In our neighbourhood a family of gray partridges wanders
from house to house and finds leftover birdseed from feeders to eat. It has
been our privilege to have them in our yard a couple of times this
winter, all 19 of them. They are the same size now, but in the spring and
summer it was easy to distinguish the adults from the babies. Just imagine 17
little baby birds running along as if their life depended on it… and sometimes
it probably did!
Over the past 22 years I have seen our neighbourhood mature
and there is now more wildlife around than in the early days when only
jackrabbits and house sparrows called this place home. Tree swallows have
attempted to build a nest in our birdhouse a few times over the years, and last
year the house sparrows finally lost the battle. A few times a northern flicker
woodpecker has tried to make the hole in the bird house bigger, much to our
amusement. Robins have nested under the deck many years, and a few times cedar
waxwings have graced our tree with a nest. Chickadees are welcome daily
visitors year round, and house finches—my happy bird!—sing their hearts out in
spring and summer. Their beautiful song always brings a smile to my face, no
matter what my mood. This past year red breasted nuthatches have scurried up
and down tree trunks looking for insects. Our bird book is littered with sticky
notes of resident as well as migrating birds that have made a stop here and
entertained us while drinking and bathing in our waterfall.
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One of the two baby tree swallows had ventured out of the
birdhouse for the first time and was less than thrilled his brother got fed
first!
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The baby cedar waxwing was newly out of the nest and waited
anxiously to be fed
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Jackrabbits are still around, and while I curse them in the
spring when they nip off the tender shoots of tulips and crocuses, it is kind
of cute to see one settled down in a little hollow it has made in the flowerbed
and take a nap. “If I flatten myself, no one can see me” seems to be its
thought! We’ve had our share of baby rabbits in the yard over the years, too,
which is very sweet. The occasional squirrel races along the fence on its way
to somewhere, and voles have the perfect home under the waterfall despite our
best efforts to discourage that!
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A clump of baby jackrabbits!
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Occasionally the bizarre has happened. I recall the coyote
trotting down the path behind us without a care in the world an early morning; another
morning a deer took the same route. With no open water close by I can only
imagine the journey ahead for the mama mallard and her seven ducklings. How the
salamander ended up in our waterfall is still a mystery. And then there were
the deer in the backyard, two of them, on a bright summer day. People said afterwards when they saw the
pictures that I had photoshopped them in, but the broken electrical box by the
waterfall and the hoof prints in the grass and flowerbeds told another story.
I really love all this wildlife around me in the city… and I
really love my zoom lens and the continuous shoot setting on my camera!
