Sometimes, you know, nature just up and smacks you in the face in a way that is wonderful and educational and enlightening.
Nearly a month ago, a Bananaquit was trying to build a nest above the dual exterior lights outside our house. I personally thought that was an ill-advised spot, since it was facing the predominant wind direction. She would put up a couple of strands of dry foliage, and the wind would take it down. I thought I'd give her a hand, and I put up a loose nylon net in a bush that was just six feet away and around the corner of the house, shielded from the wind, and most of the rain.
Well, she took to it, and started stuffing the net with cotton from a cotton bush, and dry pine needles (yes, we have Norfolk pine here) and within just a few days, the nylon was no longer visible. I also made a feeder and attached it above our seldom-used western door, and filled it with sugar water, just 14" from the nest.
Then the great deluge came, and we watched the bananaquit out our door, and while parts of the nest drooped from the rain, it seemed to be holding its own. Good construction. We had winds that gusted to 40 mph, and ten inches of rain in just two days.
We didn't see her for a couple of days, and wondered if she'd moved on or given up the nest.
And then........... just an hour ago, I saw the changing wind make the bush and the nest tremble, and there they were............ three trubadours, straining their little necks back and forth every time the nest trembled.
We didn't see mama for quite a while, and I wondered if I could feed them if she never showed up. What would she feed them? Bugs? Grubs? Would I have to chew them up first? :D
Thankfully, she just showed up to placate her three chicks. She fed them, stopped off at the feeder for a nosh and then off again.
Now, we're not people to interfere with nature, but at the same time, we feel part of the process, part of the fabric that makes up our nature, and ......... well......... everybody needs a helping hand sometimes.
Because Bananaquits seem to inhabit bushes more than trees and tend to fly low to the ground, they are often prey to cats. So, the lil' buggers get a hand up from us, and hopefully grow to leave the nest and make families of their own, as nature dictates.
Ain't life grand? I don't mind telling you, I'm pretty thankful, and appreciative that I don't have to chew up bugs for the chicks. Bugs without at least a basic basalmic butter sauce would be pretty horrid.
But I'd do it for the chicks.
Maybe.
Bug relaxing after a harrowing weekend in bubble wrap
Bug relaxing in the hammock and birdwatching
beverage number two. g'nite Bug!
You earned it Bug -- soaking inna 103 degree hot tub after a long day of toiling in the bush.
Obug is quite a workhorse, and she eats and drinks so little, we're thinking of seeing if we can get a work permit for her.......
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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace,
The gladness of Christmas give you hope,
The warmth of Christmas grant you love.
~Author Unknown
We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential.
~ Ellen Goodman
Wishing you and yours a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!
I'm not sure what the Secret Service will have to say about that! LOL
Now, if he makes the mistake of taking her into the Smithsonian, no one may ever see her again. She'll refuse to leave!
Hope you and The Bride are doing well.
Wishing you a very happy Saint Patrick's Day :-)
So what season is it now, mon?
They are our national bird, and I really like their raucous chatter -- they are the irresponsible jokers of the bird world -- so I would never harm them. However, if TSHTF, I'd better not find out that they're tasty.
The fruit bats, they will circle a fruit -- mango, papaya -- in a wide elipse and land one at a time and eat an entire fruit; five bats, all munching on the same fruit, and they will eat it down to the stem and then move on.
RESpect, fruit bats.
Been awhile.
Lots of grey days here, a cold dreary winter and spring.
I'm really hoping that we will get into a normal May pattern after this last WET system passes through. Its been overcast and dreary here for 3 or 4 days.
They all run together! LOL
Sun is supposed to show up again in full force on SUNday! How appropriate!
Hope you and the Bride are well and ready for the SEASON, looks like we could be in for a "ride". Many forecasters are predicting another tough season and I noticed in the post you left on my wall you alluded to the infamous season of 2005.
Geez, would be really nice to have a calm easy season as it seems that the economy is try to rebound and come out of the doldrums... a big cane could toss many back into bleakness. Me? heck I am so "happy go lucky" I am sure I can cope! LOL
Sending Love and Hugs to you and K. XXXOOO
Little buggers!
Drive me batty.... (oops, you don't like bats)! haha But the dang squirrels - ugh! I gave up, they now own me! My yard is theirs. They won and now I just let them have their way. : (
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