Well, I don't feel like writing but I should at least draft some notes of what I've been meaning to write about.
Recently the trail camera pictures and video have had a pink hue. Well, I finally looked it up and it is a filter used for night vision that is supposed to move over the lens depending on the light level, but gets stuck while over the lens even in bright light. I tried the couple hints of what to do without luck, but the last time I unloaded the card there was a small section of files that were in true color, so it did work for a short time again.
Four sunflowers still alive (out of 50 seeds) and all in the corner of the house/porch/stairs. The first round of planting was pretty willy-nilly, and most if not all of those seeds got dug up and eaten. Second round of planting was a bit more thought out, but similar results. The last 8 seeds then got planted in this corner, and I put a little fence around them. From those, one came up in the corner by the porch, the biggest one currently. One was coming up further away from the porch side, by the house, and from one of the prior plantings. I soon got a fence around it, too. And there were two smaller ones coming up in the corner by the house from the last planting. There was one coming up in a perfect spot by the back corner of the garage, but that got eaten and dug up before I had the wits to fence it in. I'll know better next time.
Two weeks with hardly any rain. So I mowed first time this year back on May 13 and not again until June 4, and even then I only mowed the back yard. So far without rain the back yard seems to be holding its own for now, while the front lawn is almost fully brown. We have a sprinkler for such a situation, but it's way too early to panic. The sunflowers and garden get watered, that's enough for now.
So much for not feeling like writing, I guess. I'll grab a picture of the sunflowers to add and call it a post!
It's been a pretty good vacation, a nice time away from work. I had all of last week off and tomorrow yet, before I have to return on Wednesday. No big projects but some spring chores done and much needed relaxation. I have one day left tomorrow, and I've been trying to keep it pretty clear so I can just relax most of the day and do whatever I feel like doing, so today I feel like writing.
Every spring I've had what I called Plant Day, the vacation day that I get a bunch of plants to pot or plant them around. This year has been a little different; I got a couple hanging plants for out front plus the big pot out front and planted sunflower seeds for the first time, but so far haven't potted anything for the decaying stump area. That option is still open, just not so urgent this year. And out of 50 sunflower seeds I'm seeing 6-8 coming up so far. I could see that critters were sniffing them out and eating them almost as quick as I could plant them, but thankfully it looks like a few survived. More on this later, I'm sure.
I got a couple short videos the other day of some of our new F-35s coming in for a landing, they always seem to go in twos. I don't see that they're louder when landing than the prior F-16s, maybe louder when taking off but they're up and out so quick it doesn't last long. And from before the eggs were ransacked I got an interesting - and common - duck scene on video, too. It was fun to follow Mother Duck as she tried to have her nest under our stairs, but it's just too exposed to end well. While I have the destruction and heartbreak on video I won't be posting it and hope they don't try to nest here again. Watch this instead. :)
And while I wanted to sleep in later this morning, instead I was roused by the sound of large equipment running nearby. Neighbor Jane's tree stump was getting removed. Shortly after taking pictures of the bird feeder, seen here recently, there was fresh paint and flags for the utilities, plus someone came out last week and dug some test holes to verify just how deep those utilities were. I watched through our front window as removing the stump was an interesting process to see up close, and just took a few hours. I guess some other crew will be by to seed it and lay the hay mat over it, we'll see.
I'll put a few more pictures of the stump to terrace renovation after the break.
It's not the warmest or brightest day today, but it feels good outside. I made baguette this morning so the house smells like bread, and I just mowed for the first time so the outside smells like freshly cut grass. Well, mostly mowed, as the duck is on her nest so there is a small patch in front and below in this picture that I'll need to get later this evening when she's off to feed. The lawn looks sharp, freshly mowed, the hostas haven't fallen yet and the lilac is blooming nicely - and more purple than I remember seeing in recent years.
We found out that late neighbor Dave's daughter and her husband will be renovating the house next door and hope to move in come fall. The house is in pretty rough shape and they outlined some big plans, admitting it is a daunting task, but they have a contractor friend that will be doing much of the work. No small kids and no renters, so we're happy so far and hope all goes well for them.
There's a slight chance of rain and the wind is supposed to pick up this evening, so doesn't look like I'll be having a fire this weekend, but I'm on vacation this coming week plus a couple days after that. I don't have a ton of plans, just a list of spring chores to do and I'll make a trip down to see my Mom sometime since Mother's Day is tomorrow. Anyway, Kate is off caring for her Dad so despite the gloom of clouds I'm going to stay happy, get out of the house and go grab a bite to eat and see what's going on in the outside world. Have a great weekend, everyone.
Oh, I also wanted to mention the cat's little present, a bird feeder just outside the front window for their entertainment. I'll put couple pictures after the break.
Well, so far so good, as far as I can tell. I got a pretty good look in the nest today while the mother duck was elsewhere for some reason, and there's at least 6 eggs in the nest. This picture was from an open window and I'm not sure why she left them uncovered for a bit.
After work today I brought in the trail camera to empty the SD card and see what's happened so far. I saw all the critters previously mentioned poking around the nest area, some while the mother duck was right there. Apparently squirrels are slightly afraid of ducks.
But I did also see a mother opossum come around, which I was hoping I wouldn't as we suspect it was an opossum to get at the eggs the last time. It doesn't appear she went after eggs this time, but there is a short period between when the camera will take these short videos so it's possible if she was quick about it.
But mostly so far has just been mother duck fussing about her nest. I put a handful of dead plant I picked from nearby and she used that up quickly. Later I put some of the failed nest from in back of the garage nearby and she's used some of that, too. I'm not sure why the video is so pink/purple now. I thought maybe because the sun was on it but that can't be all the time. When I replaced it I put it under the other side of the steps so we'll see what it looks like next time.
The duck seems to leave the nest in the evenings before sunset and come back in the early morning to spend all day. So later yesterday evening I was finally able to get out and plant sunflower seeds in that corner. But now today I'm waiting for her to leave so I can water them.
We have a duck under our back steps again, maybe the same one as 5 years ago. We knew that a duck had been there, but there were a couple times we accidentally scared the heck out of them so thought they had moved on. But, weren't sure so I moved the trail cam to behind the first step and under the second step facing the area. I've used the trail cam in a few areas since unloading the SD card, it began overlooking the firepit area from the corner of the garage, then I moved it under the step here, then used it for a timelapse of a firepit last night, and after that a timelapse of a nest that was being built on top of the bat house on the garage. The nest failed, sparrows I believe, everything blew off in the wind.
We hadn't noticed any more duck activity in several days, until today Kate noticed a female mallard land in our back yard and sure enough, she made her way under the stairs. Just a bit ago I went out and got the trail camera, unloaded the card, then put it under the stair again. Very carefully, of course, as to not disturb her while sitting on her nest, and also there was a male around the other side of the porch that I didn't want to rile up. I hope it's at a good angle, but it's there now.
I hate to bring it up, and I'm not hoping it happens again, but it did not end well last time. While reviewing the video shots of that area just now I've seen a couple different kinds of birds, squirrels, chipmunks, a rabbit, and a cat investigating the area before I saw this clip of the duck waddling in last Tuesday morning. It's illegal for us to disturb her nest, but eventually something will and it will not be good for the ducks, unfortunately. I don't think there's eggs yet, but it looks like there will be soon.
I'm over 50, married and child-free. My wife and I have a home not far from downtown Madison, Wisconsin, since 2009. I like music, taking pictures and good humor - plus writing about it all here. I am still not on farcebook or other social media, only Blogger and YouTube. Email me at scoakatsblog@gmail.com. I check it every so often.
