I heard some Hellacious (Yes, that’s a word. At least in Maine.) chattering the other afternoon.
Looked out back…
And saw momma red squirrel perched on the plant hanger.
She was flicking her tail and screeching like a Hollywood starlet who ran out of Botox.
She screeched so hard a seed fell out of her mouth.
It only took me a minute to figure out why.
The other visitor.
No worries readers, momma escaped unharmed.
Do you see him?
There, on the end of the stone wall.
It’s a little baby chucker.
And I am totally in love with these guys.
They’ve started to use the wall as their own personal jungle gym….
And scamper around like little Tasmanian devils.
It’s entertaining as hell.
At least that’s what it looked like in the field across the street.
(Pardon the picture quality, it was far away and my zoom was maxxed out.)
I thought it was a dog…..
But it wasn’t a dog.
It was the often heard, but seldom seen coyote.
And while I recognize his necessary part in the eco system…..
I admit I was a little nervous seeing him cross the street….
And head down into the woods where our deer, fox, raccoons, skunks and woodchucks live.
But what made me even more nervous?
Was realizing there were actually two of them.
First let’s deal with the peckers.
Because we all know not paying attention to peckers makes them crazy.
This is a hairy woodpecker.
Why hairy?
Your guess is as good as mine.
He loves the peanut nugget feeder and is an expert at extracting them.
There.
Now you can say you’ve had a hairy pecker wink at you.
This is a downy woodpecker.
Why downy?
Your guess is as good as mine.
To be honest, he looks more like a Storm Trooper from Star Wars to me.
Then we have a pair of Mallard ducks who visit daily.
The female strolls around under the bird feeder collecting scraps….
While the drake plops down and takes a load off.
That’s one chill duck.
Big Tom turkey?
Yes, we have one of those too.
And finally, a Baltimore Oriole getting his junk food Jones satisfied with some grape jelly.
It would be nice if he didn’t poo all over the feeder…. but hey.
Who am I to judge?
Since the viral apocalypse…. all the town offices in Maine are closed, as is the Department of Motor Vehicles.
While you can renew things online, buying a new or used car means a title transfer and paperwork that must be done in person.
In the meantime, we’ve been told to keep the bill of sale in our glove boxes and make up a temporary plate stating the Covid 19 crisis.
I think this guy nailed it.
So.
Our resident woodchuck….
Who we (ever so creatively) call Mr. Chuck?
Yeah.
We may need to rethink that.
Can someone please call Jane Russell?
Because momma woodchuck is in serious need of a few eighteen hour bras.
Squirrels have to be brave to cross the wide treeless open that is the bird feeder area of our backyard.
So we rarely see more than one grey.
Until there’s something worth having that is.
These little sparrows adore the boxwood shrubs.
And the woodchuck?
Still feeding, still fat…
And now?
Winking and waving as well.
This last pic looks like a little inter species communication is happening.
Although aside from the deer saying “Please don’t poop on me.” I’m not sure what they have to talk about.
No self respecting Mainer should be without one.
I can’t eat them any more….
But at least now I can wear them.
Though not nearly as well as Patrick Stewart.
Because our buck is sticking around with his family this year and I’m enjoying his weird head.
We always see him with his impressive rack in the fall….
But rarely in the spring when they start to grow back.
It really is a strange process.
Yes, I’m talking about you.
The weather was perfect.
75 degrees with bright sunshine and a gentle breeze.
We’d spent the day mowing and trimming and weeding….
And everything looked perfect.
Lilacs were cut for vases and perfumed the air with the scent of a long awaited spring.
And we ended the day with adult beverages on the big barn porch…. where the only thing to worry about was walking back inside for refills.
Life is good.
