Sunday, July 28, 2013

Birds, I hate 'em & I love 'em

I know they are a part of the plan of nature, but I am angry right now.  Now, I know the birds ate the rest of my black raspberries - another crop I shall have to cover from now on - RATS! I saw them on the bushes eating and there is very purple poop all over the bushes, too  Then I caught a robin trying to figure out how to get to the blueberries this morning when I went to pick them.  It is hard enough to get the plants to survive the difficult winters around here without fighting off the birds, too.  It's not as if there was a shortage of food, most of the neighbors NEVER pick the fruit in their back yards.  I guess they just don't care.  But I do as we then can KNOW from where our food comes.  
There's not a lot we can control about our environment these days, but at least we can try with our food.

As of yet, though, I can't find a bad thing about our hummers.  We love to watch them come to the feeder.  They know when we should have filled it and give us the buzz if it is empty :~).  Our baby swallows have left the nest and flown away.  I'm not sure if swallows nest twice, but I will clean out the nest box and see what happens.

I'm not sure if we will get any huckleberries this year as I have seen them appearing in the farmer's market and we have not had a chance to go look in the mountains yet.  And to top it off next week I have to go "babysit" my son's house while he and the GF go to Wyoming to deal with the unexpected death of her father - she is the executor. Anyway, his house was broken into and he does not want to leave it empty.  His renters - students - are all gone for the summer so it would be empty when they leave.  'tP'-retired by then, will have to man the trenches here at home and take care of the critters and the gardens.  
Then the third weekend of August we're going to try to get the 5 gen pictures again.  Praying no other matters interfere!

2 comments:

Kathy said...

That summer schedule just fills right up. It's nice to be needed, to have things to do.

I agree about the birds. I covered my little strawberry bed with netting, but I notice they aren't bothering the raspberries and they didn't seem to bother the cherries either. Perhaps the worst this year is the flicker damage to the house.

And the hummers! We have the same experience, of course. They will leave soon, I believe, because we see a lot of bees.

Will make "mixed berry" jam today.

drMolly, the BeanQueen said...

I often make that - it's good!

We have to cover strawberries and cherries. Haven't had to do raspberries, the red ones, but apparently now the black ones are popular.

drMolly, the BeanQueen