watching the squirrels

and the birds at the feeder
wow it is so very alive out there
really if you wanted to
you could sit for hours and hours watching all these guys

i haven't ever seen any backyard feeders that had this many birds and this many DIFFERENT species
we have the normal ones
titmouse
nuthatch
junco
chickadee
cardnials
mourning doves
house finches
gold finches
three different wood peckers

and then there are sparrows
tons of different ones
and i think i am seeing warblers too
i did see blue birds a few weeks ago
it is just amazing how many and how active they all are

i like birds

ok so someone that has pet house chickens and ducks MUST love birds ( there is a WHOLE yahoo group devoted to such insanity......called 'housechicken')

i think of my birds as overgrown canaries
sorta
or semi- less destructive parrots
that lay eggs
( i think of the sheep and goats as dogs....only much more useful and 'green')

all my birds are tame
even some of the wild ones that visit the feeder are pretty tame
the chickadees especially
those little guys crack me up
they are fearless!

they are also cheeky

and they will hit you in the head in their efforts to get to the feeder to have firsts on what you just put out........

some of them have sat on my shoulder while i am filling up the trays

see........cheeky

but adorable

we also have squirrels..... grays, reds and i think fox squirrel with the tufted ears

we have crows, and larger hawks
coopers
sharp shin
red tail
they cruise by looking to snag a meal on the 'fly' so to speak

or a fat squirrel
or bunny
or even a sweet little white duckie......... who isn't listening to her momma

and speaking of a sweet little WHITE duckie...........who is VERY WHITE all of a sudden
while we won't mention names (cleo) SOMEONE has been bathing again in the drinking water bucket

even lillianna has apparently gotten into the act,

but not like cleo......... vain little thing she is

phoebe as always is a mess and looks like a gray/brown goose

cleo is so bright i SWEAR she glows in the dark

yesterday we grazed a bit........... ok so duckies grazed and momma watched for hawks and fox..

they weren't really sure about that whole grazing thing after a winter of nothing but snow and ice on the ground

they again were convinced that killer whales were on the driveway, just waiting to eat thier feathered little butts
and they did not want to come out of the house

oh man

oh and the roosters
will be processed in about a week
i feel bad but there is too many......and no room
i was thinking to keep one
but decided no
i can always get a rooster
i need laying hens right now

and some nicely marled dk wool/mohair yarn........ or a nice skein of mountain colors barefoot...

oye

it's too early for me

vi