fellow creatures

As it gets warmer all sorts of critters show up in the garden. Hope everyone is having a sunny Sunday!

Blackberry flower by the river, with visitor.

The blackbird chicks are growing up fast! The parents stopped feeding them a few days ago and now they must fend for themselves. That makes them pretty cheeky as they forage in the garden and enjoy the water in a pot dish I refill everyday (a popular feature even with the other birds and pretty murky by the end of the day after everybody has had their bath!). They are a masterpiece of camouflage and not easy to photograph unless caught quite close or against a strongly contrasting background. Here are the best of my attempts so far (see PIPS too). They pretty much consider me just a somewhat annoying feature of the garden (!) and if I stand very still they come close enough to attempt a shot.

Well, now two blackbird chicks showed up in the garden along with the parents. Mama Blackbird’s first priority seems to be feeding those two hungry mouths. There’s no diverting her from that task! Papa Blackbird’s job description instead focuses on the other imperative: Protect the family! Most days he has it pretty easy: his efforts mostly include flying in in front of me when I happen to walk too close to where the chicks are sheltered or keeping a sharp eye on the area from up in the trees. But yesterday was a whole different day: a black and white stray cat must have found the hole in the neighbour’s fence and all of a sudden I heard a big commotion of chirping and flying around. So I went down to the garden, where Papa was launching mock attacks on the kitty and keeping up a storm of frantic alarm calls. Fortunately, my mere presence was enough to scare the stray cat off. Still, it took quite a while for poor Papa Blackbird to calm down and I haven’t seen the chicks since. Tough job being blackbird parents!

A wood pigeon surveys the neighbourhood from the top of a tree that was ravaged by a freak tornado a few years ago. I don't know if they already have eggs, but normally they do this when they are worried about marauding magpies.

I don't have the right equipment to even attempt wildlife shots, but this blackbird female must have gotten used to me walking laps around the garden and for once allowed me to come within a decent shooting distance as she poised on the neighbour's fence. Not exactly an Easter dove, but close enough! :) HFF and a good Easter weekend to all!

Colorful details from the garden In the main image a tiny bronze coloured bug on my rose bush In the pips (top to bottom): 1. fallen physalis flowers 2. a rue twig against a terracotta shingle 3. new green leaves against the old shed wall 4. new green leaves composition 5. trio of pink flowers 6. fig leaves unfolding

On a hot and muggy day last summer, I was waiting for a bus connection when I noticed a man walking around the perimeter of a fenced garden. Every few paces, he would grab a handful of lettuce out of a shopping bag and stick it under the fence. After he left, my curiosity got the best of me and I ran across the street to see what he had been doing: this is what I found. :) HFF everyone!

Dante, feline neighbourhood boss, enjoys the winter sun on a favourite rooftop spot. He is 13, going on 14, officially belongs to a neighbour family, but, disgruntled by the arrival of a new puppy at home, often asks us to be his foster family (when he's not patrolling rooftops). I guess you might say we have shared custody of him ;)