All the News That is News Here at the Back Forty

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The Easter Chipmunk likes it so well here at the Back Forty that he has decided to stay.

Unfortunately he's only into delivering candy eggs on that ONE morning of the year, so there have been no new surprises on our dining room table.


Fisherhubby hung a bird feeder and a suet block from one of the trees on the Back Forty.


Ma and Pa Goldfinch have found it and are enjoying taking their meals at the Bird and Breakfast, aka the B & B.

The B & B twirls around and around from the force of a landing, so it's like having lunch on a merry-go-round or at the top of the Seattle Space Needle.

They don't seem to mind.

We also have a pair of Brown Thrashers, a chickadee, the occasional Downy or Flicker, and a couple of Nuthatches who drop in for lunch or dinner at the B & B. However, they are far too camera shy to pose for a photo.

I'm trying to be a bit subtle and catch them unawares but I'm about as subtle as a bull in a china closet - - - so don't hold your breath, you know how THAT goes.


Mr. Squirrel also found the B & B. He tried every angle he could think of to climb right down onto the feeders.

But Fisherhubby is smarter than the average squirrel and used fishing line to suspend the feeders from the supporting branch. Fishing line is nearly invisible and far too thin for Mr. Squirrel's toes to grip.


So Mr. Squirrel has had to content himself with the scraps which Ma and Pa Goldfinch fling to the ground for him.


Not to worry, Ma and Pa are expert flingers so Mr. Squirrel is NOT going hungry.


While Fisherhubby was hanging feeders, he took a little break and put Waldo back where he belongs on the patio light fixture.

Evidently Waldo does not LIKE living atop the light fixture. Evidently he prefers to be a bottom dweller, because even before the very next morning broke, he had returned to his favorite roost on the patio.


Before he could be forcibly evicted from the patio and "tied" back up in the heavenly realms where he belongs SOMEONE came by and moved in, lock, stock, nesting material, and all!!

Fisherhubby and I had a little discussion about what kind of a feathered friend had chosen to grace us with her nest. FH said right away that it was Mama Robin - - - I was holding out for something more exotic, like Ma and Pa Goldfinch.


It didn't take very long until we were able to creep silently up to the patio door, press our faces tightly against it, and get THIS silhouette view of - - -


Mama Robin. RATS! Fisherhubby is ALWAYS right.


Mama Robin is pretty patient with us. If we stay indoors and remain calm in her presence, she will hop around eying us to make sure we aren't up to no good.

But if we open the patio door - - - she flies away squawking like a plucked chicken.

Maybe that's because FH has already stuck his great big paws INTO her nest to see if there are any eggs there.

Shame on him!


Meanwhile - - - Mr. Squirrel discovered Waldo. I thought at first they were going to become fast friends - - -


But THAT was not to be, mostly because Mr. Squirrel thinks Waldo is a source of SOME kind of nutrient. I can't figure out what vitamin or mineral of squirrely value is found in plastic - - - but I've had to chase Mr. Squirrel away from Waldo numerous times and still he returns to gnaw some more.

Poor Waldo is getting worse for the wear.

And that's all the news that is news here at the Back Forty.

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