vultures are back!

Went out in the living room this morning and saw two huge black birds again! One on the railing by the rain barrel, and one perched on the little end of the vertical 4x4 where the falling oak broke the rail.

That one flew as soon as I appeared -- it was only about 4 feet from the window. The other waited until I was almost ready to take the picture, of course, then decamped.

(Couldn't locate the Olympus on short notice, and the phone's exposure meter has gone totally wonky, but here's documentation, anyway. Better pictures from August are on Flickr.)

backyard birdies

I am, perforce, spending the summer at Sycamore Street in town, where there is an access ramp, Meal on Wheels, easy visiting by friends and helpers. I have some VERY UNUSUAL backyard birds here. The acre of post oaks has always housed lots of birds including screech owls and mourning doves as well as the mockers, jays, chickadees, and so forth. But as far as I know, this is the first year that black vultures have raised young here.

I first saw them back in April or May, making an extremely clumsy landing on the deck railing by the rain barrel at the back of the house. Startled me! At close range they're HUGE. Also the young ones can fly much better than they can land -- that takes more practice. 

As the summer has gone on, they continue to come for water and to perch on nearby dead branches (too many of them after last summer) or often on the railing. What with my caregiver coming, daily Meals on Wheels volunteers, and a number of visitors, they have gotten quite blasé and tame about people. Alerted by their rhythmic, raspy vocalizations, I got to the window with my camera the other day. Half a dozen photos are up on Flickr. The photos suffer from being taken through an excessively dirty window -- "levels" and "saturation" can only do so much. 

I have had a breeding pair of black vultures for years out at Red-bird Ridge seven miles outside of town, but these semi-tame guys are quite something. Most of my visitors have seen them now, which tends to give then quite a thrill

hello, 2012

Sunday 1 January 2012


Last week CoServ came rolling across the garden and into the back yard with an ENORMOUS truck, and cut down my dead oak tree. BEFORE it fell on the electric drop from the transformer.






I'm happy about that. But the black vultures won't be. They will have to find somewhere else from which to survey the countryside.




There was a pretty good freeze last night -- the surface of the bird bath was pretty well iced, though Alabaster seemed to be able to drink from it around 8am. Cold tongue, brrrr! Agate declined to go out till after 10, when it had warmed up into tho 40°s.

There is unlikely to be another freeze for at least a week, and also little chance of precipitation. I will try to get both Eddie and Steve organized to cover up the playhouse roof next Saturday. Listening to Michael Pollan read his A Place of My Own audiobook has motivated me to try and save my “hut in the woods,” though I am unsure of its future. [update -- I spoke to Eddie about noon today as I post this, that is, Jan 8, and he got the tarp on]

Yestorday Eddie did a real nice job of replacing the short fence segment that CoServ rolled over (buried in briers as it was) at the sw corner of the garden. He made a wire-gate wide enough for a vehicle, if needed. There is a lightweight white plastic post in the center of the opening part that both makes the gate-span visible, and can be easily removed to allow a pickup through for access to the back of the house.

This shows the new section of fence, as well as my volunteer mustard greens in the garden. They came up after it started to rain this fall, and I have been nibbling away on them, picking 4-6 leaves at a time. The chickens like them, too ;-)

2 more April days in the garden

planted so far (4 April)
tendergreen mustard, radish, lettuce oak leaf
white onions, red norland potatoes
sugar snap peas
peppermint, chocolate mint, candy mint (?), orange mint
bouquet dill (split in two)
ruffled basil, Italian flat parsley, stevia
mammoth dill
elfin thyme, golden thyme, lemon thyme
sweet alyssum (2), bluebonnets (2)
Fairy Tale eggplant, Brandywine tomato, yellow plum (pear)
Celebrity tomato, Sweet 100, Mr. Stripey, Green Zebra, Old German, Jubilee
Lilac pepper, sweet banana pepper
Classic eggplanto, Ichiban eggplant

still waiting
cucumber
yellow squash, zucchini, cantaloupe
winter squash
pole beans
sweet almond verbena, lemon verbena, lemon balm
purple sage, purple small-lvd basil, compact oregano
oregano, rosemary
zinnia
morning glory
nasturtium

April 5 - finished herb bed w/8 herbs above plus 3 portulaca and expensive gallon Mexican mint marigold from Meador’s ($6.95). While preparing the last part of the bed, I succeeded in digging out a quite sizeable brier root. Proud of myself.

Discovered that the Blue Lake beans I got at Meador’s were bush, not pole. Oh, well. Have to squeeze out a row for them, and get limas for the poles in the squash hills. MUST get seeds in ground tomorrow.
The little Ichiban eggplant is looking much better. Something had unearthed one onion set; stuck it back in again.

Cloudy this morning, clear afternoon, still (or again) very windy. 80°F. Spring will be very short at this rate.

Birdfeeder -- cardinals, 2 towhees, dove, Harris sparrows, chickadee, titmouse. I hear a bird that sounds like the last three notes of whitethroat - just three long whistles - maybe it’s Harris.
Photographed black vulture on transformer pole, and movie. Turned off camera JUST before it took off. Drat!

11pm and still 72°F!



6 April Tuesday

mostly cloudy, still windy, 66°, 70s by midmorning
Buddy’s hair coming out in huge mats. Seems to be almost no hair on his shoulder and back of thigh, I can see dandruffy skin. Flies getting bad. Will ask at D&L.
Bacon, onions, and poke sallet on toast for breakfast.
One potato is up! and an onion.
I’m procrastinating. Must go out and till okra and squash space.


Later -- all tilled, 10 squash hills, rows for okra and beans, spots for cukes. Planted 3 hills, cantaloupe, 2 each yellow squash and zucchini.
S'posed to be way cooler tomorrow, sixties instead of eighties, and near 40 overnight. Protect eggplants?