Monday Critter Blogging

This weekend we welcomed yet another species of bird to the property, the red winged blackbird. At first I did not recognize him because his epaulets were concealed and he showed only a yellow stripe. I have had an affinity for this bird since I first encountered them in Florida, and I almost despaired of attracting one.

Jasper has been driving off every wood duck pair that lands in the pond. No ducks need apply is his motto. Mrs Vache Folle reckons he is doing them a favor since our back yard would not be a good place to raise up ducklings, what with the dogs and snakes and neighbor cats. Jesse seems indifferent to ducks, but herons raise his ire. So far to my knowledge, no herons have even appeared this year.

The hummingbirds seem content with Mrs VF’s home made colorless nectar. We have just the one pair so far. It seems that they successfully defended the territory last summer.

The water snakes have been keeping a low profile, perhaps going back to their lair in view of the cool weather. I put six water hyacinths in the pond, and I expect that the snakes will enjoy the cover as soon as these double in about a week or so. We put in some other aquatic plants and rescued last year’s pickerel weed from the silt. The lily pads have just broken the surface. We’ll see if the turtles return to hide beneath them.

There was a big ugly air bubble under part of the pond liner, and we loaded it up with boulders so as to submerge it. I aim to add more boulders and make a small island for basking critters.