A Random post about Strange things....

Or a strange post about random things, or... recent things I've seen that seem strange...  well, you get the idea.  But, because I am a person who likes things to be orderly, I thought I'd gather all these random things into a list for you. (in random order, of course!)

1.  This house finch is my most frequent visitor to my hummingbird feeder.  He drinks out of the ant moat.  Then he shakes and sprays droplets of water all over the window.  Thanks, house finch.  It's not like he's taking a bath, I'm not sure how he sprays so much water!

2.  Speaking of hummingbird feeders, we've not had many hummingbirds this year.  (maybe the order of this isn't quite as random as I thought!)  How about you? Do you have many hummies at your house?

3.  The weather has been strange.  Sorry, I know talking about the weather can be boring, but, really we've had a lot of rain and more is coming!  We've had so much rain recently that I've had to pour water out of the birdbath to keep it at the right level more often than I've had to add it.   Yesterday it poured here -- hard, off and on every hour or two.  Where my husband was working (15 miles away) he said there was not a drop.

And here's our forecast:

4.  I don't have a photo of the next strange thing because it only took a matter of a few seconds.  A rose-breasted grosbeak was sitting in the tree just outside my window, when a hummingbird flew right up to the grosbeak's bright rose-colored breast and hovered there for a few seconds.  Guess it thought it was a flower and was going to have a sip of nectar.  I don't know what the grosbeak thought!

"No, not a flower, even though I have "rose" in my name.... sorry!"

Since hummingbirds are attracted to red, you can see why they might be confused!

5.  Here in Pennsylvania, it's a bit unusual to see a red squirrel sitting in a tree eating a chunk of banana (he 'stole' it from the grape jelly feeder).  It looked strange to me, even if I did provide the banana!

6. Remember all the rain (number 3)?  Well, today the sun came out and some of the plants in my garden wilted -- obviously not from lack of moisture, but because they hadn't felt that much sun in so long they wilted from the heat!

7. This flower: 

 

 I have a number of them blooming in my garden right now.  Kind of fitting for the Fourth of July because  I think they look like fireworks!  But they aren't called Fireworks Flower.  They are called Peruvian Daffodils.  They aren't in Peru (though they are from South America originally).  And they aren't daffodils.  Strange.  Oh well.  I think they are pretty, plus my grandparents had them in their garden, too, so I think of them when I see the flowers.

Happy Fourth of July!  Happy Birthday, America!

Don't they remind you of fireworks?  Or it is just me?

They are bulbs (like daffodils), but they are not hardy here.  I have to dig them up before the first frost, keep them in my cellar over the winter and plant them again in the spring.  But other than that, they are quite easy to grow.  I plant them in among my 'real' daffodils so that after the daffodil foliage dies down, the Peruvian daffodils come up.  The flowers don't last very long-- maybe a week, but they have nice thick, green leaves, which add some texture in the garden.  You can buy the bulbs most places where packaged bulbs are sold (or you might be able to get some from a friend, since they divide fairly rapidly).  If you ask nicely! ;-)

8. No explanation necessary:

Basset hound from below!

 Have you seen anything strange this week?

Furred and Feathered Babies Abound Around Here!

It's a busy time of year for both furry and feathered parents! We don't have a name for our place, but last night I was thinking it ought to be called 'Rabbit Hill'.  I could see rabbit families in three directions from our front deck!  There was lots of nibbling of grass and playing going on.  I probably wouldn't be happy if they were nibbling my flowers or vegetables, but our yard provides plenty of clover and yummy weeds for them to eat, and so far my plants have been safe.  

These bunnies were in the front yard:

 You might remember the next bunnies from my other post.  They are growing fast.

And having fun, too!  They were bouncing around and chasing either other.

Still more bunnies... and you can see the white clover in bloom that they love to eat.  The yellow flowers are Yellow Hawkweed (which I don't think they were eating).

There's also quite a bit of action at the bird feeders.  I used to take my feeders down once winter was over, but then I discovered how much fun it is to feed them during the spring and summer.  (Though we have to bring them in at night, because otherwise we have visits from Black Bears.)  

When the birds have babies in the nest, the parents will carry food back with them to feed their nestlings, like this Red-bellied Woodpecker with a chunk of suet.

You can see the red belly for which they are named in this photo!

Once their babies have fledged, they bring them along to the feeders to show them a good place to eat, like this Mourning Dove and baby.

"There's nothing here, dearest, but wait til we get up on the deck."

"I'm following you, Momma."

After wandering thru my herb bed, they came up on the deck, where the baby tried to figure out what was food and what was not!

"Nope,  just dirt!"

A trio of House Finch babies relentlessly chirped at and followed their parent around, asking to be fed.

 Everywhere he went, they were right behind!

 Our rain gauge became a baby House Finch measuring stick.

And down underneath the deck was another furry baby... the cutest one of all!  I think he's going to be a nature explorer.

"I will see what is under here!"

"I am examining these plants closer... yes, they are FERNS"

"Hi, my name is Mac!"