Battle for the Boxes

It's been a busy time in our backyard!  With the return of the tree swallows, there has been some competition for nest boxes going on between them and our bluebirds.  I'm hoping everything has settled down now and they are all happy with their boxes... but it was tough going there for awhile.

I think our bluebirds may have 'won' the box closest to our window, which they have been hanging out at the most.  You can see Papa on the top and Mama inside (at least you can see part of her tail).

The tree swallows seem to be using the upper box.

Which is also good!  There was some handy nesting material on the ground nearby.

But, first, there were some issues that had to be resolved.

The bluebird pair also liked the back box... and the tree swallows were checking out the front box.  
Things were bound to get complicated.

I thought Papa Bluebird would be the one to settle things.

I mean, he was the one sitting on the upper box right under the tree swallow.

And he was the one who seemed to zoom into action.
But a second later, when there was a fight between the tree swallow and a bluebird, it turned out to be Mama Bluebird who defended her territory (or at least set things straight!).

Both birds few away from this fight (which actually lasted several seconds)!

Peace seems to be back, for now at least.

In this photo, Mama Bluebird is sitting on top of the front box, Papa Bluebird is on the rear left fencepost, and a tree swallow is on the front of the back box.

The bluebirds and the tree swallows have, I think, worked things out!  There are several other boxes nearby, which hopefully will be used if house wrens want one! (Or chickadees... my husband saw a chickadee coming out of the front box one day).

This dark-eyed junco was no threat (they usually nest on the ground) but stopped by for a visit.  Mama didn't even seem to notice.

One day, a yellow-shafted flicker flew by just as I was taking Mama's picture.

 Mama and Papa Bluebird both have been catching lots of bugs in our yard.  They often fly up on top of their box to smash and then eat them.

Which may be why this American robin checked out the top of the box.  Smelled good, I wonder?

We never use pesticides or any other chemicals on our lawn.  I think it's beautiful just the way it is, with dandelions and violets blooming in it right now. 

 The birds certainly seem to like it, and that's good enough for me!

Update: Mama Bluebird is sitting on 4 eggs in the front box! 

Church in the Woods

This is post #200 on "This Is My Father's World."  It's been very enjoyable for me to share with you the things I've seen in 'my little place in His world' for almost 3 years now! (My first post was on April 28th, 2013).  

I'm not planning on stopping... at least not at the moment.  I read awhile ago that to have a 'good' blog, you should post on a regular schedule so your reader know when to look for something new.  Well, my feelings about that are that it's MY blog and I'll post when I have something I want to share!  Sometimes that happens as often as a couple of times a week, sometimes once a week.... sometimes less often than that.  (By the way, you can follow by email or subscribe to posts if you want to know when a new one is published).

While often I 'work hard' on a post (maybe I should say I put a lot of time into it) I wouldn't exactly call writing this blog 'hard work'!  However, this being my 200th post, I decided to 'take it easy' on this one!  I've previously written about the subject of hepaticas several times before, so if you want to read more about them, you can click here or here (which was way back on Post #2).  

But, now you can do what I did Sunday morning in our woods...  relax and enjoy the first Spring-blooming woodland ephemerals.

If you go to the woods to find some hepatica for yourself, be sure to wear old clothes and get down good and close to enjoy them!  The next photo is what you'll see if you only walk around!

My post is titled, "Church in the Woods" because since my husband wasn't feeling well on Sunday morning, we didn't go to church.  At least, we didn't go to our church building.  I, however, went to church in the woods... praising God for the absolutely beautiful April morning and thanking Him for making hepatica flowers.  I may have even suggested to Him that instead of the typical mansion in heaven, I'd be very happy with a little house in the woods surrounded by wildflowers.  Maybe they could be in bloom all the time, instead of just a week or so in April?

PS - My last post, "Swamp Things - Morning and Evening" was one that took more time to write... and I think maybe many of my regular readers missed it because they, too, were outside enjoying the nice weather! (It had only half as many 'hits' as usual).  So click here if you want to read it.  Thanks!

Swamp Things - Morning and Evening

There is a large swamp across the road from our house.  If the idea of a swamp fills you with thoughts of a dark, damp, dismal place, well, I have to tell you, you are not of like-mind with me!  Our swamp is a place of wonder... filled with beautiful creatures and scenery.

I think the nicest times of day to wander along the swamp are in the early morning and the late evening.  In our swamp, late evening has the nicest 'light'.  This is because when the sun is setting, it fills the area with sunlight over the water and trees.  If the air is still, there are usually pretty reflections in the water.

In the morning, the sun comes up over the hill behind the swamp, which is pretty, too!

Our road parallels the edge of the swamp.  While it's sometimes annoying to have a car or truck go by on the road while I'm filming a video... the road also makes it easy for me to walk along the swamp to see what's going on.  

Lately, there's been a lot going on!

Remember the mallards from my "Just Ducky" post?  I saw them early this morning and wonder if this is their nest?

If you look carefully in the next 'morning' shot, you can see the ducks on their little mound, in the distant middle right of the photo.

There are several pairs of Canada geese nesting in the swamp this year, too.

In the photo above, some of them swimming around in the early morning.  The sun is shining on the hill in the right of the background, while the swamp is still in the shadows.  The water looks different in the morning, often it is dark with little sparkles in it.

One of their nests was left untended while the geese were parading around.  Can you tell if it is morning or evening?

Yes, that one is in the evening light.
 
In a 'morning' photo, the great-blue heron didn't seem too happy to have this goose swim close by his fishing spot.

No matter, he got lucky and caught a catfish for his breakfast soon enough!

Here's a video of the events of him, after catching the fish until he finally swallowed it!  (You can hear the geese honking in the background, a hoard of red-winged blackbirds "oka-lee-ing" and a vehicle going by on the road near the end).

 
And this goose had something good to eat for dinner, too, apparently.

Something down there must have been really tasty, by the way he was paddling to keep his head under the water.

Meanwhile, our tree swallows arrived back this week.  It was so cold on Sunday morning, when there were 20 of them on the wire over our driveway, that I worried about what they would find to eat.  There didn't seem to be any flying insects around, but I guess they made out okay.

That morning, they were fluffed out trying to stay warm...

... but this afternoon, I saw one feeding another in an act of courtship, looking nice and warm and gleaming in the bright sunshine.

I love watching the tree swallows soaring over our house and the swamp.  They are such fantastic flyers!

Of course on sunny days, the painted turtles are favorites of mine, too.  No soaring for them, but they are still fun to watch.  I'm not sure where the little one in the next photo thought he was going.  Maybe up on the back of the bigger one?

I'm excited to say that I saw a beaver in the swamp on Friday evening.  We haven't seen any for awhile.  First, it was heading right towards me.

Probably because I was watching this spot (where he was also heading) about 7:30 pm.

My brother-in-law had cut some poplar branches from up on the hill (one of beaver's favorite foods) and put them near the swamp, hoping a beaver would find them.  

Chomp, chomp, chomp.... I could hear the beaver eating!

The sun has already gone down in the next photo, but the geese are still flying around.  So, while not a very good photo (not enough 'light' left), I like it because you can see the white "V" they have in their tails from this viewpoint.

One final 'evening' photo, of some grackles. They are not typically thought of as 'lovely' (possibly like you thought of a 'swamp' before this post?), but pretty in this setting, I think.

Now I hope you see why I think a swamp is a beautiful place!



 

A Weird Week Weather-wise

So much for celebrating spring in my post called 'What's Happening Here'.  This week it was more like winter around here. 

Actually, it was kind of depressing and  I don't really even feel like writing about it!  But I will show you some pictures....

Our bluebirds were here after the snowstorm last weekend, but then they were scarce for awhile.  I saw them again today though, thankfully.  They must have been finding something to eat somewhere.

The goldfinches did look pretty in the snow.  Many of them look like they are almost done molting.

We also had a dark-eyed junco that stood out from the rest, with some unusual white feathers.  

I didn't take the photo crooked... the junco is perched on a pile of snow!

This grackle doesn't look too happy either.  Him and me both, with the snow bombarding us.

I really shouldn't complain.  I have a warm house and plenty of food.  I'm not sure what the tree swallows are finding to eat.  They typically eat insects while on the wing and I don't think there are too many insects flying around after the 14 degree night we had.

I'm kind of worried about them.  I can put food out for the birds that eat seeds, but not for them.

This mourning dove just sat in the snow-covered grass for awhile today.  Maybe he's depressed, too.

I figured today I should go out for a walk, even if I didn't feel much like it.  So my buddy, Gizmo, and I started out.  Almost immediately after we left the house, it began to snow.

We watched these robins in the field for awhile.  They didn't seem to be finding anything to eat.  The grass was already starting to get white with snow.

Giz and I kept going.  Pretty soon, he was starting to get white with snow!

Then I discovered I had dropped one of my gloves.  So we headed back the way we came so I could pick it up.

Before we got back to the house, the ground was really white.

Good luck, Mr. Robin!

Giz and I would just 'bird' from the house.  And, count our blessings we are not a goose sitting on eggs in a nest in the middle of the snowstorm.  (I took the next two photos from our front window).

Poor goose!  Not that she's complaining.  She sat thru hours of snow... I peeked at her from time to time.

Giz has the perfect spot to watch birds from, and he can even warm up his feet on the radiator at the same time.

There were lots of birds to watch.

And even bunnies!

Though it was sort of sad to look out the window at the daffodils.

At least this time of year the snow doesn't typically last very long.  

Case in point... this photo was taken yesterday:

and this one today:

Next thing we know, it will be green here again.  At least, I'm counting on it, and I'm sure so are the birds and animals!