Enough of the Bird Already

I was thinking it's time for a little change of blog pace. There are other things going on out back besides lay'n eggs and editing video. I took my camera and snapped a few pictures to show y'all how things are coming along.  It's a dynamic time of year and it just gets me excited to watch things change so fast.

Ginger is just finishing planting the gourd seeds. You remember the
 gourd trellis from last year? This year it's going to be bigger and
better 'cuz we've done this before. Note the smurf hands :)

This picture goes with previous pictures I've posted earlier this spring.
The purpose of the picture is to show the difference just a  few weeks can make.
Do ya think that purple ash on the left will ever turn green. Must have missed
the memo about a early spring.

Same as above.

This is Alejandro  F. doing his chore of topping off the skimmer pond. I just love the way it works without flaws
year after year.  You may remember when s/he got her makeover... that was fun.

The water lilies are coming back bigger than last year. They will turn green.  If you look
really close at the base of the farthest lilies in between the two large rocks is a dash of
orange.  That, my friends is Gleem, one of our gold fish... she is hiding.

Our raised garden. It's starting to fill out and there are some surprise plants coming back that were not
supposed to live through the winter. That's like finding an onion ring in your french fries. Cool!

Here we have the blooms on our chives.  When no one is watching I pull
one of the blooms off, just now and then, and eat it. Better than dandelions.
I just love the color.

OK, I admit it... I couldn't post something on my blog without mentioning the current/recent focus of this blog, the
finch nest with eggs.  The nest is between the trellis and window.   I was thinking you might enjoy a different perspective.  Also, this is our pot trellis. The trellis will fill out in the coming months. 

That's it for now. Hope your having a great weekend and enjoying this wonderful weather.

Whoohoo!!!

I'll Huff & I'll Puff & I'll.....

The wind picked up yesterday afternoon and blew harder than Uncle Elmer after eat'n beans and cornbread. That's what it does around Red Tail Ridge this time of year... or is it this century since it blows so often... Anyway you look at it the wind does tend to get a bit obnoxious just like ("Here, pull my finger") Uncle Elmer.

I watched Mrs. Finch a number of times during these wind gusts and was proud of the little lady as she stayed rooted to the nest. I believe that under her calm demeanor there was a little bird with her toes locked around something solid at the bottom of the nest, hang'n on for dear life.  I found myself leaning into the wind for her... of course I was inside watching her on my monitor. HA!  This isn't the worst she had to endure but it's the best I was able to capture on my webcam.

Just when it's almost over she does an egg count to make sure no one was blown from the nest. I can just hear her... "Hey, all y'all OK in there? Hang on, I gotcha."

I tried to spice this up a little with editing... hope you like it.

What did you like best about this video?  Please leave a comment.

Whoohoo!!

4 ~ And No More

It's almost time for lunch and I have not found another egg so I'm thinking the number for our Mrs. Finch is 4.

I've wondering when Mrs. Finch becomes a momma? Is she a momma when the eggs are laid or when they hatch. I'm thinking it's when the eggs are laid but there sure is a lot of room for other opinions. Heck, this question could become quite controversial. Maybe as controversial as; which came first, the chicken or the egg... which I have answered in a previous post my blog (think ducks)!

Mrs. Finch has taken two potty breaks this morning. She hasn't left the nest for more than about 5 or 6 minutes so I'm thinking she has dedicated herself to incubation duty. In the mean time, Mr. Finch has come by 4 times to feed his bride.  I think we're getting into a routine here.

My information about incubation said it takes 12 to 14 days for the eggs to hatch and then another 2 to 3 weeks until the chicks fledge. A quick glance at my calendar and using both hands and one shoe off I calculate hatching around the 29th of April but maybe as long as the 1st of May. They will be on their own by June.

This is a picture I took this morning in an attempt to determine if there was a 5th egg.  Don't think there's one in this basket.

Whoohoo!

Egg #4

Whoopee, we have Egg #4, I wonder if there will be any more (your poem for the day:)!

Egg #4 was clearly seen by yours truly this morning. She must have produced it during the night as there was very little sunlight when I spied all four as she turned the eggs.

Mrs. Finch, a fine feathered friend, is now dozing in her nest. An eye slowly opens, then the other and then they close again. She was on her nest all night, I think.  I checked on her about 2 in the morning and she was saw'n logs.  She was there just before sunrise too.  I'm think'n all that egg production takes a lot of energy from such a tiny creature.

About 9 this morning Mr. Finch came by and offered food.  Mrs. Finch was all atwitter and in her zeal she almost knocked one of the eggs out of the nest.

The following video was taken after the feeding and you can see the egg situated near the top edge of the nest. It took a while for her to move it back down into the "cradle."

The next video was taken yesterday, Tuesday. The video starts almost immediately after Mr. Finch arrived but I wasn't fast enough on the mouse to get the video started to see him approach the nest. This, however, is a good indication of how long he sticks around feeding his bride, just add about 2 seconds.

It doesn't seem like she is getting much food to this observer.

Egg #3

Egg #3 arrived this morning... right on schedule.

Mrs. Finch is spending more time on the nest now. I don't know if she is spending the night on the nest and will endevor to check that out this evening.

It seems that Mr. Finch is not very attentive as he has been very scarce lately.

So without further ado... Egg #3 and it's older siblings:

If I'm not mistaken, isn't that a face on the upper left egg?

Watching Mrs. Finch sit in her nest, I see her eyes close but never for long. Sometimes she will "awake" with a start and quickly check things out to the left and right.  Other times the eyes just open a little and she just sits for a while. She turns her eggs about 4 or 5 times an hour.  This morning she left the nest for just a few minutes (so I could take a picture?).  Maybe that was just a potty break.  I imagine sitting on a nest is a pretty boring job at this stage... do you think finches dream? 

Whoohoo!!

Egg #2

Yesterday evening at sunset, Mrs. Finch was sitting in her nest. The webcam was dark so I turned it off. It was rainy and cold with wind blowing the trellis to and fro with nest attached.  My mind slipped to memories of sleeping on my sailboat. How pleasant I found it to be rocked to sleep... but I doubt if Mrs. Finch has ever been sailing.

This morning, with calm winds, Mrs. Finch was not at her assigned station and her single egg lay exposed to 34 degree temperatures. I know I shouldn't worry as Mother Nature has been hatch'n broods of House Finches for a lot longer than I've been on Gods green earth. I worry anyway... it's my nature.

After breakfast I turned my attention to the webcam and there was Mr. and Mrs. Finch. He was feeding her and all appeared normal to my untrained eye.  I recorded this brief video of the feeding.  I will continue to try and catch better pictures...

I enjoy looking at the excitement during the feeding.  Her fluttering about and open mouth, like a chick, probably spurs Mr. Finch to bring more food.  Nothing like a atta-bird from momma to give the guy an incentive.

She has left the nest again after sitting for almost 2 hours.  When she left, the picture below is what I saw on my webcam. It's the second egg. I know. Different spots. I also got on my tiptoes and looked in the nest. Sure enough we now have 2 eggs.  This is like a soap opera.

The rain is now over and we're on a warming trend... don't know if this has any affect on the eggs or birds but it certainly makes me feel better.

Mrs. Finch must have read the Wikipedia article about House Finches egg laying patterns. She is following the script to the letter (you can reread that post here).

Whoohoo!

Egg #1

We have an egg!  She popped the little nature miracle out sometime in the past hour... say between 9 - 10 AM.  I may have been watching when it happened, if so it was very subtle.  I only know there is an egg there because I got a glimpse of it when she was turning it.

Mr. Finch has now assumed the role of provider. When he comes to the nest to feed her she acts just like a little chick. She flutters her wings and opens her mouth wide.  Sooner or later I'll get a video of the feeding.

Mrs. Finch on the nest.

As she keeps her egg warm she makes a chirping sound almost constantly. It's too high a pitch for my old ears to hear but Ginger can hear it well... might be a good thing I can't hear it considering the amount of time I spend at my computer lately.

According to what I've read the average number of eggs is 4 and we can expect another tomorrow morning. Should start a pool for the number of eggs.

More coming as things develop.

Wait!!! She just left the nest! Checking the outside temperature I see it's 45 and breezy. The egg is not visible to the webcam but I got a few pictures from my digital camera. Here is the best of the lot.

You can click on the picture to view at original size. The egg has a slight blue
tint to it.

It's been almost 30 minutes since Mrs. Finch flew the coop... ahh nest. I did see a hawk fly over the yard around rooftop height. Maybe that's what spooked her. Of course now I'm concerned about the viability of the egg and also wondering if she will be back to lay more.

Stay tuned... 

Update: It took an hour or so but I finally found something about incubation of finch eggs. This little snippet seems to address my concern above... incubation does not begin until the parents start sitting, which frequently will not happen until the 3rd or 4th egg is laid, or sometimes the entire clutch.

Now isn't that something?

Whoohoo!

Egg Soon?

Mrs. Finch has been acting different this morning compared to other mornings.  Maybe something is about to happen.

Prior to this morning, Mrs. Finch would come by, not long after sunrise, add a few things to the nest, futz around with this and that and then be off, sometimes for hours at a time. She rarely would come by in the afternoon and did not spend any time in her nest other than construction and maintenance activities.

This morning, however, she has changed her behavior. Thrice so far she has come and spent time just sitting in the nest like she was brooding eggs. She would sit in her nest for more than 5 minutes and just chirp away.   On the second sitting (so to speak) Mr. Finch came over and they sang to each other  and displayed courting gestures.  That is what is shown on the video.

Sorry about my voice on this video. I was speaking for

Mr. Finch saying: "I'll go get a bug for you!" 

The third time she was chirping away and Mr. Finch came over and was actually feeding her.  So romantic, now if he would just rub her feet. 

I'll post updates shortly after something interesting occurs.

This sure is interesting to me and I hope for you too....


Whoohoo!!!

Stuck Like Glue

I couldn't wait to post this video as it made me laugh out loud... kinda like LOL.

I saw Mrs. Finch (my music teacher in Jr. High was named Mrs. Finch) coming toward her nest as I gazed out the window. I started the video in hopes of catching her with the white stuff in her mouth that looked like the cat that ate the canary. Then she got into this think like she had glue on her beak. Just funny to me... hope it's funny to you also.

Note: On my computer this video does not enlarge when

the fullscreen option is clicked. If you like, you can watch

it on YouTube by clicking on the word "Tube" in the lower

right corner.

Lets Build a Bird NestPart 2

Mrs. House Finch has been very, very busy. She has responsibility for building the nest and the male doesn't contribute much. I have seen him bring a strand of grass and some of my chair cushion to the nest but he doesn't bring much and doesn't do it often. While the female dances around the nest and fritters about the male usually parks himself on another trellis about 5 feet away and keeps a lookout. Where she goes he is right on her tail... so to speak.

I did see them mating yesterday right in front of God and everyone... no modesty, no propriety and certainly no regard for the politically correct, parochial, view of sex. I thought they both liked it and was please they didn't feel the need for a smoke afterword... a deadly habit don't 'cha know. I regret I didn't catch the event via camera to share the moment as well as satisfy any latent voyeurism.

The video I have today was taken this morning. In my minds eye I try to imagine what she is doing with her feet/legs. Sometimes I think she is stomping on the nesting material and other times I think it's more like combing the nest material with toes and mini-talons. So many questions and so few answers.

Note: On my computer this video does not enlarge when

the fullscreen option is clicked. If you like, you can watch

it on YouTube by clicking on the word "Tube" in the lower

right corner.

 

It is quite fun to watch the development of the nest and we are looking forward to eggs and chicks.

Still no sign of the interloper... must have given it up.

Whoohoo!

Webcam Bird Watching

My latest trick! I've taken my web cam and, with the help of some Velcro, attached it to the window blind aimed at the current item of interest, The House Finches Making a Nest.

The following video shows the beginning of courtship as mentioned in the previous post.

I've made two video's this morning. The one below shows the female finch building her nest (sans the hard hat). She is so busy measuring things with her wings and stomping around... she will finally sit, but only for a second, just long enough see if things are just right. Of course they must not be as she then repeats the whole repertoire of nest building activities and then off to find more materials.

No sighting of the interloper so far this morning.

I think this is going to be fun. Hope you enjoy these little snippets that are also going on in a nest near you.

Whoohoo!!

Lets Build a Bird NestPart 1

It turns out what I thought was a sparrow is actually a House Finch. They are very common across the US and you will probably see them at the next bird feeder you come across.

Female and male House Finch... (plagiarized pic from internet)

From their activity today it would appear they decided on the open air model of bird nests. Not surprising as there is a shortage of the ones with walls and a roof.

It's very entertaining to watch them come and go with nesting material. It was actually comical when the female tried and put some twigs of a tumble weed into her nest. The weed seems to act like Velcro and half of what she brought wound up on the ground after sticking to her soft under-feathers. They are very busy as I write this retrieving bits and pieces of grass, feathers, debris of unknown origin.

All this family bliss is not without it's challenges. There is an interloper!  A House Sparrow (not to be confused with the House Finch) has eyes on this nesting site also. The sparrow is a bit bigger than the finch but the finches seem to make more noise when the sparrow approaches. I have observed the sparrow actually sitting in the finch nest while they are foraging for nest material... maybe the sparrow is trying out the feel, like someone shopping for a new car.

When the finches return to find the sparrow they of course get all atwitter and so far the sparrow has not considered the site worth fighting over.

The picture to the right is the bird nest under construction. Hanging over the front-right of the nest is some the tumble weed I mentioned. I'm sure the nest will look quite different in a few hours if the number of trips the pair are making is any indication of progress.

I will try and post updates of my observations of the finch family and their home making and hopefully their new family.  As I write this I'm trying to figure out how to get my web cam positioned for more clandestine observations.

The following information is from Wikipedia about the house finch:

Nests are made in cavities, including openings in buildings, hanging plants, and other cup-shaped outdoor decorations. Sometimes nests abandoned by other birds are used. Nests may be re-used for subsequent broods or in following years. The nest is built by the female, sometimes in as little as two days. It is well made of twigs and debris, forming a cup shape, usually 1.8 to 2.7 m (5.9 to 8.9 ft) above the ground.

During courtship, the male will touch bills with the female. He may then present the female with choice bits of food, and if she mimics the behavior of a hungry chick, he may actually feed her. The male also feeds the female during the breeding and incubation of both eggs and young, and the male is the primary feeder of the fledgelings (who can be differentiated from the females by the pin feathers remaining on their heads).

The female lays clutches of eggs from February through August, two or more broods per year with 2 to 6 eggs per brood, most commonly 4 or 5. The egg laying usually takes place in the morning, at the rate of one egg per day. The eggs are a pale bluish green with few black spots and a smooth, somewhat glossy surface. In response to mite infestation, the mother finch may lay one gender of egg first, which increases the chances of the young finches' survival. The female incubates the eggs for 12 to 14 days. Shortly after hatching, she removes the empty eggshells from the nest. The hatchlings are pink with closed eyes and tufts of fluffy down. The female always feeds the young, and the male usually joins in. The young are silent for the first seven or eight days, and subsequently start peeping during feedings. Initially, the mother carries fecal sacs out of the nest, but when the young become older, she no longer carries them all away, allowing droppings to accumulate around the edge of the nest. Before flying, the young often climb into adjacent plants, and usually fledge at about 11 to 19 days after hatching. Dandelion seeds are among the preferred seeds fed to the young.

House Finches are aggressive enough to drive other birds away from places such as feeders.

Housing for the Birds

Do you remember the project last year where I was improving the french drain in the backyard? It was the post where I came across the huge salamander... no? Well, if you like click HERE and you can read the post.

What I'm working up to is there was a bunch of 4 inch PVC pipe fittings that were destined for the trash and I had an epiphany... Oh it so exciting to have one of those at my age. I decided to take one of the fittings and along with an old coffee filter (plastic and wire) make a bird nest the little creatures would just flock to possess.

So I cut the PVC and inserted the coffee filter securing everything to the trellis outside my computer room, man cave, closet, office thing.

I can sit at my computer and see the future home of sparrows or maybe humming birds. I have no idea who will be my first tenants but I would bet the odds are on the sparrows.

The reason I'm telling you about this now?  Just this morning we had a showing. The prospective tenants came over and tried it out.  The lady sparrow got in the filter and nestled around and then jumped out and then back in.  I thought she was going to wear herself out jumping in and out of the thing.  Her eyes were darting about as the potential father of her chicks stayed close... no doubt trying to get an idea if this was something that caught her fancy.

They did a few coming and goings and are currently in the gone phase. Maybe they rejected it.

In the mean time all the bird houses on the fence are occupied. These of course have a roof and 4 walls so I get more in rent for them.

I sure hope this housing venture sells...

Whoohoo

Canvas Colors Begin

At the end of February I posted 3 pictures under the theme of a "Blank Canvas" awaiting Mother Nature to start filling in the colors. There have been a lot of changes in the past 4 or 5 weeks.

These three pictures are more or less from the same vantage point I used for the the three photos in the "Blank Canvas" post. You can click on the photo's to see normal picture size.


These are additional pictures I took today just 'cuz I love spring.

The first lip-lips (tulips) to show their petals. Short lived but beautiful.

These soon to flower lip-lips will have orange/yellow petals. Maybe tomorrow or even later today...

This is the definition of yellow. Also note the berry looking blossoms on the Purple Ash.
They will be green leaves in just days.

Does anyone remember Frick and Frack? After a pretty warm winter they are back to watching over the pond.
Don't you think they look like they're retired?

Pampas Grass. It's hard to believe but before the end of this growing season these plants will be over 6 feet tall. They will have seeds in the fall and the birds will ride their stalks like a teeter-todder.

Hope you enjoy your spring


Whoohoo!

MY Rite of Spring

Only a Toad Daddy kind of guy can really appreciate this annual Rite of Spring that takes place in my backyard.  With no fanfare, no pomp and circumstance, no bells and no whistles ~ I turned on the water that enables Alejandro T to fill the pond 3 times a day and Hector to sprinkle Joe's Pond 24/7.

No pictures of this annual event. There is just the slowly broadening smile on my face as spring embraces my world.

Whoohoo!!

The Naked Canvas

The days are getting noticeably longer. For your blog author that's a good thing to notice because that means there are a few honey-do's that need doing.

First and by far the hardest is getting up out of my chair and outside. It sure is easy to become a couch potato (or potatoE if your Dan Quayle). Once I figured out how to do that I saw there was all kinds of stuff just going wild out that thar back door.


The grass, as in pampas grass, needed to be cut back and there were leaves all over the place. Dead plants that needed to be uprooted to make room for their replacements when the days get yet longer. So I donned may jacket and gloves and commenced to cut and hack and make trips to the compost center to recycle last years glory, this years fodder and this summers compost.. farewell fallen plants.

I try to make it fun by using my reciprocating saw to cut through the mass of grass stalks. They are made out of some tough stuff.  Tim the TOOL MAN would be proud of me, yes?

It took me 3 or 4 days to get it all done. I also had to wait out a few really cold days. I'm happy to report the yard is now a blank canvas and ready for this years coming out party.

Whoohoo! Come on SPRING!!!

I'm still here!

It would appear I've taken about 8 weeks off from blog posting.  My OH my how the time does fly.

Since the last post of October 30 I have been spending a lot of time sitting on my butt but (get it?) I have accomplished a few things.  Very few.

Denver:
I took a trip to Denver where I met up with #1 son and #1 daughter but actually my daughter is 9 but it gets confusing... her nickname is 9 but she is really #1 daughter to me.  Anyway, while in Denver we all got together  and fixed my son's bathroom door.  The door stuck in the upper right corner (unless you were standing on the other side of the door which would have been the upper left corner) and one couldn't get much privacy when using the facilities.  It was great fun fixing a door by committee.  I ran the reciprocating saw, Kirk abused the wood with the hammer and Janine was in charge of the pneumatic nail gun.

The door jamb now sports a distressed motif.  The reciprocating saw sometimes went it's own way... Kirk hit the nails on the head every now and then... Janine did well with the nail gun except when doing angle shots.  With the help of caulk and paint and sanding and maybe some luck it will look just great.  It was sure fun though.

The door now closes and opens properly so we will call this project a unqualified success.

Pond Pump:
It's been 8 weeks and the only water in the pump pit was from watering the trees (yep, we water trees in the winter unless it's been snowing).  I did have a bit of a go-around with a mouse however.  This little guy wanted to make the warm pump pit his home.  Normally I wouldn't have a problem with that except they crap all over the place and eat wires and stuff like that.  So I put poison in there... something I'm not real happy about but there are just some places these little guys aren't welcome and my pump pit is one of them.  So A week or so after the last installation of the pump I checked the pit and found 2 dead mice.  I removed them from the pit and disposed of them according to natures way... yep, I tossed 'em over the fence.  Then about a week later I looked in the pump pit and there was this little mouse curled up and I thought it was dead.  Heck, it didn't move when I lifted the fake rock.  When I reached in to remove the little guy he jumped and I jumped and he ran around and I said a dirty word. Glad the granddaughter wasn't here as she would have fallen to the ground laughing at her grampa. Whew... that got my heart a-pump'n.  The next day I checked the pump pit again and here he was all curled up just like the day before.  I tentatively nudged him with my finger and he didn't move and sure enough he had made the trip to mouse heaven..

There have been no visitors of the mousy kind since then so apparently the word is out about the pump pit.  I still check now and then.

Hawks:
I have only spied 1 hawk in our backyard so far this season.  The winter has been very mild compared to previous and I'm blaming the weather for not bringing in the hawks.  We may get a winter yet but so far we have only had one snow and it wasn't anything to write about.

I'll also blame the weather for not updating this blog for 8 weeks. I have no real reason to do so but...

Christmas is near and then New Years and then we start all over.  Ain't it grand.  Merry Christmas y'all.

whoohoo
 

Thar She Flows

Once again the pond is operational.

I have been away for 8 days and upon my return to Red Tail Ridge I found a large box on the front step and sure enough the rejuvenated and reworked pond pump was inside. I couldn't wait to get things flowing again so I re-installed the pump into the pump pit.

Of course nothing is done without a little angst and just to make sure I was alive and kick'n I managed to turn on the pump prior to closing a valve so I was bathed in pond water... cold, cold pond water.  I am happy to report that I didn't get wet from my knees down.

I checked the pump pit after dinner and did not detect any signs of leakage.  With about 3 hours of operation under my belt the pump is working perfectly.  I certainly hope I don't have to retract the "working perfectly" part of that statement.

I have noticed the mice seem to think the pump pit is their very own lodge to idle away the long winter nights.  The mice would not be so bad if they didn't crap all over the place. One would think that snake I saw earlier in the pump pit would keep the mice away but it isn't obvious.  I suppose the snake is already sleeping away for the duration of the cold months.

I've resorted to excessive force in regard to the mice in the form of poison. I hope there isn't any collateral damage to other creatures.  On the positive side I haven't put out the sticky stuff that the mice walk on and can't walk off... seems like a terrible way to go.

I'll be watching the pump pit and it's occupants and report anything interesting.

Whoohoo!

Retraction of the Retraction of the Pond Pump Retraction

This is starting to sound like some kind of soap opera.

In a nutshell here is what's going on:

First
I bought a new pump for my pond back in August. I dug out the dirt under the fake rock and installed the pump in what is now called the Pump Pit.  Five days following the gala switch flipping ceremony the damn pump started leaking.

Then
The company stood by their product and sent me new seals for the pump... a $30.00 value. I installed the seals and re-installed the pump.  All was well with the world once again.

A few days ago
I purchased and installed a water alarm. The alarm is supposed to detect water and sound a loud alarm if said detection resulted in a positive answer versus the desired negative answer (ya see, negative is sometimes positive... got that?).  This morning the alarm did go off and woke me from a sound sleep.  I dressed and grabbed my jacket and headed for the pump pit. I looked inside but couldn't see any water.  I said, "Damn cheap ass alarm!" I stomped back into the house.  Oh, did I tell you it was dark outside.... no? Well, later I went out to the pump pit to re-position the sensor for the water alarm... would you believe that damn pump was leaking again? You should believe it because there was about an inch of water in the bottom of the pump pit.  I apologized to the alarm for my hasty judgement at 00:dark:30.

Now
As in today, I once again contacted the nice pump folks in Oregon. We decided that since this is the second failure of the pump for something that is supposed to last "at least" 4-5 years that something else must be causing the seals to leak. I had to ship the pump back to Oregon. Why I saved that heavy duty box the pump arrived in I can't say but I'm sure glad I did. I got it all packed up and over to UPS and it's on it's way.  I sure hope they find what's wrong and resolve this issue once and for all.  Maybe I won't run the pump this winter... maybe I won't have a pump to run!!!  Nah... can't even think that way.

The jury is still out on what mysterious disease the pump has that causes it's to leak all over the pump pit.  I hope the nice guys in Oregon are up to the challenge.

A silent whoohoo.

Just 'Cuz It's Purddy

I thought these pictures of stone-crop sedum was just kind to my eyes and wanted to show y'all.

The plant resides in my hypertufa pot... That was fun to make.  I think the fall colors are spectacular and with the green in there it gives promise of spring which is only 5 or 6 months away.

I look forward to each season... while I enjoy some better than others I enjoy each and every one.

Whoohoo!

Yard Art (?)

Have you ever been to one of those places where some inspired person breaks out the welder and makes dinosaurs or space ships and the like out of discarded junk?  If your like me when you look at some of this stuff you wonder, "how can people come up with this from that?"  I do enjoy those places and I am always awed by the creativity.

Along this line, we went to the downtown area with my sister in tow to show her the sights and visit the flea markets that try to pass themselves off as antique dealers.  It's always fun to look and see. One of the unique things about Grand Junction is they have a lot of art on display in town.  The city contracts with artists to display their creations for so many years.  It's cool and entertaining.

My wife and my sister were cruising the main drag and spied a creation that had a lot of rebar forming a column and the inside of the column was filled with rock.  I would have named it something like "Rocks Stacked Inside a Rebar Column."  Anyway, they saw this and challenged me to make something for the backyard that was made of rock and was vertical.

I have to say I can't believe I haven't shared this with my fan!  I was reviewing my blog this afternoon and noted my omission.  In a effort to rectify that gaff here is my big gee-whiz for yard art.  Seems to me this creation leaves a lot of room on the creativity side of the equation.  I wouldn't expect to see much more of this around our place!

Do you see a face in the top rock?  I do and it reminds me of some ex-boxer that just
didn't get out of the ring soon enough.  How 'bout that "cone-head!"

Sometimes you just have to let your imagination go... go far, far away....

Whoohoo... don't ya love it?

Sunflowers

I reported on sunflowers around this time last year (click here see that post) and again this year I have some pictures of different helianthus annuus flowers but they are from the same plant.

I think one of the reasons I'm somewhat fascinated with the sunflowers is that they represent one of the last flowers to blossom before the onset of winter like weather.  They track the sun from rise to set as if to revel in it's warmth.  Of course it won't be long now before the first hard freeze is upon us and all the plants will hunker down to await spring.

Enough romancing.  Here are the pictures I took as the sunflowers developed into their glorious display:

No sunflowers here. This picture was taken September 22nd.

This picture was taken September 27th.

This picture was taken on September 30th.

Into it's glory!
Notice the mum with it's burgandy colored flowers.
The mum also is a late bloomer like the sunflowers.
This picture was taken this morning, October 2nd.

 

Don't forget you can click on these pictures and view them in their original size.

Happy Fall!

Whoohoo!!

Picture of the Rare Black Goldfish

I've spoken about the black goldfish that is hard to see, shy and elusive. This afternoon I was crossing the bridge pond (yep, I used the bridge) when low and behold I spied this elusive creature.

I took about 10 pictures of "Blackie" and this is the best one. For your viewing pleasure:

Of course it's hard to see even though Blackie is the largest fish in the pond!  It wouldn't be elusive if it was as bright as the orange goldfish.  If your having trouble spotting Blackie s/he is just above the tail of the orange goldfish. Blackie has it's head under a rock and it's belly is a pale orange almost a gold color.  Hmmm, imagine... a gold goldfish :-)

Gourd Harvest

It clearly states in the Gourd Instruction Manual (GIM) that all gourds must be harvested PRIOR to the first freeze. GIM further states that if the gourds are allowed to be damaged by a freeze they will DIE!

With these dire warnings in mind as well as the decline of the vim, vigor and vitality of the gourd vines, we decided it was time to harvest the fruit of this years labor... not counting tomatoes.

This is the last picture (taken in September 22, 2011) of the gourd trellis.  The leaves are wilting and many have
turned into crispy critters.  Clearly the vine was well past it's prime.

 GIM also states when you harvest gourds you should treat them gently to avoid bruising which may also make them DIE!  Once harvested they need to be washed in a vinegar and water solution... failure to wash them may make the DIE!  Once the gourds have been gently harvested and washed they need to be brought inside the house for about a week.  Failure to bring them in the house for about a week may make the DIE!

This is my gourd cleaning/washing station.  We wound up with 2 boxes full of gourds.  These gourds have been washed as evidenced by the vinegar and water spilled on the wood box top.

I would estimate we got about 75 gourds this year with the majority being the smaller ones in the next picture.

Each and every gourd has been hand washed just like you would was a babies face

The smallest gourd harvested is about 1 1/2 inches long.  It's one of those green guys with the vertical stripes.  The largest one is right there in the box at the bottom of the picture.

I found it interesting that some gourds were quite heavy and some light.  Maybe the lighter ones are older and have lost some of their innards.

I found a couple of gourds that had faded.  According to GIM that is because they matured and were left to wallow in the bright sun.

This is where the gourds will reside during their week in purgatory.  Under the card table in the art room (the Woman's Cave). Here mother nature will decide if they have been handled properly or if they must DIE.

By the way, the box of gourds pictured here is the other box not shown earlier.  As you can clearly see this box also holds the biggest gourd.  I can't explain how there can be more than one "biggest" gourd but seeing is believing.  I guess you have to be a Gourd Daddy to accomplish this feat.

Finally, all the gourd vines will be cut down and taken to the dump.  It isn't healthy for them to remain once they have produced their fruit (well, it's my fruit now).  Thus before the weekend is past all vines will have been cut down and the gourd trellis will be naked until next summer.

We will be planting gourds again only bigger and more diverse.

Whoohoo!! And stay tuned :-)

Fish School Math

In the beginning we had 5 goldfish. Then one disappeared so we had 4. Then there was all this mating activity in the spring but we didn't find any fry. Then we thought we had 3 but it turned out we really had 4 because the black one was so shy, hard to see and also had a good hidy-hole, we just kept missing him.

Then the fish started to make their way out of the bridge pond and wound up in the skimmer pond. Then they would wind up in the skimmer and I would return them to the bridge pond.

EXCEPT for one.

The one we call Glow would not venture into the skimmer nor could we catch him with a net. We finally quit trying and left the poor lonely guy in peace.  I checked on him from time to time to make sure he hadn't changed his mind and swam into the skimmer.

Then two days ago I thought I saw two fish in the skimmer pond! I figured one of the fish from the bridge pond had gone over the waterfalls to the skimmer pond. Good.  That would give Glow a little company for a while.

And then I saw 3 fish in the bridge pond.  So 3 fish in one pond and 2 in the other is 5 fish. We only have 4!  Well, I know they can't jump the falls... they aren't salmon you know.  I talked it over with Ginger and we decided I was seeing things... maybe the infamous rock fish or it might have been a figment of my imagination... I was just nuts maybe... take your pick.

And finally I know the answer. I saw them all right after lunch today. There are 3 fish in the bridge pond and 3 fish (maybe more) in the skimmer pond. Apparently there was a bit of joy with all that mating going on and a few fish lived long enough to get big enough to not get eaten. 

And they all lived happily ever after.

THE END (and whoohoo!!!)

P.S. The new ones are about 3 or 4 inches long now. I'm looking forward to a closer look at 'em to see their markings and introduce myself. Maybe next spring.

Isn't That a Argiope Trifasciata?

By George it is a Argiope Trifasciata! Most folks call them Banded Garden Spiders but the technical name does offer a challenge just to pronounce.

The spider pictured is a female. The males are much smaller as is usual in the spider world.

The white thing that appears like it's hanging from her middle is lunch. Some creature flew into her web and was wrapped in web and then eaten. As we watched her turn the morsel to access juicier parts of her meal we thought it pretty neat that she could maneuver so easily. Reminded me of a juggler.

She was pretty close to the ground with rocks on one side and shrubs and bushes on the others so I was challenged to get these picture which in my estimation are not that great.  Sorry. Some day I'll have a camera that works better.

These spiders emerge in the fall. They don't care for the heat of summer or the freezing of winter so they only come out for a few months in the fall. This is the first time I've ever seen one and I've been around for many fall seasons.

In their web there is a zig-zag pattern they weave. It runs through the center of the web and is called a "stabilimenta." The purpose of this unpronounceable thing is to reinforce the web so it doesn't require repair as often. Studies have shown the inclusion of the stabilimenta results in
fewer "catches" but it also results in less damage from birds as they can then see the web and avoid a collision.

One really cool thing that I thought was amazing was the spider will bounce on it's web if you lightly touch it.  We observed this and at first thought that maybe the web was stuck to the camera strap or something similar. It turns out it was this spider bouncing away.

So that's the big gee-whiz at Red Tail Ridge on this 10th anniversary of the tragedy 10 years ago in New York.

Whoohoo Y'all...