Birdhouses

By Elizabeth Prata

I think birdhouses are neat.

There are/were a lot of them in my yard.

Most were here 14 years ago when I arrived as a renter. Some have gone by the wayside since then.

Below is my favorite view in the yard. The yard has various parts. There's the side where the fig trees are and the mockingbirds play. There's the other side yard with the azaleas and rhododendron and lilies. There's the near back yard with two sheds. There's the far back yard with this view of the pasture, hay, and birdhouse. It's a large birdhouse so it's always filled each spring with some sort of bird or other.

Below, if you look open in new tab larger you can see the baby inside with open mouth

I loved this birdhouse too but it is gone now.

This old birdhouse seems like a companion now. It is broken down but still hanging in there. When I look out over the lawn, its blue paint gives nice contrast to the green around.

The one with the chain still hangs from the magnolia tree. The other one is gone now. A bunch of wasps started making a huge nest in it, and I had to get rid of it.

These next ones are decorative bird houses, some are mine, some are neighbors that have come and gone, come and gone.

I hope you enjoyed this tour of my birdhouses. I enjoy my home inside, and out.

More backyard stuff

Taking a walk the other day out my backyard yielded surprises. I inspected microscopically, down, beneath my feet at the blades of grass hiding tiny mushrooms, as well as macroscopically, up, at the leaf patterns of the towering trees above my head.

Living here cracks me up, actually. I am a mile from town, yet folks have large yards, hayfields even. It is quite rural. One person has free range chickens and a rooster walking around on the lawn. They are pretty to look at, the rooster is a rust color and contrasts with the green grass and the pale hayfield behind him. As I return from the Post Office, I drive by the farm stand with pink neon cardboard posters announcing the latest produce for sale. Yesterday it was "Turnip greens," next to signs announcing "Open" and "Check it out!"

At night, as the windows are open and the little traffic we get during the day dies down, I hear dogs, chickens, roosters, the train, owls, birds and an occasional car. Sometimes someone laughing in the distance.

So the spring has progressed and I wandered out to the back corner of my yard and drifted near the hedge. I was interested in the part of the yard between the stand of apple and pecan trees and the mowed line where the hayfield begins. There is a line of birdhouses on posts, and standing on tiptoe I saw that they were all occupied with chicks. Well, I'll be dogged! I could not see them but I heard teeny little peeps and was completely charmed.


















I could not get the blue jay to turn around for me. A zoomed picture taken dark at dusk was the closest I could get. He is a fat boy, isn't he!

















Ah, the culprits of the pollen explosion. Spring is great, but the resulting yellow dust that grits everywhere is not.
















The regularity of this pattern reminds me of the Fibonacci sequence. There is mathematical harmony in growth. In my opinion of course, it is Designed.














I love wood. In this case, the differing colors caught my eye, from gentle tan to slate gray to green mossy lichen. The tree was still stately despite losing a branch.













Later dusk now, it was this little guy who got me outside to see what the ruckus was. He is standing about 15 feet from my bedroom window cawing up a storm. When I got out there and saw it was just a baby cardinal tweeting as the sun went down, I laughed and chided him gently. He paid me no mind and went right on calling. Such a huge sound from a little guy! I dubbed him my Sundowner Bird.

Curious about my yard

Now that spring is solidly in bloom and summer upon us almost, I am curious about the things in my yard.

In the garage are these weird pipe-like nests attached to the concrete walls. The holes are too small to be bird's nest, so I surmised it was an insect. Googling "weird insect nests" I discovered that they are organ pipe mud dauber wasps (or dobber). Solitary wasps, they lay eggs inside and the new hatchlings emerge from holes they create in the pipe.

This glorious tree has entranced me from the first. Its long, shiny leaves are thick and stout. The tree towers, it is about 75 feet high and proportionally pleasing to boot. It affords shade over much of the side yard, and to my extreme delight, provides great cover for many birds, who sing and chirp there all day long. I searched Google and found that it is a Magnolia tree. How wonderful! I have a Magnolia Grandiflora in my yard!

The roses are blooming. I don't know what kind they are but they are huge and colorful. I put my 'little girl' planter in front of it to support the long stems.There is another one, a red rose, in the front yard that is blooming one giant blossom right now. It looks to be a "Purple Passion" if I compare to this photo.


I am not sure what these three are yet, but the pink and white are really vibrant. More than I could catch in the high sun.

So after my trip to the Farmer's Market, I arrive back home to find two of the cutest doggies ever in the dog pen under the Magnolia tree. I emerged from the car laughing. The landlord laughed too and said that they sure were cute.


In a serious moment though, he said that he saw them trying to cross the busy road in front. They would step out and skitter back as a car whooshed by. He saw they were clean, and had new collars on with lots of tags so he surmised they were well-kept pets. He grabbed both and brought them to the dob pen. Reading the collar he saw a name that rang a bell, and called the woman across the street. Sure enough, the lady's friends were visiting, with their dogs, which they had let out to go potty and then the family fell back asleep.

I'm so glad he nabbed them. What a shame if they had been injured!