He's Back

Not sure if he ever left.  We just haven't seen him in a while.

Look at those talons!

Crazy Butterflies

After dinner one night, Gray looked out the back door and said, "Mommy, you've gotta see this!  There are 3 butterflies mating!"

"Let me get my camera," I say as I run up the stairs as fast as I can.  Obviously, I don't care about the privacy of these creatures.  I'm just thinking, I've got to get this on film!

Sure enough, there was a male and female mating with another male trying to get in on the action.

Do you know how to tell a male Monarch from a female?  See the black oval dots on the black lines of the two with their wings open?  That means they are boys.

Screech Owl

Saturday afternoon my parents found a screech owl perched in this opening close to their roof. The mockingbirds and blue jays were justa fussin' at him but he didn't seem phased by the commotion at all.

Even when we all gathered around right under him, he barely moved.
After we left to head home, Dad climbed a ladder and picked him up. He was so docile. He didn't even try to get away.

Later, after we met up for dinner with some extended family who were in town, we went back to Mom's and Dad's to see the owl. Emma and I took turns holding him.

I really wanted to keep it but I think it's against the law. But because Mom and Dad have a mockingbird nest with eggs in it next to the house, we walked down the street a ways and let it go there.

He didn't fly away when Dad opened his hand but as soon as he tried to place him in the tree he flew off!

Then we headed back...

Red Shouldered Hawks

Saturday afternoon Emma and I were on our way to spend some time together after a baby shower when we called to check in with the rest of the fam.  Roddy said Gray had something to tell me so he put him on the phone.

"Guess what, Mom!"

"What?"

"I heard the chicken in the woods {past our backyard} and it sounded like something fell on her because she made a loud squawk and then kept squawking. So I ran to the back door {which is mostly glass} to look for her and I saw the chicken and the hawk flying toward the house.  They both hit the window and then I opened the door and the hawk flew off.  The chicken ran into the guest room and hid under the bed."

"Oh my word!"

We have been waiting for this.  We have woods behind our house that belong to the church my parents attend.  So we get lots of fun wildlife including red shouldered hawks.  During lunch one day we saw this one sitting on our swing set in the rain. (Yes, that is a toy tracker at the top of the slide!! No, they don't ride it down. Although once we had a smaller riding toy and they did ride it down. Nothing broken.)

Another day we saw these two hawks flying over the house.

Most of the time we see one of them on our friend's rooftop or in a tree at the edge of our yard. I'm thinking about borrowing my dad's BB gun.  I'd have to find out if it's legal, though.  I would love having them if they would just leave our egg-laying pet alone!

Chickens

Ol' McWagner had a farm...E-I...E-I...O!

My friend's mom gave her three children baby chicks for Easter. I told her if she didn't want to keep them, I'd take them. She told me Sunday she was ready to get rid of them. So today they arrived!

We made a temporary 'cage' for them out of our old trampoline mat and a wire fence I took from someone's trash. I climbed in to hold them and it was nice and cool.

They have names but we may rename them. In fact, I can't even remember the gray one's name. The brown and white one is Clarabelle and the white one is Angel. They aren't ready to lay eggs yet but I can't wait til they do! Free eggs, yea!

After The Storm

We had quite a stormy morning two weeks ago. Roddy called to let me know there was a tornado warning in effect in our area. It got really dark with lots of rain and wind. Our friends a few miles away even had hail.

Well that night, we had the most beautiful sunset. Here is what I tried to capture from a second-story window.
Doesn't God just show us the most beautiful things after a storm?

First Snake of the Season

During lunch the other day I looked out the window and noticed this guy climbing up the ligustrum tree just outside the kitchen window. While he rested across the top of it, Emma distracted him on one side and I grabbed him from the other. He actually tagged my right arm but didn't hold on.

Striking the side of the aquarium that we kept him in for a couple of days... Black racers aren't the most friendly snakes.