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June 30, 2011

Babies, Babies Everywhere

This has been a month of babies. These two little bunnies are enjoying the next door neighbor's yard. I walked out our front door and tried to zoom in to get a closer picture. I didn't want to get too close to them and scare them away. One day we were in the back yard and hubby looked down and asked what that was at my feet. It was a very young rabbit. We backed up slowly and left him alone. The baby bunnies and several adult bunnies live in a few habitats in our back area. Two habitats we made for them. One was here when we moved here.

Then one day while hubby was mowing, he looked down and saw that he had mowed across a nest of some kind. Upon closer inspection we saw brand new ground squirrels, all nestled in their mama's fur. There were four of them about the size of hubby's thumb. They were wiggling around. We found leaves and cut grass to cover the nest and would check on them occasionally. We watched them change colors and then the stripes were on their backs. They are Thirteen Stripe Ground Squirrels. We have seen a couple adults running around the back yard, checking out the food we leave on the ground for the tree squirrels and birds. They look like they are smiling, joyful little creatures. Have you ever seen a Thirteen Stripe squirrel?

The tree squirrels had babies as well. The baby tree squirrels couldn't get on the table at first and they looked like they had oversize feet. Like clown feet. The table is just outside our living room window. If the window and screen were not there we could reach out and touch all the critters. We sometimes have the window open and they are getting used to us talking and to hubby's music. The finches sing with his music and sometimes squirrels and birds are on the table at the same time.

There are plenty of baby birds too. Baby Grackles; baby Cardinals (the male Cardinal takes care of the babies most of the time); baby Robins; baby Mourning Doves; baby Blue Jays (who look exactly like the parents, just very small); baby Red Finches; baby Ring Neck Doves; baby red headed woodpeckers; baby lark sparrows.

With so many babies it gets noisy sometimes. It is an unbelievable privilege to be in the position of observing the birds growing, how they push their parents to the point of exhaustion sometimes, and especially how all the different bird groups get along in our yard. Calm and easygoing around each other.



Some day we will get better at photography so we can take clear pictures through the window and screen. The video was taken with the digital camera leaning on the inside window so the view is looking down on a table outside with bird seed and sunflower seeds on it. Unfortunately, the electric colors on the Blue Jay are dim and the powerful red,black,and white color design on the Red Headed Woodpecker don't show through the window and screen. But one day we will get better pictures that will knock your socks off!

13 comments:

English Rider said...

Lovely post. I've been seeing baby bunnies on my early morning dog walks. They always make me smile.
My recent attempt at crow rescue led me to learn that young crows stay with their parents for a couple of years and help feed the next batch of young. (I liked that notion).

heartinsanfrancisco said...

It sounds idyllic where you are. I love living among animals instead of people, and miss it so much here in the city. I would like my next home to be a little house in the middle of the woods with deer and foxes and birds and all the little creatures you have around you. I'm happy that you found the perfect place to be!

Ms. A said...

I would LOVE to have some wildlife to look at, other than the occasional possum or stray cat.

Nice music, James!

Bossy Betty said...

What a wonderful reminder of how lucky we are that we are here to watch life's cycle unfold in so many ways.

Maggie May said...

Aw..... what a lovely post!
The birds are very beautiful and you know how i love little bunnies. Be careful the squirrels don't get into the roof!
Maggie X

Nuts in May

DJan said...

I love the music, and then I saw it is James' and I loved it even more. Yes, we are very fortunate to be surrounded by so much beauty and life! :-)

Jeanie said...

What a fun and varied group of little babies you have to watch. We have baby bunnies, and we have lots of squirrels but I never see babies.

Brian Miller said...

we have been blessed with baby deer this year in our back yard...i watched them nursing the other morning...so peaceful the new life...except maybe the squirels which can be a bit chaotic..ha

Unknown said...

:) THis is a nice post. I love the sound of birds in the early morning, and we do have a lot of them here, living near some wild areas.
The problem is, I might wake up too early or too late to enjoy the singing :P

Robert the Skeptic said...

My wife has been almost disappointed that fewer birds are showing up at her feeders as the flower have bloomed and there is more forage elsewhere. She loves the hummingbirds most of all.

We had the windows open the other night at things are getting warmer, we heard the young coyotes yipping off in the distance. Love that sound.

Jason, as himself said...

It's so exciting to have all of these little critters around. We have a bunch of turtles in the lake behind our house and I just love seeing them.

Hilary said...

Isn't it such a treat to be able to observe the growth of wee ones? I get such a kick out of seeing the parents feed what appear to be full grown babies. Such a sweet, tender act. Loved the video. It's clear that they're comfy with the two of you.

Syd said...

I am so glad that the squirrels were okay. There are lots of critters here on the property. Deer come up to feed at the feed stations we have put up. It is truly cool.