Who's Nest Is This???

It's about waist high in this small tree. Made with mud as well as other things. 

Early Morning Visitors Part 2. Unwanted Visitors.

The unwanted visitors, there is something dead type, are a pair of ravens that attacked the chicks their first morning out on grass. Papa and I woke up to 10 dead chicks in the pen, chicks everywhere; under the porch, in the bushes, everywhere, and Tucker laying beside the trampoline watching the ravens eat the dead chicks. Yeah it turns out Tucker has to be loose to be 'on duty' for ravens anyway. He does fine with coyotes while tied or crated, but apparently must be loose to bark at ravens. He does chase them off, we've seen him, but not while tied... strange mutt. 

Papa and the kids and I spent 45 minutes rounding up chicks, found 4 more that had been squished in the panic, and got them all back in the pen and fed. Over the next few days we lost several, I think 4 or 5, more... probably from too much stress. It's a terrible way to wake up on a beautiful Sunday morning. 

We had to re-plan our day as we'd planned on going to church and out for lunch and then to a car show that afternoon. We'd already told the kids we were going to the car show so Papa packed up the kids and took them to see the old cars and I grabbed my book and went out to sit on the lawn.. and it was good that I did. Those brave ravens came back again and again and again!! I moved myself around the yard and that kept them from landing. 

We've had troubles with ravens before but not in several years. We found that if we tied a black garbage bag on to a movable fence post and moved it around in the pen when we did chores the ravens wouldn't land. We also move our chicks every day or every second day and the ravens really don't like change so they will not attack. 

We've never ever had raven troubles the first night the chicks are out until now.

So we made this guy known as Scare Steve. He's a scare crow but he looks like and is tall like our friend Steve and the kids named him :) Tucker DID NOT like him and barked for ages until Papa brought Tucker into the chick pen and 'introduced' them. 

So far, it's been 10 days now, we are keeping the ravens away with a couple of proactive activities. We are moving the scare Steve every couple of days, we are moving the feeders/waterers/ wheelbarrow in the pen every feeding or almost every feeding.. so two or three times a day! We are spending a LOT of time outside which they don't like and we are hunting them. Well Papa is :) We are still having raven scares every day. In fact the kids and I moved the chicks across the driveway today into a new pen and within an hour the ravens were checking them out. The scare Steve is not yet in the new pen but it will be tonight. The kids are outside doing P.E. and that should throw the ravens off until Papa can get the scare Steve and the feed trailer into the pen. I'm also seriously wondering if I should get a couple of Papa's old shirts and change scare Steve's shirt every day or two. Papa and I also sleep with our window cracked so we can hear the chicks in the middle of the night. 

 Papa figures the chicks would dress out about 3 lbs right now so it shouldn't be too long before they are too big for the ravens but until then we will be doing everything in our power to keep them safe. The ravens will not go after my laying hens so at least we know there is a size where the chicks should be safe. 

More Mystery Bird Pictures.

New Bird On The Place!

Seems to us this is a male/female set but we can't figure out what they are?? 

They make a funny sound... almost like they are throwing up (nasty I know) while sitting up in trees! (Mating call??) and there are about 12 of them around in a flock.

Bird Houses :)

Well this weekend we had a extra day and we got a couple extra things done! 

One was the bird houses got put up! YAY!!

L under the tree with his birdhouse. 

J3's bird house.. he was asleep when we put them up but he knows this is his. 

Each birdhouse has a letter on it.. J's has his name as it's short enough to fit :) 

E supervising Papa putting up her bird house.

J chose one of the last pine trees on the place for his birdhouse! 

One of the extra 3 went in this big old spruce tree beside the house! 

One of the few trees Papa and I want to keep around the house.

R wanted hers on the chick barn. 

There is also one on Papa's shed and another poplar tree right behind the house.

8 new bird houses! I was a bit worried we'd be too late with Spring all of a sudden showing up but there were birds fighting over at least two of the houses the next day!! YAY!! 

The kids are very excited to see if their bird house gets chosen and if the birds like the locations they picked! Time will tell :) 

I will HOPEFULLY keep you updated.. I'm able to sit for short periods of time these days but it's going to get even busier around here for the next oh.... 6 months :) lol. 

Birdhouses

 J was suppose to make a 'stick house' out of a cardboard box, Popsicle sticks and tubes of paper.. I showed it to Papa and we both decided it was a useless thing. Then Papa put his foot down and said 'if he has to build something with wood it should be USEFUL" so we built bird houses instead of clutter.. It  also ties in nicely to our on going bird unit :) He did read the pages that went with the 'stick house' project :) 

J and his birdhouse :)

It really was a family project. Papa and I cut the boards, Papa cut the holes and helped the kids put them together. J, L and E pretty much put theirs together with the drill with Papa only showing and holding and  putting in a couple of 'holding screws.' R and J just passed him screws to put in to their birdhouses. 

 They are only missing one thing.. Papa is going to drill holes in the front under the entrance hole for a stub of a stick for a perch. 

L and his bird house :) 

E and her birdhouse. 

R and her birdhouse! 

J3 was SO very proud of his and that he got to 'help' Papa make it!! He loves it!! 

We marked them so when we put them up we will be able to remember who's is who's. The kids are very excited to put them up around the place and see who decides to live in them. 

New Neighbors.. of the Fowl Kind.

See it?? 

It is a grouse sitting in a spruce tree. 

The spruce tree is at the end of our driveway. 

It's not our tree actually it's Mr. M's but our driveway goes right by it.

I discovered our new neighbors one day while I was walking back down the driveway.. 

I'd gone out to take pictures of Papa bringing Maggie home.. I wanted one of him walking her down the road home.. I never got the picture I wanted as Maggie decided to NOT follow him and we chased her the whole way! Anyway.. I was walking back to the house with the camera and I was a TAD distracted as I was also taking the opportunity to train Tucker to stay on the house side of the raised beds and NOT follow me down the driveway, when something EXPLODED right beside me.. 

Yeah.

 I knew what it was the minute my heart went out of PANIC MODE. 

Grouse are known for this little trick. It must have been less then 3 feet from me and I panicked it and it panicked me and Tucker took the opportunity to come a bit closer.. 

I yelled at the dog and marveled a little at myself.. I had NOT dropped the camera you see! 

I gave myself a mental shake and turned around to see if I could find it and calmly took a picture. 

My heart didn't actually stop racing until I got inside. 

I walked up and down the driveway several more times that day and saw two grouse in all. 

Over the next two weeks we saw 4 in all, sitting in the trees, walking across the driveway like they owned the place. Chip barked at them. Tucker went to sniff them out and got yelled at. 

I think they may have been attracted to the area by our hay pile.

Then one day they were gone.. moved out. Found a better place to camp I guess.

Anyway now that they are gone we kinda miss them.. they were fun to watch. 

Even if they did like to get your heart rate a boost! 

New Bird On The Homestead

I was out milking the other morning when I spotted this bird and it's mate in the chicken pen eating the chicken grain. When I went to take a picture they both flew off but not far. Later on during the day the kids and I saw them several times so we looked them up.  It could be a mourning dove or possibly a bird that escaped from captivity like a African Collared dove ( which looks the most like our picture) :) What do you think it is??

Birds~ Birds~ Birds!

A few of these are running around loose :) No surprise there! 

Red winged Black bird. We have at least one pair of these on the place, maybe two.

White crowned sparrows.. TONS!

A pair of Robins :) The female is closer to the camera.

 The female! 

And NEW, to us anyway as we JUST found out what these are, 

The Yellow Rumped Warbler!! This sneaky little fellow is very hard to get pictures of! 

Good thing he likes all the bugs in the cow pen! 

 And a front view of this little warbler! 

We also have ravens, several chickadees, juncos, magpies, eagles, crows, more sparrows, and we are finding more all the time :) 

How Many White Crowned Sparrows Do YOU See??

I took this picture this morning. I did not count how many birds there were in the picture but J did :)  They are everywhere... and they LOVE the pig pen ;) 

Sorry the movie is a bit jumpy.. I had to stay quite a ways away and zoom in!

J counted 51!!