Monday, October 18, 2010

Stoking up for winter

Could I have some service please?

I haven't turned the heat on yet but the days are definitely getting colder. The squirrels are dashing madly about burying and reburying their little treasures. We haven't had any wild turkeys hanging around and there's been only one possum so far. (Happily, no bears!)

Flocks of migrating robins stop by to plunder the tiny crabapples on the trees by my patio. Most of them seem to be young ones on their first migration. They're giddy with the adventure of traveling to new places.  They flutter back and forth playfully chirping about all the fruit and fun.

My favorite bird, the cedar waxwing, has also arrived, but the flock is smaller than usual this fall. They descend on the trees timidly since they are smaller than the robins. I often hear them before I see them--they make a high-pitched keening sound that alerts me. With their muted colors they'd be easy to miss otherwise.

We had a kestrel (aka sparrow hawk) haunting the wooded lot next door this summer. I had seen it once, but really took notice when it killed a sparrow right outside my "office" window. I heard a strange bird sound and looked out to see a flurry of sparrow feathers from beneath the larger bird. It was gone in a flash. That explained why there aren't a huge number of sparrows around. There's a pair of prolific sparrows who are brooding in a nest under the overhang of the garage roof all summer long. It's kinda sad that they're going to all that trouble just to produce offspring for the kestrel to eat.

Of course, we'd be overrun with sparrows if the weren't eaten. I'm just thankful there aren't any human "sparrow hawks" to prey on plump bloggers like me! LOL

9 comments:

Sparrow chic said...

Love the bear and of course the infamous Cedar Waxwing ( infamous in our family anyhow).

I too have heard the excited Robins chirping about their impending journey. Reminds me of a childs excitement of leaving on that long waited vacation.

Glad your blogging more. I've missed it !!

Nancy/BLissed-Out Grandma said...

I've seen cedar waxwings just take over a small grove of trees... but they aren't including our yard in their journeys. I think we have all the wrong kinds of trees.

Teresa Evangeline said...

I love this post, Ms. Sparrow. Several very fine phrases here. Nature sure does provide some great stories to share, doesn't it?

Kittie Howard said...

Such a bright, philosophical post, Ms Sparrow. Thank you! Here, in Northern Virginia we've mostly got the Canadian geese overhead. It's amazing how one could almost set the clock by their yearly migration.

I see where Michelle Bachman is in the news quite a bit these days. Sounds like she has national ambitions!

Pearl said...

Soon it will be just the squirrels, the rabbits and the crows...

Pearl

Kittie Howard said...

I'm getting back into the routine after a settings glitch with my computer. Prior to this I'd checked your site several times (believe I left a comment once hoping all was well) and was a bit worried you'd stopped blogging. Happy to read (previous post) you've got your mojo back. Ahhh, that mysterious mojo, that something that gets us all from time to time.

Thank you for your comment. Yep, the entire situation was outrageous. Somehow, I knew that then and bundled my strengths/resources and moved on. No other choice, actually (other than to drown in their misery and that's not me). In answer to your question, no, no one ever apologized. I don't think it ever entered their thinking to do so.

Even when I was a toddler (so relatives have told me) I was never one to fuss or cry about something that I couldn't have or couldn't do or realized I couldn't do. I've also been told that when I realized something positive was within my grasp I didn't give up until the goal was achieved.

Linda Myers said...

Love the shot of the picnic-hopeful bear!

Cheryl Kohan said...

Okay, there's that bear...a very cool looking bear-dude sitting there at that picnic table!

All of our birds seem to have disappeared, too. Even the winter birds aren't hanging around. I think we might get snow on Wednesday so we'll have to start filling the feeders.

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