued from an abandoned spider web.

Damselfly May 7

Damselfly May 7

While increasing insect activity gave me the opportunity to experiment with my camera’s macro functions, the yard’s quickening was visible on larger scales, as well. The cardinals’ nestlings fledged last week, which led to a few days of frantic visits to the feeder, followed by conspicuous absence as the little family moved on to explore other yards.

Cardinal May 2

The squirrel kittens never returned, after that one brief visit, but the adult squirrels have been growing more playful and tolerant of each other as they approach the beginning of a new breeding season. Perhaps there will be more kittens, later this summer.

Squirrels May 2

Squirrels May 2

Squirrels May 9

Perhaps there will be more of everything. Especially more long, lazy afternoons with bright pools of sunshine and breezy, open windows.

Rabbit May 2

Cat May 9

Cat May 15

In a word, more serenity.

Daisies May 15

(During my spring flower frenzy, I bought the flowers in the above photo because their labels said “Serenity”. They are Serenity series African daisies, and I’ve planted them right beside the front door…)