Hawk Visit

It has been a while but the Hawk is back. I saw him hanging out in the Cherry tree next to the pond. I was able to watch him on a lower branch for a few minutes without scaring him away so I went in and got the camera. When I returned, he moved further away and turned his back on me. I took the picture and then he flew away. Later a squirrel was playing king of the pot, posing for a picture. Lucky for him the Hawk wasn't still sitting in the tree above his head or he might have been lunch.

Predator Protection Upgrade

While my Styrofoam floats provide some protection from the neighborhood predators, they are not very attractive. I received a couple of nifty gifts for Christmas. These are three plastic floating rocks, one large and two medium. To round it out is the floating solar fountain. Since we are in the dead of winter, the sun hasn't gotten high enough in the sky to produce electricity. But we are hopeful it will work as advertised in the spring. I'm interested in how the frogs will react to the floating rocks when they awake from their winter sleep.

Butterfly Bush Two

To finish with the Butterfly Bush story. The bushes on the side are as overgrown as the ones on the back. A quick hair cut opened the view - though not a beautiful view like the back yard. You can see the tarps covering the ramp off the deck. I started putting up the tarps years ago after a winter storm left the ramp treacherous for several days. It may not look nice but it sure does make life a lot safer.

Butterfly Bush Makeover

We usually cut back the wild growth of the Butterfly bushes in February but last weekend was the perfect weather to perform this annual task. This year the bushes took an unusually harsh beating from the storms so they looked more unkempt than other years. As you can see the back yard view improves dramatically with the severe haircut. Now we can see the beautiful expanse into the woods behind the house. The only downside is some of the neighborhood birds like to hang out in the safety of the bushes.

Blackbirds Take Over

Maybe the law of unintended consequences is taking hold by the pond. My wife wanted a bird feeded by the pond so she could watch some of the cute little neighborhood birds. But a huge flock of Blackbirds showed up on several occasions. We did get this great picture of a Blackbird coming in for a landing. And a bunch of Blackbirds who think the pond filter is just a great big birdbath. We are hopeful the Blackbirds will move on leaving the bird feeder to the other birds.