APRIL SUSPECTS

This weekend, going on day 48 in self isolation found me in a reflective, quiet, and another melancholic mood. Not really sad or depressed, but rather void of any feelings or thought at all. I was going to make my first trip out finally to the market and grocery, but wasn't up to the task of getting ready and getting suited up as the case may be...and as Scarlet O'Hara said, "...after all, tomorrow is another day." A took a walk or two, clipped some buds from the garden, and ordered two dinners in for the weekend. It was a rather damp and overcast weekend, with some rain. The birds around here have been a nice source of normalcy I must say. With getting closer to May now, the variety of usual suspects is changing. Last week was the first week I didn't see any Junco's,  and the waxwings and finch are back, the latter, having molted and the bright yellow is almost back. I still get asked how I get so many variety of birds. Well, I often from my shop in Buckingham, get two kinds of seed. One, a regular mixture of seed, the run of the mill, and the other is a special mixture of various seeds, nuts, and dried pieces of fruits. I will often sometimes crush my own pecans and add them in and once in a while place smaller blueberries out too. Robin, catbirds, bluebirds and waxwings love those. So, there is something for them all. It's also important to have a water supply, so a birdbath helps too. This week I was introduced to a new suspect also.

I have three wisenheimer Redbellies who think it a riot to peck at the drain pipes and gutters at the crack of dawn. Sounds like a machine gun. They have even been know to peck at the window when seed is light.

The Cedar's are back!

Cardinals. I have about four pair this spring.

The goldfinch are turning back to their brilliant yellow

The blackbirds...puffing and singing.

Two barn swallows on the wall

First spotting of Vixen this spring in the quiet  time. I suspect she has pups, but have not seen them yet, but at night have heard the cries and screaming. I have my camera ready though. I am pretty sure this is Vixen's third year here. This was her on Saturday.

Friday night brought some thrilling time. Around 2:30am I went to the kitchen to get myself another glass of wine, when I sensed something on the window sill with the seed. I turned and sure enough, was some creature. At first , I thought it was a rat, but the lights weren't turned up, and then I thought chinchilla.  But that wouldn't make any kind of sense. I got closer and closer and it wasn't flinching, just kept eating the seed and nuts. I then went to some kind of baby squirrel, but the eyes were huge, and the fur looked completely different. It stayed an hour.

I was hesitant to use my flash, so I grabbed my other camera...…..

Another half hour and it leaped from the sill and sailed to the tree. Well, off to research. Turns out it was a Northern Flying Squirrel...and very nocturnal, like yours truly. Now that was cool as hell. I had never seen one around here. Since then, Bouvier has told me, the flying squirrel population is also willing to help the Mistress with my world domination plan on DC. Let's like I now have a flying squirrel visiting.

And then there was this this morning....

Bonnie was, I believe, trying to entice Clyde into a mating....hence the cooing and wing flap and eye blinking.

OOOOOOOK, sorry people, I had to cut off the dove porn.

Exhibitionist.