Dolittle's Domain

Archive for July, 2009

Babies in the rose bush

Every year a pair of Mockingbirds chose to build a nest in the rose bush behind the house. That hasn’t always worked out well. I trim the rose bushes in the spring, making the nest site too close to the ground. Last year we had to remove a chicken snake from the nesting site, but only after it was too late for the chicks.

Alas, this year pruning didn’t happen, giving momma & poppa bird more building space. Soon three little eggs hatched into fuzzy babies. They watched us with total indifference when we peeked into their home to visit. Even after they left the nest and hopped from branch to branch they didn’t panic when we approched. Momma & poppa learned to ignore our invasion, bringing lunch while we watched. When the babies moved on we missed the interaction we had established, but next year we’ll do it again.

Got milk?

Growing chicks

Our incubated babies are growing fast. They’ve been outside in a special pen for their protection. They are still a hoot to watch. They are quick to catch any unsuspecting bug that enters their domain. We still can’t tell the boys from the girls, but that’s just a matter of time.

One of my favorites..

Hummingbird moths are wonderful critters. I chased this guy around for days, trying to get a really good picture of him. Since they don’t stay still much and this one only showed up at dusk, trying to capture him in a photo quickly became a comedy. All considered, I think he’s a handsome fella. They act so much like hummingbirds my first reaction to him was I was watching a wounded hummer. Happily, I was wrong.

Baby Chicks

Just hatched chicks are so much fun to watch. They question everything with their pecking and scratching, even each other. This new world they find themselves in is full of mystery. Watching them find their way can be quite amusing.