Albert and Willow are still taking care of their first two babies. Rusty and Audrey. The kids are making it to the feeder by themselves now. I guess Albert feels it’s time for more baby making! Willow has been showing up with new nest material stuck to her too.
I love Oxalis! Their little pink & white flowers make me happy. I had forgotten my Iron Cross Oxalis in the house. I’m just now taking the corms out of dormancy. (pic 6) They flower in a bright pink color. The foliage has a wine colored “cross” in the middle. I have a 4th pot thats a mix of green & purple. They are all happy at the side of my canopy.
Willow(Cardinal) came to the feeder with nesting materials stuck to her. Now that Audrey & Rusty are teens she & Albert are getting ready for their second brood. Albert has been wooing her again. The teens are feeding themselves pretty regularly now. Parents still with them though. I only have one picture of Rusty(10th) He keeps flying to the top of the feeder. Clark and Ellen Goldfinch are regulars now at the finch feeder & camera feeder. We had a brown thrasher & Catbird visit. Very cool birds! A group of 3 or 4 female house finches really enjoy the jelly! Gonna call them the Golden Girls. Never have a male with them!
I’m just started watching BB. Mostly because I watch Traitors and I wanted to see how the BB players got their gamer reputations. (I’ve been a day 1 Survivor watcher)I decided to start with S2 & am just finishing S3. It’s funny I didn’t find Will to be the Evil Doctor. Maybe it’s because I’ve watched 50 seasons of Survivor or because I haven’t seen his All Star Season. Found him to be a smart gamer and use what he had to his advantage. S3 I hated Dani on the Traitors she seemed to believe her own hype & came off fake.(playing a character of herself) On her first BB I like her game play with Jason. It was a good alliance & good strategy. Again I haven’t seen her other seasons of BB. I imagine she changes by how she was on Traitors. Will was out too quick so I got nothing about him. I really don’t understand how BB producers in earlier seasons sent the evicted home to let them then watch the season before voting a winner. Crazy to me. Should been based on their time and interactions when in the house. I understand now it’s more like Survivor players going to Ponderosa after being voted out. They are unable to watch the season play out. Question, Should I go ahead and continue to watch in order? So I can see how the game evolves over 20 + years or skip around a bit? Standard Def kind of stinks to watch but,I’ll
push through it if the seasons are entertaining.
I dig what’s left of Fat Albert’s (he’s normally much more rotund) crest. How it still sticks up mohawk style. Last picture is him preforming Daddy Bloodcheep duties. Teaching his youngins about the feeder. It had been raining sorry about the lens. I’ve named the babies Rusty and Audrey(Griswold from Vacation)
Well Albert and Willow had a boy and a girl! I guess I’ll call
her Audrey since her brothers name is Rusty. We’ll
keep it in the Griswold family. Look at her cute little eye brow feathers! I love the wee ones coming to the yard everyday! A storm had just come through so sorry about the lighting.
One of Albert & Willows babies made it to the feeder around 5:15 am ! They have been in the bushes all week. He’s so friggin cute! I think I’m gonna call him Rusty( Griswold) Original Vacation. Also because of his color.
Leelo (she has a little nesting material stuck to her beak) is for sure our top fighter at Das Futterhaus . Now with Willow(Cardinal) and with the female house finches.The house finches love the jelly as much as Leelo. That ruffles her feathers! Willow and Bruce( rose breasted grosbeak) got into it too for the first time. Willow won that one but, Leelo wins every time! Not one of them stick around. Squawk a bit & fly off. (it was raining sorry about the blurry lens)
This week on and off Albert and Willows young ones are coming with them to our yard. They are so noisy when they want to be fed! Cute little roly -poly buggers. They can’t quite figure out how to land on the feeder. They stick to the bushes or ground. One keeps trying to get there but, loses his/her nerve at the end. It is amazing how quickly they understand thats where the food is! Yes, Albert is going into an early molt.
Leelo my female Oriole has now kicked off both Albert & Willow from the feeder. No Cardinal gets between her and her grape jelly! Albert is looking pretty rough. I’m pretty sure him protecting their nest and fighting is going to cause him to molt early. He’s been bloody a few times this mating season. I’ll have to post Leelo filling her beak with jelly and flying off to feed the wee ones. ( Leelo is from the movie The Fifth Element. Albert in the winter is a big boy so he is Fat Albert from the cartoon Willow is from Buffy The Vampire Slayer)
She’s been in the same pot for 4 years. I can’t tell you how many times I dropped her on her head and had to start over. Now look at these gorgeous roots! They couldn’t be any healthier. Moved her up one pot size to one of my Grandmas pots.(this is a set of three middle sized pot) She had a lot of babies last summer. Hopefully more this year!
Voldemort is really stuffing his beak tonight! I Assume to take back to the wife and kids. Grackles are not my favorite. I have two males that have hung around since migrating in April. I’ve tried everything to discourage them. Giving up. As long as my song birds keep coming they can eat. They stop coming it’ll be war on Voldemort’s!
Really Voldemort? Ya,trying to fit the whole feeder in your beak? I assume he’s taking them back to the wife & kids. I have two males that have hung around since migrating in April. I’ve tried everything to discourage them. I give up.. all my favorite regular birds and a bunch of first time birds come to our feeder. I’ve seen my song birds chase them off. As long as they keep coming I’m good. It’ll be war if Voldemort scares them off.(I call all male Grackles Voldemort. )
I was shocked she flew up to the seed feeder. She and her mate have been at their orange & jelly feeder(in the background) for some time. I had just brought in their jelly cup to wash & fill. This may have been her way of telling me I wasn’t refilling it fast enough!
Bought plants Memorial day weekend. Finally finished planting and bringing plants back outside from winter. Everything is small still. This maybe the smallest my elephant ears have been in the spring. They bloomed inside this year so the new leaves rolled out smaller. I have never done Marigolds before but, I just loved the yellow paired with the yellow zinnias with the orange center. Went with a lot of bright colors this year!
My first goldfinches of the summer! Kurt and Goldie my regular mated house finches. They have been coming since last fall. Nadia my Downey woodpecker with an Oriole in the background drinking out of the ant moat on their feeder. Last but not least Albert looking really rough from defending his territory. Not sure if it’s just from other male cardinals or from fighting with the blue jays?