The Ladybug Cycle

This summer I've been finding a bunch of ladybugs, EVERYWHERE. One day while I was checking the nesting box for eggs, I spotted a newly emerged ladybug in the netting nearby. But when I got a closer look, I discovered that this ladybug was peculiarly colored. She wasn't the usual: bright red or orange lady bug with black dots all over. This ladybug was a dark tan color with a multiple black dots but each black dot was surrounded by a circle of white! Now I've seen an all black lady bug with white spots before at the beach (or maybe it was the other way around...it was a long time ago...), but not this kind. It was the first time I had found such a ladybug, and upon further research, I found that she was an Eye-spotted Lady Beetle (or bug). The black dots enclosed by the white circles were supposed to be copying a predators "eyes", and make a bird or another predator less willing to eat it.

One wing was missing for some reason, but it looked like it had been ripped off (maybe accidentally as she was getting out of its pupa). I observed her in awe, then set the pretty little lady on a newly planted apple tree. I checked back everyday, and she was still there and thriving, although on the fourth day she was no longer on the tree.

Happily lazing away.

But, a few days later I found a ladybug larva, which turned into a pupa the next day. Surprisingly it was white! I suspected it would be another Eye-spotted Ladybug since it was near where I found the first lady beetle.
I also found another white pupa yesterday when feeding the chickens a plant of some sort with a thick stalk. The flock loved it, but it took me a while to see the pupa, luckily it was not pecked by the curiosity of the chickens. Off to the insect jar they go...

Here in this picture, the larva has just turned into a pupa. It was still soft, and I found that after it hardened, it was all white with black markings.

The white pupa I found on the plant stalk. This is a good example of an already hardened pupa, it kind of looks like it has a face to me (reminds me of a Capuchin monkey).

Afterwards, I fed the chickens the tender plant stalk (which I brought inside when I removed the pupa) they were craving.

The BIG plant stalk. (You can see the chickens pacing impatiently in the background)

Who will take a bite first?

In the end the white pupa ended up turning into another Eye-spotted Ladybug which I later released when her shell dried.

Having only emerged a few minutes ago, the ladybug's spots quickly become more and more visible.

The Cardinal Nest

Previously in the post Nest Watch, I talked about finding a cardinal nest.

 Cardinals in my experience are very shy and secretive. I have never seen or spotted any of their nests before in trees or bushes, so this is my first time finding a cardinal nest (imagine my excitement ^^). Here below, I will post almost everyday of the chick's growth and development. Hopefully, they will survive the danger of cats and other predators. So check once in a while for updates!

*I will start from "day one"-meaning the day the chicks hatched- because I don't know ho long the eggs have been incubated in the nest. Just to let you know, I found the nest with the eggs on May 23rd.

Day 1- May 24, 2014

2 cardinal chicks hatched today! Probably sometimes in the morning because I checked them early in the afternoon. The are tiny and bald with a little bit of fluff on their head and body. They remind me a lot of the baby zebra finches I used to raise (but these cardinal babies are bigger). The chicks started gaping at me with their mouth open, but they won't need food at least for the first 2 days after hatching. I noticed that they still have a bit of absorbed yolk left on their belly which will serve as an excellent source of food and nutrients.

The second baby is behind the begging chick, it's a bit hard to see because it is lying down.

Day 2- May 25, 2014

This was the first thing I saw when I neared the nest. The female cardinal's tail was sticking out of the bush. I waited until the mother flew off to find food, then checked the chicks.

If you noticed in the picture that some of the leaves are different on the bush, it's because they are. I added some branches of similar looking leaves inside the bush, because I thought the space was too open and very inviting for predators to snatch away the babies.

Also, the third egg hatched, now, the only one left is the fourth egg.

Day 3- May 26, 2014

When I peered in the nest this morning, around 8:50, I saw blood on two of the baby chicks' faces! I almost thought that there had been a predator attack, until I noticed that one of the pointy spruce tree leaves were lying on top of the chick. Spruce leaves are very pointy and needle-like, so the tender skin of the cardinal babies were easily poked by the needles, causing it to bleed. 

I removed the spruce branch and replaced it with a maple branch. The soft leaves would not bother the chicks. Hopefully, the babies' wounds won't cause them too much harm in growing up.

Lemon's Double Yolker

I found a ginormous egg while checking the coop's nesting box. I'm assuming it belongs to Lemon because she lays the largest eggs. It was almost double the size of a normal egg (which is the size of Lime's egg), and loomed in size when I held in in my hands. It reminded me of the time when my old hen, Pine would lay me giant double yolk eggs.

Here's a short story about Pine laying a double yolk egg:

One day, around 2011 or 2012 back in my old house, Pine was spotted my mom without the rest of the flock. Since she was the lead hen, my mom got a bit worried and followed her as she hobbled all over the yard. She noticed that Pine's posture was strange. Pine was a bit hunched over with a drooping butt, and she walked slowly to each destination. It took Pine nearly 30 minutes, until finally, she stopped to rest at a big pine tree in the front yard yard. Out plopped a fresh new egg, and as my mom neared to collect it, she found that it was very big indeed! No wonder it took so long for Pine to push out that extra, extra large egg! Which mush have hurt considering the size of it. When my mom cracked open the egg, we found that it was a double yolker (an egg containing two yolks). Pine, our Easter Egger hen was the only hen of our 6-hen flock that would lay these ginormous eggs. She didn't lay them too frequently, yet they weren't rare. My only other hen that would give me an occasional double yolker was Sugar, my sweet sweet Red Star (click here to read her story). Though, even Sugar's double yolk eggs were not as big in comparison to Pine's.

Anyways. . .back from the past to current time. . .

Here's a comparison of each flock member's egg. Charcoal has the most petite and adorable chubby egg of them all.

I eagerly brought the egg inside to reveal what was inside.

Was it going to be a double shelled egg?

Or perhaps a triple yolk?

Eh, the first one maybe, the second. . .not so likely.

When I cracked the egg using the edge of my bowl, I saw that it was not a double shelled egg. There was rich yellowish yolk inside, already starting to ooze out now that I had disturbed the membrane. I cracked the other side and let the yolk drop down to my bowl. And there it revealed itself to be. . .a double yolk!

Nest Watch

A lot of birds have been in my yard gathering dry grass and collecting bugs recently, so I though: There is probably be a nest somewhere around here...

It happens to be that I was right!

One day, I followed a flying robin with food in its mouth to my backyard pool. The robin flew out from one of the side bushes as I walked in through the fence. I searched around the bushes near where he flew off and I heard faint cheeping, and found a lump of brown in the third bush down the row. I took a peek from the other side and there it was: a robin nest with about 3-4 nestling chicks inside. In  a few days they would be out and learning how to fly, braving the dangers of the outside world.

Top and bottom: In a few days the baby robins will be old enough to fully fledge the nest.

The only sad thing, is that when I returned to next day, the baby chicks were all gone. I searched the ground and found remaining parts of the poor little chicks. I suspect that the stray cats around my neighborhood ate them, so far I have seen at least two: a black, black and white, and a gray cat. Plus, a relative that was staying over, said she had spotted the stray black cat climbing over the pool fence.

Just a few days ago, however...
I found a cardinal nest!! It's the first cardinal nest I have seen in backyard (new and old house). Most of the time cardinals are very secretive, making it hard to find their nests. Here's a picture:

The eggs are a very light turquoise with brown specks all over (the specks get denser on the fatter side of the egg).

I really hope that the chicks that hatch out will not get eaten by the cats, well we'll see...

The Girl's Little Adventure *PLUS!* An Unknown Danger

Today I let the girls out for some supervised free-ranging. I greeted the flock at the door with a cup full of yogurt. Oh, how they were so overjoyed. They all poured out of their enclosure and followed me (with my cup of yogurt) to a sunny spot where I set down the yogurt. The pullets swarmed.

Yumm, yogurt always satisfies.

Lemon's yogurt face.

After the yogurt all disappeared (mostly down the throat of big ole' Lemon), they walked on the rock wall and hopped near some new green grass. I wasn't long before they got a bit too close to the neighbor's, and I guided them with a stick to forage elsewhere.

Top and bottom: Charcoal, Lemon, and Spice make their way to the fresh green grass.

They ran up the slope of my yard. . .

Rounded a bend and headed over to the pool.

Lime was last to follow. She picked and pecked at the ground until she looked up...Oh no! The flock was leaving without her!And she quickly hurried over.

Enjoying the hoard of weeds, yet to be eaten!

Then, after getting bored, they wandered over to the forest's edge. I followed them to make sure they didn't get into any trouble.

Very excited, the girls bound anxiously over to unexplored weeds, leaf piles, and uneaten insects.

Here in the picture the flock is finding food right at the forest's edge.

Today was yet another beautiful day (except for the wind and cold) for exploring, and clearly the flock enjoyed it as much as I had. Everyone was happy and very occupied by their task, as they scratched and overturned wet leaves. Lime was joyously pecking away at the ground, she walked towards the old white picket fence then lifted her head. I thought everything was well until Lime stretched her neck and sounded the predator alarm. . .

"Ba-gawk! Ba-awk!!"

"Ba-ba-ba-baw-awk!"

The girls' heads all shot up straight and they clucked nervously along, my eyes immediately turned and searched in the sky. I saw nothing, no hawks or falcons of any sort. Confused, I looked back at the girls. Their neck were all swerved at the direction of the forest. Using them as a guide, I finally saw what had alarmed Lime. 

There was a medium sized coyote sneaking around the forest, still a bit far away from me and the hens. The coyote was a grayish-brown color that blended very well with his surroundings (the dry leaves scattered around the forest and the trees that had still not grown their buds out), and it was almost impossible to spot unless you had a chicken or other animal around with you. He had been very silent as he neared us, for I had heard nothing.

The coyote seemed to be taken by surprise by Lime's predator alarm call, and now stood still watching us.

I quickly bawked my alarm calls very loudly, to let him know that he had been spotted and could not hide anymore. I grabbed my camera as the coyote made his swift departure deeper into the forest towards a large brush-pile.

Here in this picture, the coyote is turning to leave. Oh, and sorry for the blurriness, I was in a  rush.

I hushed the girls and ushered them back to their enclosure. I now knew, NEVER to let any of the pullets out of my sight for too long. And since I live near a lake bustling with wildlife, I will probably meet another coyote again or maybe some other predator. 

I also took a look in my chicken book called Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens, by Gail Damerow, and read about different chicken alarm calls. I figured that Lime had made an "alarm cackle", which is, as said from the book, "a more consistent caution call announcing the approach of an apparent predator on the ground or perched in a nearby tree.It consists of a brief series of short, sharp sounds followed by one loud, high pitched sound. . .Other chickens may take notice, and some may join the cackling while stretching their necks to get a better look and moving around in an agitated way. . ."

Turkeys Together

I woke up and saw:

About 5 Turkeys in walking over my yard and into the neighbor's property. By the time I grabbed my camera they were already making their way to the other neighbor's yard. Boy, was it raining hard. From inside it sounded like an ocean out there!

The turkeys, turning to leave.

A Sad Departure

Sadly, the little sparrow passed away this morning.

 As I went to check on the female sparrow, immediately when I saw the brown lump on the bottom of the cage I knew. The symptoms of her air sac mite infection seemed to be worsening, so I feared for the worse. My guess was right. The female House Sparrow I had rescued had been in pain and was already to the last straw, now her pain is finally released.

Rest in peace little birdie.