Rainy Saturday

It rained for most of today and we picked up just about an inch of much needed moisture. It will be good to roll up the garden hose and put the sprinkler away for a few days. Since my overtime was not approved for the weekend, I got to stay home all by myself while Mr. Johnson enjoyed a fun day at work. I spent most of my day knitting and watching birds (with a few loads of laundry thrown in so Mr. Johnson didn't think I totally wasted my time today).

The rain wasn't continuous, so there was plenty of bird activity all day long. I do have some bad news to report though.....when I went out to check on the baby bluebirds last night the nest box was empty! The nest itself was undisturbed, but there were no babies in it. Raccoon? Snake? I'll never know and this has never happened before in my yard. I'm so sad and I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird are too. The only good thing about this is that Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird have stuck around the yard and are looking at another nest box in the front yard. And I'm thrilled that they are hanging around and even coming up to the deck to pick some mealworms out of the feeder I have there.
Did you know that the male bluebird will feed the female? I was happy to be able to capture this image, and even though the male is a little blurry, look how wide that female has her beak open to accept the mealworm from him.
Other birds share mealworms from this feeder, including Baltimore Orioles, Chickadees, and Downy Woodpeckers.
The Bluejays have finally started coming back. They've been gone for several weeks -- busy with nesting and raising a family, I guess. Since they're coming around again, I've started putting some peanuts in the shell back out on the deck. And it's not just the bluejays who are enjoying these peanuts......I have a couple of chipmunks stopping by too.

I know a lot of people hate chipmunks, but I just have so much fun watching them up on the deck and so do Penny and Sophie from behind the patio door.

This little one has lost about half of its tail, so it's easy to distinguish from the other 'munk also coming for peanuts.
For whatever reason, this little 'munk decided to spend some time in the flowerpot with my snapdragons. I've got some compost mixed in with the soil in these pots, so I don't know if he's eating something from the compost or burying a peanut.
Pretty cute, don't you think? (I probably won't think so when I get home from work some day and the snapdragons are all dug out of the pot.....)
I cleaned out and refilled all my hummingbird nectar feeders this afternoon and it didn't take the hummingbirds long to come back for more refreshment. I was surprised to see a second female fly up to this feeder with one female already there feeding.
A few tense moments ensued and I waited for one to chase the other one away.....
.....but amazingly enough, they were both able to sit and eat without fighting.
I hung this feeder under a weather dome, so I think they were both just happy to be able to drink some nectar and stay out of the rain.