Most of you know that, because of large trees, most of any gardening we do is in the side yard. Due to some major life events this past year, there was no gardening at all. Partly due to time constraints, but mostly to do with lack of motivation.

Looking out the kitchen window was fairly depressing, so I set out to add some minor points of interest on which to gaze while doing my least favorite chore of washing the dishes. I love to watch wildlife out my window, but because we have always had cats, very few species dared to entire our yard. Now that we are kitty-less I decided it was time to start feeding the birds again. In the past we felt it pointless and almost cruel to provide a “kitty-buffet” for not only our brood, but the multiple strays that wondered in. Now that we have none of our own, we have fewer feline visitors.

We put up corn feeding stations for the squirrels, who now provide us with much entertainment, and two bird feeders. We only feed safflower, nuts, and black oil sunflowers in hopes to pull in the specific species of birds. Along with the feeders, I provided a “make-shift” watering spot as well. Every day, as I would stand at the sink, I wondered how long it would be before the little darlings found the bird feeders. Every day I was met with disappointment….UNTIL TODAY! Today, my patience was rewarded with the site of two finches!

This week we also actually planted some mums that I had sitting in pots on my front porch in hopes of saving them before another (major) freeze. No sustainable vegetable gardening going on here at the  moment, but I figure that about February I will be perusing seed catalogs and dreaming of a greener side yard for spring.

Squirrels provide such great entertainment with silly antics. These next photos were taken on the first day that the squirrels found the “stash” we had provided for them.

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And we cannot forget this little guy….

In the past, Blue Jays have not been in my good favor. In every location I have lived, prior to here, the Blue Jays were aggressive, threatening, and pretty much a nuisance. This year is different. Not too long ago, we rescued a baby Jay from one of our window wells. All day, I would go out and check on it and talk to his momma sitting on a nearby branch. I shaded the well from the afternoon sun. The little darling had to sit in the well all day until DH could get home because I am not agile enough to do the climb down into our deep wells, and…well, I was somewhat afraid.

Here is the video of the rescue…..

And a few photos of the little darling……

The last photo is of mom sitting on the roof of the house next door, where we were trying to get baby into the shrubs.

After a bit, DH tried to get the baby bird to go into some shrubbery and it began causing quite a commotion. Quick as as lick, the momma was right there, and was within inches of swipin’ the top of DH’s head. (See that is why I am afraid of them.) I don’t have photos or videos of that part because I was too busy cowering.

Early this morning DH tippy toed (haha) into the dining room to say come quickly…but quietly…momma was feeding her baby from my tea cup feeder. So many times, I have tried to catch the mom eating from my feeder, but she has been quite elusive. Today, I was actually able to covertly slip onto the back porch to snap a few photos of mom’s and kid’s antics. I wish I knew if this was the li’l darlin’ we rescued or not. Momma rewards me for placing food in her feeder by immediately coming for the dinner call. Sometimes she will dart right in even if I am still puttering in the yard.

The photos are not as clear as I would have liked, but under the circumstances they aren’t too bad.

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