Why I Feed the Birds

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Why you ask do we feed the birds here...
since worms and bugs are all so near.

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The sunflower seeds are needed to lure...
the songbirds closer in order to hear!

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We buy a 40lb. bag...usually one or more.
If the price starts to rise...then it's 3 or 4...
neatly they're stacked on the basement floor...
if we catch a big sale, we even buy more.
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Birds are messy so they drop some seeds...
that grow into flowers among the weeds.





Very tall some grow, maybe six to seven feet





with sunny yellow faces, that are so sweet!



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That's it...end of the poem Marcy!


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We do have several feeders that keep me busy
filling them with the sunflower seeds...and we
do tend to stock up...when it goes on sale.




This one is on a pulley, just off the deck.
Empty, as you can see...blogging is to blame!

These were taken through the window earlier

this summer...the squirrels always manage

to get their share...and so would the raccoon

if not for the stove pipe.

The Cardinals share the feeders with the

Red-bellied woodpeckers...note the deer and

all the piles of leaves...blogging again probably!

This is a small Downy Woodpecker...

and a Goldfinch caught in flight!

This is newly fledged baby Carolina Wrens...

they would sleep overnight on the porch blinds.

Here we have Alivia looking for ants and worms...

which she found!...and I don't even do that!

I found this single locust just out of it's shell

Monday morning...

A Sunflower just before blooming...

These came up together in a planter...possibly

they were stored there by a chipmunk!

Sunflower in full bloom with visitors.

The main reason we buy Sunflower seeds...
other than to feed the birds...

and attract them here...

or have the enjoyment of watching...

dropped seeds grow...

into beautiful sun-like flowers

is to share nature

with grandchildren as they grow.

Alivia...a few years ago!

spreading Sunflower seeds...

...and examining them closer!

That's why I feed the birds!

Dry Days.....Wet Days

June and July have given us dry days...

that bring the bugs out...

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and wet days that keep us in...

and Magnolia blossoms wet...

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Saturday was a wet day for us...



so when Alivia came down to visit...
out came her favorite book...and
behind it she hid!




just ignoring me and...
even trying not to smile for the camera...




but actually, I later got what I wanted....
one of her...deeply engrossed in her book!



Later she was off to draw...but what would it be...



After giving it some serious thought...


she made up her mind...and created some art...
that's how I enjoyed yesterday.


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Today...being a dry day...
Herhusband walked down the drive to
retrieve the trailer from the barn...



while I waited at the gazebo...

which yesterday...being a wet day...

the swing wore a raincoat ready for rain.

So after Herhusband left to help grandson

Dustin move some things...

I went into the field...with camera...

pass the windmill...

and pass the bench in the field....

to the hillside just beyond the wire fence,

where the blackberries are....

it is quite steep here in places...

with ragged old trees...

and areas of plants with tall white blooms.

It's thick with tall straight trees...

and dense with low growing fern...

On a walk here last week I discovered...

a Hawk feather...a small snail...

then an even smaller snail...

and an old empty shell...

on the ground just beneath.

Also on that walk I placed something...

at the base of this middle tree to see

how it might change in a week's time.

This was it a week ago...a little green walnut

on a stack of rocks...even had a smiley face.

Today it looked like this...

green turned to gray... the leaf pulled away...

and the pebble fell off...

but he's still smiling.

~

In a week I will return to see what I find.

On my way home this Box Turtle crossed my path..

with dark leathery skin...

and glowing pink eyes...which I just learned means

it's a male...females have yellowish brown irises.!

I found this slight heart shaped rock near him...

so I thought I'd take it home...

Eventually...I reached an entrance to field...

walked pass the pear tree...

then pass the Magnolia tree which has

a dry bloom today.

Oh, remember Alivia's artwork yesterday?

Well, she drew appropriate pictures...

One dry day.....One wet day!

Note which one includes a smile

and which one a frown!