The Jabberwocky returns again...

Birds have been flocking around the feeders the last few weeks. 

Some have even tried out the birdhouse.

Those are exciting signs of the coming Spring for me.  :)

But as in years past, flocks of seed-eating finches and sparrows bring the Jabberwock.

Suddenly I'll notice the little birds are gone and then I'll see why.

I'm always surprised at how quickly things go from this...

to this.

Do you see what he has in his talons?

Here's a better picture (maybe a little to good - yuck!)

We've watched this same scenario play out over and over the last few weeks. 

Funny thing, I didn't feel an overwhelming desire to

send the twigs out with "vorpal blade in hand" to "snicker-snack" this year

like I have the last few years when this same thing happened. 

Maybe I'm learning to accept the fact that we are...

 ...equal opportunity bird feeders.  :/

The "white" part of our White Christmas...

We had a White Christmas this year!

The trees were heavy with snow.

Rascal went bonkers over the snow!

He'd run wherever we were throwing it and catch it in his mouth...

and on his head.

Video here...

Rascal loves to catch snow almost as much as he loves to catch tennis balls! :)

It's been a long time coming...

I wrote here  about our birdhouse and it's visitors this spring,

 

and here  about that intruder. He and his band stayed around, 
set up house in our trees, and had babies of their own, 
all the while chasing off any sparrows or finches that showed interest in our birdhouse. 
It was so strange.

 

Then one day the intruder and his marauding band were gone and this happened.

It was a long time coming which made it all the sweeter.

The whole neighborhood seemed to come for the happy event.

 :)

Blast!!

Something different is happening with the birds in our birdhouse this spring.

The pair I wrote about here came to a sad end - a little pile of feathers on the grass and lunch for some raptor . No pictures - too sad.     :(

Next came weeks of new birds trying out the birdhouse but leaving after a day or two.

I started wondering if we would go bird-less this summer when, finally, a pair of sparrows came and stayed. I totally love having a front row seat to the egg-tending process. I love listening to the chorus of hungry little cheeps coming from the birdhouse!

Just before the eggs could be laid, however, this intruder invaded our bird heaven!

What's his big deal?    I have no idea.
Is he trying to steal eggs?     Who knows?
He swoops in and screams and squawks and scares the sparrows away every day - multiple times a day.
He gracelessly bumbles down the side of the birdhouse and tries to stick his big annoying head in the opening. 
Blast!!

So the watching and hoping to hear sweet baby sparrow chirps continues...

Signs of Spring...

They're back!    :)

One of our favorite signs of Spring is having birds come to nest in our birdhouse. Happy Spring!

Hope the jabberwocky (here) stays away from these two!

The little birdhouse by the garden...

We had chicks last May in the little birdhouse by the garden here.  Just after the two hatchlings flew away it appeared the parents laid more eggs and indeed they had. A few weeks later we saw these bright yellow beaks peaking out the tiny opening of the birdhouse.

The parents were just as stellar this time at tending to the incessant cheeping for food.

 

Then, faster than a prairie fire with a tail wind, they were flying through the trees, eating our juicy raspberries, and in a blink they were gone...

...until next year.   :)

Chicks...

We have chicks!

With two teenage boys in the house you say, "of course you have chicks," and though our boys do like girls, they're not that kind of chicks.

We have feather-covered chicks! Two of them.

The jabberwocky here finally flew the coop and a little pair of swallows moved in, feathered a nest in the birdhouse, and laid eggs.

We could tell when the eggs hatched because the cheeping chorus was a fortissimo and the parents were flying in and out every few minutes for days. They were stellar!

 

Then a new little face appeared...and spent the day looking out.

And before we knew it, she was gone. We saw her try to clear the fence with her new wings once - hit the fence - and slide down. Ouch! But it wasn't long and she was almost indistinguishable from all her neighbors. We never saw the second baby take off, but the parents appear to have laid more eggs...

Beware the Jabberwocky...

Beware the Jabberwocky...or Sharp-shinned Hawk.

It's Spring! It's Spring! 

Along with Grandma's jonquils and tulips peeping their heads out of the barely warmed ground, one of our favorite signs of Spring is the arrival of birds in the birdhouse. 

There's just one problem. 

One sharp-eyed, yellow-footed, problem with a hearty appetite who's no dummy when it comes to knowing a good deal when he sees one. With all the swallows and house finches flocking around the bird feeders we've provided a veritable smorgasbord for this handsome Jabberwock - jaws, claws, and all.

He's chased away that pair of swallows so we'll wait.. and watch...for another pair to come and set up house for the summer. 

Or wait... and watch... for a son with "vorpal blade in hand to snicker-snack!" 

Totally kidding - we'd never!

Happy Spring!

...and beware the Jabberwocky or Hawk as it may be.