I spend a lot of time outdoors when it's warm out, particularly on my back deck. From there I can watch the visitors to the bird feeder and birdbath under a big oak tree in the middle of my back yard.
Our bird variety is a little lacking: grackles, starlings, sparrows and the occasional cardinal or blue jay. We have one woodpecker that doesn't care for the bird feeder but will go for popcorn or bread. The squirrels have found the feeder, too, and I've seen as many as five underneath it at once. Sometimes a chipmunk will join in as well.
It's fun to watch the starlings with their huge, fledgling babies. The young ones don't have the adults' smooth, slightly spotted feathers yet but they're fully as big as the parents. They follow the older birds around squawking piteously and opening their yellow-rimmed beaks to be fed. I've noticed that the parents will eat their fill first before feeding their demanding young 'uns.
They were making themselves scarce earlier in the spring, but lately I'm seeing plenty of rabbits in the yard. I think I've glimpsed one of the ginger-colored rabbits, but most are the common brown variety. So far they haven't discovered my lettuce garden, but I should probably step up my harvest just in case.
Our back yard is very park-like because there are no fences between the large, wide yards. We often see foxes and woodchucks near the woods, and the raccoons and possums will come right up to the house at night. We have to have very secure trash can lids to keep the raccoons from festooning the yard with garbage the night before trash day.
I grew up on a 13-acre lot in a more rural suburb where we'd see deer in the pasture with the horses and wild turkeys in the woods. Even though I live closer to the city now, I'm glad to have this much wildlife to watch. Maybe I'll work on growing a butterfly garden next...
That past weekend was absolutely gorgeous - we sat on our deck quite a bit - glad you got to enjoy yours as well!
Posted by: Cagey | May 31, 2005 at 01:55 PM
I envy your Back deck. Sounds wonderful.
Posted by: Tilapia Guy | October 20, 2005 at 06:29 PM