Apparently two weeks ago I left my ferns out on a night that it frosted, and it killed all the ferns I got dirt cheap. I guess they were dirt cheap because they knew it was going to frost again and they wanted to get rid of them without a loss. At any rate, I was going to take them down and try to trim away the dead stuff and see if they could be saved, but it looks like I am just going to have to let them be because we have several families who have moved back in:
Additionally, the bird’s nest in the corner of the column that I left up all winter was a couple weeks ago torn down- I walked outside to go do something for my parents, and it was gone. A couple hours later I returned, and it was rebuilt. I have not taken out the stepladder and inspected it yet, but I know there is a lot of activity going on because the top rip is lined with bird poop and small downy feathers, so I know there are some more babies in there.
I was going to take a picture, but I got distracted because Thurston was raising a ruckus in the back yard, and it appears he found a garter snake. I had to chase him into the house (the neighbors got to hear me yell “NOOO LEAVE THE SNAKE ALONE”), and I went back and the snake was still alive, so I made sure Steve was inside and then closed the doggy door.
Full time job keeping everything alive around here. At any rate, super excited that in just two years we have gone from one bird nest on the front porch to now THREE! Next year maybe we can get closer to max occupancy for the spring rentals out front.
Omnes Omnibus
Don’t be pissed off when Steve gets out and slaughters everything in sight.
RepubAnon
Garter snake, or cat toy? Steve wants to know (or snack). One of my friends had a cat that liked sustainable lizard tails. The cat ate the tails, and let the lizards go to grow another tail for future harvests.
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
Whenever I see a nest full of eggs, I always think, “You know, that’s a mighty weird way to come into the world.” And then I stop to reflect upon the fact that I lived inside somebody’s belly for nine months, and suddenly sitting inside an egg in a nest seems a little less weird after all…
Mary G
Hurray for life persisting.
Biden has made another good hire:
She’s the woman who blocked a guy that was trying to get to Kamala during the primary.
Elizabelle
You are Air Bird n Bird. You are a known and trusted quantity.
Does Steve go nuts once the fledgelings are out and about??
trollhattan
Aww, birdies! We’ve had no successful nests for years and I miss them. Cats, crows, rats, squirrels all work against them.
Much success to yours!
sukabi
Next year I expect we’ll be hearing about all “the fucking birb poop on my porch!”
Enjoy the tweeters this year though.?
mrmoshpotato
This post is in: John Cole Presents “This Fucking Old House”
Yes! Woo hoo! ?❤️
TaMara (HFG)
One time my cat brought a garter snake in the house and was playing with it on the end of my bed – while I WAS ASLEEP. That escalated quickly.
My backyard snake, that made an appearance in my hallway a few weeks ago, has morphed into FOUR good sized snakes that don’t seem to realize the backyard is not a good place to hang out. I keep telling them the front yard, much safer! Still they insist on sitting on my back stoop instead. They’ll figure it out once a duck chomps on them or a dog steps on them.
piratedan
the ferns were an obvious choice, with the willow being too close to the house and all…. :-)
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: Have you not seen that category before? You can catch up on all the house news & rants by selecting that category under View by Topic,
WaterGirl
@TaMara (HFG):
That is the stuff of nightmares. :: shudder ::
Duane
@mrmoshpotato: “This Fucking Old House” Presents “The Birdman of West By God Virginia.”
mrmoshpotato
@TaMara (HFG): Tell us more about ducks enjoying snake sushi.
RepubAnon
@Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.): Think Barsoom…
Gvg
Heh, on the way home with my nephews first puppy we threw out all kinds of name suggestions and when I run out of ideas I start naming every character in any book I can remember. He jumped on Rikki Tikki Tavi. He was 5 and I don’t think he knew the story yet. Puppy was cute, about 9 weeks old. Within 1 hour of being home, he killed a garter snake. In the next couple of years he got at least one more plus he ate a few plastic snakes and murdered a 6 foot plush snake won at the carnival. We learned not to buy toy snakes. I think the wildlife learned to stay away. He is an extremely sweet submissive dog and a really beautiful personality, but he kills snakes. There are worse traits in a dog. I can’t help but wonder if we did it somehow with that name.
Gex
AirBirB – ETA: ah I see someone got there ahead of me.
Roger Moore
@TaMara (HFG):
I remember being waken up by my cat spitting a large, live moth onto my hand. I do not recommend it.
mrmoshpotato
@WaterGirl: Oh, I know. I love Cole’s “This Fucking Old House” posts.
Read all the renovation ones while he was well into them.
Btw, my lemon chicken was a disaster last night too. Heavy cream cannot be substituted for milk, and whatever cream I bought was like a brick.
Instead of sauce, I had sludge. I’ll try again using the right ingredients and my remaining chicken that’s been marinading.
patrick II
@Mary G:
Do you think that might be a sign of his VP pick?
Eric S.
@Elizabelle: Ozzie, lord of this condo, goes nuts. We’ve had birds nesting in a deck overhang just off the private porch (3rd floor). They flutter down in the morning to preen and prepare for their day. Ozzie goes crazy looking out the bedroom window at them. Then there’s the new nest on the down spout at the front of the condo. He looks up at them for half the day. It is all a big tease though. He can’t get to any of them so long as he’s not on the back porch when they land.
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: Looks like we flopped together. Oh well. ?♀️
donnah
My mother lives in a brick ranch house and her metal oblong mailbox is mounted on the brick next to her front door. It’s been there for years. This spring, a very determined robin attempted to build her nest immediately above the mailbox in a decorative wreath mounted above the mailbox. Mom found the first twigs and tore them out, only to find the nest fully built the next day.
So she left it alone, the bird laid her eggs and then attacked the mailman, my mom, and anyone who came near the front door until the babies hatched and eventually took off. Mom immediately tore the empty nest down, relieved.
And two days ago, the robin’s back. Mom again tore down the first sticks, but again lost the battle when the robin persevered. And now she’s back, scolding my mom and the mailman.
MisterForkbeard
Speaking of birbs, my dad has apparently become the Hummingbirb Whisperer. They’re so cool with him now they’ll just hang out with him. He sent me a video today of two hummingbirds feeding about 10 inches away from him. They’re so close you can hear their wings fluttering.
https://youtu.be/G9qdosNitVM
rikyrah
THREE :) :) :)
Cole, you should set up a camera. It would be soothing to watch in these difficult times.
TaMara (HFG)
@mrmoshpotato: Yes, they are omnivores and snakes move in a very intriguing way as far as they are concerned. So I’ve seen them run after them, haven’t yet caught one that I know of.
I envy John his baby birds – because of the ducks, I do what I can to discourage wild birds…they eat the duck food and spread disease. :-(
mrmoshpotato
@WaterGirl: Yes, but I’m more bummed about your flop. :)
TaMara (HFG)
@patrick II: You and I had similar thoughts. fingers-crossed.
laura
I long for the day Cole rants about the bird nest in his beard, followed by rant about loud poopy baby birbs in his beard, and the sad and baleful post describing the fledging of baby beard birds and how lonely he is now that their gone.
trollhattan
@MisterForkbeard:
That is cool! Have seen video of them drinking feeder nectar from somebody’s palm, so maybe dad can take it to the next level.
Can watch them for hours, we have a front porch feeder that the dog defends when we’re sitting out there, so a bit of disruption for the little guys. Some nest across the street in the neighbor’s orange tree. They seem to like those, as my foothills inlaws get nests in their orange tree, too.
mrmoshpotato
@laura: Patience. It’s bound to happen.
MomSense
@TaMara (HFG):
I had a feral cat who used to bring me all kinds of creatures. She brought me snakes, frogs, chipmunks, squirrels and anything she could catch. She was so annoyed with my reactions.
trollhattan
@laura:
Maybe a nest in the chest pocket of his fancy eatin’ overalls.
Haroldo
@Gvg:
I am reminded of the Drover’s Wife, by Henry Lawson.
Quintessential Australiana (dog ‘n’ snake ‘n’ The Bush).
http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/DrovWife.shtml
Baud
@laura:
Like this?
MomSense
@Gvg:
Wow, he certainly took after his namesake.
I loved that story when I was a kid.
Mary G
Hell has frozen over (WaPo): Bernie has sent his supporters a five-page document to sign, telling them to behave and if they don’t, they’ll be barred from being delegates at the DNC, if there is one.
and
Some supporters are upset. Good job, Bernie.
tokyokie
@donnah: We have a similar mailbox on our house, and about five years ago, sparrows built a nest in it. That seemed to go OK, except for having to duck the adult sparrow barreling out of the nest when I checked the mail. The next year, sparrows returned to the mailbox nest, but this time, the mailman left us a notice saying we’d get no further mail until the nest was cleared out. So I reluctantly scooped the next out, breaking a couple of eggs in the process. I was disheartened about that.
Anyway, the next year, birds built a nest in the mailbox again, and now we have a cool mail carrier who doesn’t seem to mind. Unfortunately, the birds didn’t lay their eggs there. Same thing last year (except they could just use the nest that was still in the mailbox). This year, I saw a sparrow zooming out of the mailbox about a month ago, but I haven’t seen any since, and haven’t seen any eggs in the mailbox, either. Oh well. I like having birds in the yard, and not just for the kitties’ amusement.
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: I’m kind of bummed, too. Nice to have company.
MomSense
@mrmoshpotato:
I found the best chicken recipe – one of the easiest and tastiest I’ve ever had.
Here is the link https://damndelicious.net/2018/08/06/bbq-roasted-chicken/
I only use half the barbecue rub for one chicken.
My one hack is that I always put the chicken on a bed of thickly sliced onion rounds. It keeps the chicken from sitting in the juices and you end up with caramelized onions and the tastiest pan drippings. Using a cast iron skillet works best. The onions come out better.
I make this with garlic mashed potatoes. All you do is boil a bunch of peeled whole cloves with the potatoes and mash them with the potatoes, butter and salt. The combo of the potatoes, onions, and garlic mashed is amazing.
WaterGirl
@Mary G: Hell has frozen over. Credit where credit is due.
Central Planning
@MisterForkbeard: my in-laws have a cabin in the Adirondacks and they gets swarms if hummingbirds at their feeder. I think I’ve seen over 10 at a time battling to get to the feeder. They are amazing
germy
dmsilev
@MisterForkbeard: My local hummingbirds are a bit miffed right now, because it’s the time of year that the hooded orioles come through and hog the feeders. The little ones flit up, get a “WTF is this giant doing at _my_ feeder” expression, and fly off. Of course, the jacarandas are in bloom now, so they’ve got plenty of options.
jnfr
@trollhattan:
Squirrels and cats take out a lot around here too, damn them!
I love the birbs.
CaseyL
Dead ferns, huh? Birds must like “fixer” neighborhoods because predators think no one could be living there.
I am so thrilled to hear the birbs are back and brought a few neighbors with them. It makes me grin like an idiot when I remember how you updated us on them last year, and how pleased-but-sad you were when everyone was grown up and gone. Doting granddad!
No birds dare nest in my townhouse complex, despite the adorable landscaping and many large trees. Between the cats and the crows, it’s just not a good neighborhood for feathered children. The greenbelt behind our complex is probably ideal, though – not least of which because there is a coyote pack in residence, which will keep the cats out. (Coyotes, SFAIK, don’t go after small songbirds.)
ETA: John, the comments you have bellowed to your menagerie over the years have probably provided hours of entertainment for your neighbors. Do they ever come by to ask what was going on? Esp. back when Lily was early in recovering from cancer and, as I recall, you once yelled at Thurston that he could have extra treats when he, too, was recovering from cancer. The neighbors would surely have liked to hear the story behind that one!
MisterForkbeard
@trollhattan: He tells me actually did get one of them to eat off his shoulder, but he couldn’t film it. Still cool. :)
Haroldo
@Mary G:
Damn. That’s really good news.
Elizabelle
@donnah: First, your Helen Keller rug is gorgeous.
Second: Don’t know if this is still going on, but years ago there was a fierce Mama mockingbird who would build her nest in front of the Brookings Institution on Massachusetts Ave NW in Washington. In a tree too near the sidewalk.
She would swoop down on unsuspecting pedestrians and tear at their hair or head if they got too close to the nest. Locals would hang out and watch for that to happen. It was like Candid Camera. (They knew to cross on the other side of the street.)
And a few years, the police put up yellow tape to cordon off the nest. Whether to protect the mockingbirds or the passersby, I cannot say.
No idea if this still goes on, but it was fun while it lasted.
MomSense
@MisterForkbeard:
That is so cool.
HinTN
@patrick II: I hope it’s Sen Harris and not Sen Warren.
dexwood
@MisterForkbeard: Love it. The hummingbirds visiting my yard often begin feeding while the feeder is still in my hand as I hang them up after refills.
Elizabelle
@MomSense: Gonna try that BBQ chicken recipe.
That’s a great blog. I love the corgis. Butters and Cartman. She offers a lot of merchandise.
Jackmac
Three baby robins in one of my trees. Mama was not happy that I was taking a photo Today so I backed out quickly. They’re safe from predators and most human oafs.
Another Scott
Nice proto-birdies. Fingers crossed.
We have a bunch of old azaleas that need to be trimmed back. I’ve been waiting to do so because I’ve been seeing various types of bees in the flowers – some big ones (carpenter bees? bumble bees?) a couple of weeks ago, smaller ones (maybe honey bees?) now. The azaleas we have bloom at different times over several weeks, so maybe they’ll get a few more weeks to feed from them before they fade.
Haven’t noticed any nests around here.
I’ve got to clean up our humming bird feeders to have a chance to see any. We normally see a couple every year, but they’re very, very skittish and take off if they even notice us looking at them from 10′ behind the patio door… :-/
Cheers,
Scott.
Miss Bianca
@Mary G: Damn, am I going to have to start thinking well of Bernie Sanders as well as the Never-Trumpers?//
It’s like…like…a bunch of people actually woke up and faced the consequences of 2016!
Roger Moore
@CaseyL:
Your comment on the birds and coyotes reminds me of a chunk from The Origin of Species. Darwin was trying to explain how complex ecological networks could be and used the example of two kinds of clover, one of which was more common near villages. It turned out that kind of clover was only pollinated by bumblebees. Bumblebee nests were vulnerable to predation by mice, but the mice were kept in check nearer to villages by the presence of cats. It’s amazing how complex this stuff gets.
MomSense
@Elizabelle:
I stumbled on the blog and it really is great.
Aleta
Big bird is awesome (vid on twitter)
Cheryl Rofer
No eagle-owls in West Virginia, John
WaterGirl
@MomSense: That sounds great.
I am not a dark meat person. I guessing that wouldn’t work for just chicken breasts?
Chacal Charles Calthrop
@RepubAnon: cute reference
One More Red Nightmare
@Mary G: This is great news.
mad citizen
@MisterForkbeard: Cool video. I’m sure a bunch of us watched it, but it says “No views”, which is weird. I read one night that YouTube considers any view over 30 seconds a “view”, but not sure if that applies to a 32 second video.
I’m attuned to this because the few I’ve thrown up, and some of my grandson’s, are in the single to teens in number of views.
Aleta
@Roger Moore: That’s really interesting. What goes on between bumblebee nests and mice?
cain
@RepubAnon:
My first cat was afraid of snakes. First time he encountered one, leaped straight up into the air and took off.
Too funny..
The dog we have is afraid of flies. Will start shaking and vibrating if she even sees one.
Elizabelle
@Cheryl Rofer: That is the stuff of nightmares.
mkd
I left my front door Christmas wreath of boxwood up through the spring and it weathered to a nice soft yellow. I was about to take it down to paint the door and then put up a copper sun decoration. Full stop. I opened the door and, wowza, a mom or pop robin looked at me from the perch of the nest the pair built on the top of the boxwood wreath. I gently but quickly shut the door to avoid a bird in the house. I now have three fledglings and they and their folks are thriving. The bird shit will be sanded down and all will be repainted after they leave. This has happened, over recent years, with four different wreaths I have put over on the front door in the spring. Why am I surprised?
donnah
@Elizabelle: Thanks for the comment on the Helen Keller rug!
Mama birds are most definitely fiercely protective of their nests. I just saw the video of a Canada goose literally battering a woman in a parking lot for getting too close to her nest. And I’ve seen small birds attacking larger ones in flight.
Mother Nature don’t mess around.
phein60
I have a colleague who studies snake predation of birds (among other things); this is a big issue on military bases.* Climate change is leading snakes to prey on bird nests later in the evening — because it’s hotter — and the snakes are finding nesting birds instead of just the eggs, and it’s having a significant impact on the target species. So let the snakes beware!
*A map of locations of extant endangered species populations in the US laid over a map of military bases is almost a perfect match. Army installations are among the last few stretches of undeveloped land in the continental US.
Brachiator
Coming late to the thread. It’s been a long day.
Charming story and photos,
Air Bird n B. Love it.
dww44
@Haroldo: What a wonderful and wonderfully written story about a snake and a brave woman and a determined dog. Thanks for sharing.
laura
@trollhattan: and that would totes suffice!
MomSense
@WaterGirl:
i think it would for skin on and bone in chicken breasts.
columbusqueen
@donnah: My husband & I sat in a cemetery a few years ago watching while a nesting pair of red winged blackbirds dive bombed a redtail hawk. It was like seeing a WWII dogfight. The blackbirds finally drove the hawk off; we were genuinely impressed.
laura
@Baud: yes. That’s exactly how I imagine it.
way2blue
Ah. You’re so lucky! Our neighbor’s cat, Copper, hunts gophers in our yard, so the finches nest elsewhere…