Warble Garble

Lately I have been seeing these little yellow birds flying in the pine trees. At first glance you would assume that they were Goldfinches, but when I actually brought out my binoculars to view them I found out that they were warblers! It's my first time seeing them in my yard and their delicate and rich chip chirps surrounds the pine trees. I think that there are a couple of different warblers that I have been seeing and listening to. The warblers occupying my pine trees could be Pine Warblers, Black-throated Green Warblers, or Prairie Warblers.

I'm pretty sure that this one is a  male Pine Warbler. I could hear them tweeting with loud clear notes that sounded very similar to a chipping sparrow's seeps and rapid series of chips.

Top and bottom: Here is what I think could be a female Black-throated Green Warbler.

Chicken Gossip of the Week - Chase around the Compost Bin

In the evening when all the other girls were eating their fill at the chicken bowl, Lemon and Mellow sparked up a fight and Mellow was determined to punish Lemon for her "sins". Lemon seeing that evil glint in Mellow's eyes ran towards the compost bin to hide. Mellow ominously following behind her tail, confidence in her stride. Once she was behind the bin Lemon looked back and saw Mellow right behind her! So she ran another lap around the compost bin pausing a few seconds to check behind her, but Mellow was still following her. The rest of the flock happily ate their grower pellets not minding the small feud that was happening beside them. Lemon then swiftly ran around the compost bin again then shot away from the compost bin to the overgrown sandbox. Mellow appeared from behind the bin and stopped, she did not see her offender reluctantly she ruffled her feathers and joined the flock to eat. A minute later Lemon gladly joined as well.

Lemon and her buddy Charcoal.

I would picture Mellow as strict teacher always around bugging students when they annoyed her.  Mellow hates little children who don't listen and follow her instructions and she lashes out on them with any given chance. Lemon on the other hand would be the role model student, going to the coop on time and eating with proper manners, though sometimes she will get in fights with Mellow.

Mellow the Great demands you to be silent while she eats her pellets!

Moving Out

Charcoal and Mellow on the roost.

Today I decided to start moving the baby chicks into the coop. They were already completely feathered and were getting too big for the indoor ferret cage.

 "Bawk-bawk-buaaaaaaw." the chickies whined, they were already filed up ready to come inside the house. I one by one carried each of them to their new coop and closed the door. They paced back and forth not knowing what to do and wanting to get out.

The baby chicks already to go inside. 

*Please note that the outside looks really late at night, but it's actually the flash that cause the color change in the background*

 I reluctantly opened the coop door again and put them on the roost, waited a few minutes to make sure that they didn't jump off, then closed it.

Top and bottom: They little flock examines the coops interesting surroundings.

Lemon and  Mellow quickly settled down to sleep while Charcoal still whining paced along the roost bar. In the end they all calmed down and were quiet except for a few "beeuups" and "bawks" announcing their existence here and there.

As they settled down, the chicks huddled together for their first night outside.

A Little Visitor

Every once in a while a flick of white will catch my eye outside, and usually as I look out a family of deer will be happily eating away at the leaves hanging outside of the garden fence. A mother and a baby visited today though only grazing in the "meadow". Here are some shots I got of them.

Top and bottom: The mother doe grazing cautiously, she would periodically lift her head up to check for predators.

On the left is the baby and the deer on the right is its mother.

Later on as I observed the mother I found that she had a deformed or hurt leg that she would lift up a lot while grazing.

As you can see her joint is in an unnatural position.