Sunflowers & Squirrels

Last summer I planted some sunflower seeds in my garden. I didn't plant the giant sunflowers because I didn't think that anything growing 14 feet tall and with a heavy seed head could withstand the strong winds we sometimes get in our backyard and I didn't want the sadness of seeing those flowers on the ground after a summer thunderstorm. So these sunflowers I planted only grew to about 10 feet tall with much smaller seed heads, but they sure were purdy!
I planted them right by the clothesline so I got to enjoy them every time I went out to hang up laundry for drying. It was also really neat to see who visited those sunflowers -- goldfinches seemed to like them the best!

And once fall arrived with the first killing frost, other birds flew in to take advantage of the sunflower seed bounty, including this handsome male cardinal who really had to work for his treat!

Before the frost arrived, I harvested some of the fullest seeds heads and dried them in the garage so I could put them out for the birds in the wintertime. I added a few to the feeder pole on my deck next to the finch's tube feeders, but never noticed that the finches were too interested in them. However, now that we're getting early spring weather, look who's back from hibernation under the storage shed and found my sunflower seed heads.......

One afternoon last week in a pouring rain, I looked out the patio door and saw this hungry little red squirrel on a very precarious and slender perch helping himself to sunflower seeds.

It was such a rotten day that I didn't have the heart to chase him away and grabbed my camera instead.

I was amazed at his ability to perch on the smallest of branches with just his hind feet and eat his fill of these seeds while seeming to hang out in mid-air.

Here's the branch he was perched on! I still can't believe it was able to hold him -- especially after eating almost all the seeds on this sunflower head!

I have a few of last summer's sunflower heads remaining in the garage to put out for the birds. Hopefully the finches and cardinals will still have an opportunity to enjoy them, but I think their chances are much slimmer now since the red squirrels discovered this treat too!

Squirrel Antics

After many years living at this place, I finally have a few squirrels as regular visitors in the backyard. I really don't mind squirrels -- many of my birdfeeders are squirrel-proof so the squirrels mostly behave and eat at the ground feeder trays that I fill with corn for them. The squirrels do give me plenty of photo opportunities and lots of chuckles while watching them from my dining room window. Here are a bunch of pictures that I've been saving up for several months and am finally getting around to sharing them here on the blog.

Here is my fattest gray squirrel trying to figure out how to get the delicious, peanutty birdseed from my Yankee Tipper feeder.
The beauty of this feeder is that the lid is heavy aluminum and can't be chewed through -- all the while the vision of those peanuts is taunting this squirrel.

The large diameter and smoothness of the seed tube doesn't give the squirrel any chance to grab on and shimmy its way down to the seed ports.

I was waiting for the squirrel to drop down onto the tray so I could see the tray tip the squirrel off, but this guy evidently has experienced one of these feeders before and didn't even try to get down to the seed.

So the next stop was my woodpecker log filled with delicious peanutty suet -- only to encounter another disappointment with the cage protector. Can you believe how chubby this squirrel is?

I do let them drink as much water as they want though. ;-)

For entertainment value, this Squngee corn feeder has been a good addition to my backyard feeding station.

However, my squirrels are too lazy (or maybe too fat??) to jump up on the ears of corn once they eat past the point of where they can reach from a standing position.

Whoa!! Getting a little off-balance here!

Corn is OK, but peanuts are way better! Another trip to the deck for shelled peanuts.

Drat! Can't even chew through this metal feeder! (and I can't even imagine how awful that green plastic coating must taste)

This ambitious squirrel found easy access to the corn on the cob I put out for the bluejays to peck on. His bushy tail makes a good umbrella on this rainy day.

And if you're a squirrel not ambitious enough to leap to the corn cobs, it's pretty easy to pull them over from the feeder tray. This skinny squirrel is not a regular visitor -- probably because Fatty keeps chasing all the other squirrels away.

I have at least 2 red squirrels who visit regularly too. These little guys are my favorites. Even though they can be super naughty, I still think they're adorable.

Because of its smaller size, the red squirrel employs a totally different method for obtaining peanuts than the big gray squirrel has to use.

I'm amazed how this little guy can hang on with only its back feet and eat the peanuts with its front feet......and in the pouring rain too!

This looks like a squirrel bed and breakfast! Lazy bugger!

There were a few really snowy weeks last winter when the squirrels were absent from my backyard, but once it got closer to spring, they started to reappear. They seemed to be especially grateful for fresh water at my heated birdbath.

And even heavy snow couldn't deter this determined red squirrel from raiding the birdfeeder tray for its favorite snack -- black oil sunflower seeds.

The tree stump offers a good place to stop and snack on sunflower seeds in a snowstorm too.

Squirrely Fun

Hey, didn't this thing used to be filled with peanuts?

OK, so no peanuts....but wait, I see another birdfeeder over there!

I should be able to get to this one without any trouble at all!

Wow, I see peanuts and shelled sunflower seeds. Excellent!

Good nuts,
Good seed,
Good gosh,
Let's eat.

Nom, nom, nom!

And in case anyone's wondering, this birdfeeder is now filled with safflower seeds and the squirrel is back to feasting at the ground feeder trays where he belongs!

Catching Up

Did you take advantage of "Black Friday" deals? I am definitely not a black Friday shopper and decided to go to work instead. I couldn't believe the numbers of people out that day and all parking spots appeared to be filled in the shopping centers I passed coming home from work. I did take advantage of one sale though and purchased (for myself) the 8-GB iPod Nano (boring black) in an e-mail offer on Friday morning and was such a good price I couldn't pass it up (free shipping too!) Now I just have to get my birdJam software and I'll be all set for birdJamming!

Since I have no other exciting things going on right now, I'll show you a few pictures that have been on my Compact Flash card for the last couple weeks.

We woke up to a winter wonderland this morning. There was about an inch of snow on the ground and it's still flurrying. I'm sure glad I went out yesterday afternoon and raked up a bunch of leaves that were still on the ground in the front yard.

This Common Grackle was hanging around my feeders last weekend--apparently he missed the memo that listed the final departure times for fall migration (and he doesn't look very happy about having to hang out with all the sparrows either!)

I have "double decker" possums in my yard this year! Whatever the deer don't eat from the ground feeders overnight, the possums usually clean up from the trays and under the other feeders. (Sorry this picture isn't very good--I was trying to hold the spotlight between my kness and snap the photo without shaking too much.)

There are lots of bluejays in my yard again now that winter is getting close. It's fun to watch them come to my stump feeder to collect the shelled peanuts in the seed blend I put out here. It's impossible for me to tell any of them apart, but apparently they know who belongs to which family and therefore, who will be allowed to dine together.

But woe to the bluejay who tries to get some seed when he's not allowed! I caught this one in mid-flight and look at the poor guy at the bottom of the picture.....patiently waiting to see when he will get his chance to eat!

I put a few nuts out for the squirrel again. Here's a fat little bushytail making off with a filbert.

And they still visit the grounding feeding tray for corn and sunflowers too. This squirrel looks like it's got a pretty luxurious fur coat to get through the winter.

Have a good week everyone!

Weekend Update

Gosh, I can't believe it's been over a week since my last post and we're over halfway through July now! Although it's been pretty warm during the days, it cools down quite nicely in the evenings and I can't even bring myself to come inside once it gets close to dark because there are fireflies everywhere in my backyard and I just love watching them winking all around me. So the consequences to that are no time for doing a post or reading other blogs either. I really thought I could get back into regular posts, but I was so wrong....... I've even got a couple saved and awaiting completion, so the intentions are there, but the willpower is not. Anyway, I'll make up for it today by showing you some random images from the past weekend.

I mowed the lawn on Saturday and that's a good time to see a lot of different things in the backyard. Here's the most unusual thing I saw on the underside of some milkweed leaves: I've never seen anything like this before in my life. Does anyone know what these things are?

We're approaching peak bloom in the wildfower garden.

I forgot I had planted this Bee Balm several years ago. I love the gorgeous magenta color.
I saw a Great Spangled Fritillary land on one of the coneflowers while I was mowing, but when I came back later with the camera, of course, it was gone. However, I did spot this cool little spider on a Queen Anne's Lace blossom. Can you see it?
Here's a look from a different angle--you can see its legs on either side of the flower. I consulted my Kaufman Field Guide to Insects and found out that this is a Flower Crab Spider. "Females can change color from white to yellow to match the flowers where they wait in ambush for flies, bees, and other pollinators." How cool is that? In fact, when I checked the Queen Anne's Lace blossoms this afternoon, I spotted one of these spiders with a little fly in her jaws.

I found another wren nest. I like this little wren house because it opens from the top and you can actually see their nest. There are 6 eggs in here.
We had a little rain Saturday evening and Sunday morning dawned bright and cool. While Mr. Johnson was out on the deck enjoying a cup of coffee, he alerted me to a bunny rabbit in the garden. Here's a picture I took from the deck......
And when I got a little closer, I could see this naughty bunny parked right in the middle of the carrots! Know how he gets in? Right through the fence! I DISAPPROVE! The adult bunnies can't get through the fence....just these teen-age bunnies.

Check out this beautiful lady who showed up at the backyard birdfeeder around 10 AM.
I've never seen a deer in the backyard during the daytime! It makes me wonder how often they're here during the day while we're at work? She hung around for quite a while and we were hoping maybe some fawns would show up, but they never did and when I went around the house to try and get a better picture, she spotted me and ran away.

Here's a little red squirrel I caught inside the "squirrel proof" cage on my birdfeeder.

Know how he gets in? Through the top! Can you sense his desperation as he tries to squeeze back through while I was a few feet away taking this picture? I can see a trip to my Wild Birds Unlimited store in the near future to purchase a guard to put over the top of the squirrel proof cage.

While weeding the garden, I harvested a few of the "Cylindra" beets. This is my first attempt at growing beets and I'm curious to see how they cook up and taste.

I'll try to get caught up on those couple of posts I've got saved......I've got a good story and pictures on the development of my backyard wildlife habitat and also a book review on the Smithsonian Field Guide to Birds, not to mention more pictures on the camera that are just waiting to hit the blogosphere. So check back again and thanks for your faithful visits and comments.