My Google Reader came up with a Post on the Garden Vines Blog about the Ruby-Throated hummingbird migration today.  There was a link showing a Hummingbird Migration Map.  I was pretty excited about last year’s map, I guess the little hummingbirds start showing up in New Hampshire around late April.  There’s already sightings in Southern Massachusetts.  And here I was convinced that I had plenty of time to get myself a hummingbird feeder.

Any recommendations for a nice looking hummingbird feeder that wont attract hungry bears?

I’m pretty excited about hummingbirds coming to my yard, my husband and I have always enjoyed eating a takeout dinner on the firetower at Pawtuckaway State Park, and part of the charm has always been the little hummingbirds coming to eat at the feeders.  We got to watch some of the social interactions between the little guys.  I’m pretty excited to get to watch them from my house… if I can attract them.  And of course try to get pictures of them too.

The map site is part of hummingbirds.net an excellent resource on hummingbirds of several different varieties, not just the ruby-throated beauties.

Baby moose, originally uploaded by mbarsalou.

This morning Adam called me for my daily “are you out of bed” call. I look across the street and standing there I see some gangly legs under a tree next to the pond. I’m thinking “Oh No, one of the foals got out”. Then I realised the legs were skinny even for a young horse. So the place across the street is a federally licensed zoo. I became concerned that perhaps it was a reindeer that had escaped. Then I realised what it was “Gotta go honey, there’s a moose in John’s yard, I gotta take pictures”. “Ok, be careful”.

At first the moose just happily stood around munching on the buds of the willow tree. And I snapped a bunch of pictures. From the side of the road, pretty far away.

Then the moose decided to get out of there before the evil geese he’d been reading about on my blog showed up. At this point I was back on my side of the road. She wandered around John’s driveway for a bit, acting a little skittish every time a car passed by. I was worried for her and she was getting a little close to me.

Then she crossed the road only feet away from me. Maybe she thought I was a crossing guard, but either way, I had no fear that she was going to bump into me or anything. Sorry for the blurry picture, but I was concerned for cars as well.

She then proceeded to hang out behind my house for a while just on the other side of our stone wall. I couldn’t get over how close she let me get. When I got too close she just very gently walked away. I hope she’s OK, she has a bit of a limp in her front leg.

As for the evil geese, they almost caused a crash this morning long after the moose was gone. They were IN the road hissing and flapping at cars that stopped for them. One car had to go into the oncoming traffic lane to avoid hitting someone who had been stopped by the geese.

Quail Keets, originally uploaded by mbarsalou.

Adam and I are planning to get chickens. A lot of it for me has to do with knowing exactly how the hens that produce my eggs have been treated. I could buy organic eggs, free range eggs etc at the grocery store, but there’s just something about the backyard chickens.

We went to a chicken swap in Milton the other day (see cute as a button Quail Keets above), but I didn’t really find the variety of breeds I’m looking for. Currently I’m thinking of ordering my chicks through either McMurray Hatchery or Sand Hill Preservation Center because I want heritage breeds.

I think we’ll be working on a chicken house soon. Probably behind the Garage.

We did a lot of work in the yard this weekend  so while we were out we had the cats running around the yard.  Adam decided to put the cats up on the roof of the house.

Audrey was not happy!

Beavis liked being closer to the sky and to the birds.

There was a couple amusing anecdotes about the geese across the street this weekend. Parents must really learn that geese are not a petting animal and will be vicious in attacking if they feel that their territory is being infringed on. One goose decided today that the cars driving on the road were getting too close to his pond and was standing at the side of the road hissing and flapping his wings at every car that drove by. He must have felt very rewarded when the cars were all cowards and drove away as fast as they came.

And a couple more kitty pictures from this weekend.

Audrey, originally uploaded by mbarsalou.

Sometimes she’s just so pretty when she’s being good.

When we got Audrey I wanted her to be an indoor cat. So I trained her to go outside on a harness. Since a couple adventures outside in the middle of winter Audrey has shown no interest in going outside. So we didn’t even think twice of letting her onto the deck on a beautiful late winter day. Well it turns out she loved it. By the end of the time out she was sprinting her way around the building, taking care to never leave the building by a few feet. But we think she enjoyed herself.

It will definately only be a treat for when we are around and outside with her but we might let her out again at some point. Although the snow is a nice kitty fence because she did not want to touch it.