Baby, baby

Baby, baby
I'm taken with the notion
To love you with the sweetest of devotion
Baby, baby
My tender love will flow from
The bluest sky to the deepest ocean  -  Amy Grant, 1991

My lucky day!  I finally got some nice clean shots of one of the male red-bellied woodpecker dads feeding a fledgling.  Very pleased with myself.  Those of you who have red-bellied woodpeckers visit know that the adults can be quite loud; strangely, the babies make the softest little noises imaginable - kind of whispery sounds, nothing like you'd expect from a bird this size.  The babies always appear bald, although it is simply that they haven't yet molted into adult plumage. This one looks to be very recently fledged because she has a noticeable gape still.  

I hosted 8 adorable little children, mostly under the age of 7, for a little nature safari in our yard this morning.  They are the grandchildren and cousins of our good friends who have the organic farm (and the chickens I secretly covet).  The children were just a joy - so curious about everything.  We got to see a whole batch of freshly "hatched" nursery web spiders being guarded by their big, intimidating looking mom - the kids had magnifying glasses and were full of questions.  Then, Xena made an appearance and stole the show by taking peanuts from a couple of young hands.  At one point, four little people were all clustered over her burrow waiting with hands full of peanuts.  Adorable.  Then, the blue jays wanted in on the action, so several of the kids tossed peanuts to the jays.  And, of course, there were woodpeckers, finches and bluebirds on hand as well.  A very fun morning.  

Tomorrow is our Independence Day which means a day off for Hubs and SIL.  Hubs and I plan to do some work around the yard during the next 4 days.  Maybe go for a drive somewhere.  Definitely do some time at the gym.  Low key.  

I discovered, quite by accident, that there is a sweat bee nest in one of my flower pots.  Fascinating to watch the little bee come in, fully loaded with pollen, and disappear into the soil. Sweat bees are extremely small so you'd never see the hole.  They are also solitary nesters so pose no real danger in terms of defending a hive.  Hoping for a sweat bee blip soon.

Thanks for stopping by!  

xo
Debbi