Birds

We have so many beautiful birds around our home. Above is an Osprey in a tree by the pond.

It is fun to notice the cycle of birds as some migrate through and others are here all year long.

Our first venture into science was using Apologia’s “Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day”. We bought bird books and noted migration patterns back in our city home. My in-laws are quite the birders (technical term) and all the camping with them must have rubbed off on us because we really loved paying attention to the birds and learning how to identify them.

Fast forward five years or so and it amazes me how much my kids know about birds. Especially Joshua. He can name almost every bird he sees. And if he doesn’t know it, out come those bird books (to which my in-laws have added).

We have posted before about some of the birds here on the blog and also on Facebook. This time I just want to show you some new things going on.

This is one of our bird houses that we have had forever ( I think my father-in-law bought it for us). In the city I never saw any birds nest in it. When we moved last year we put it in a very high traffic area. More for looks then function. Well, I’ll be. A Violet Green Swallow couple made a nest and we now have three babies that take turns poking their heads out. They are not afraid of us at all.

You might remember this picture of one of the barn swallow nests in our barn.

Here is one of them practically grown up. Kind of skinny but gaining weight daily.

This was really amazing. One of the days Michael was in St. Louis, we heard some scratching. I wasn’t sure where it was coming from. The second day Joshua realized it was coming from our wood stove that is down stairs. He opened it and saw a bird sitting on a ledge in the stove. He was able to grab it and we took it outside and let it go. Joshua said it was a Catbird. It is so enjoyable when we can rescue a creature.

I finally got a chance to make goat cheese the other day and since chickens love whey I put the bowlful out in their outside pen. They happily drank it up.

I have posted before about our broody chickens. I was successful for a while but it seemed like there was always a new chicken wanting to be a mom. One day while Michael was weed eating the hill behind the coop we came across a clutch of 11 eggs. Oh forget it! If you can’t beat them then join them (not my life philosophy by the way). Our neighbor Jen, who used to be a grade school teacher, offered to let us use her cage that she used in her classroom where her hen would hatch eggs.

Three weeks later we have four new chicks.

There is so much to enjoy and learn about here on the homestead. It is a good thing we love to learn. It’s a perfect match.

Enjoy your surroundings,
Karen

PS: Update on the hen and her babies. Apparently four babies are not enough for her. We found her in the corner, with her four babies under her as well as eleven more eggs.