What is Dobby looking at? Why did he park himself at the gate to the aviary?
We have had a visitor
It’s raccoon season. I have a love-hate relationship with raccoons. As long as they stay out of my aviary and leave us alone, I’m okay with them. But they are clever, vicious, disease-ridden, and a constant reminder for me to be ever-vigilant.
Right outside the gate, but outside is better than inside!
It’s great having volunteers! Look at Kim, pretending to be a guinea pig!
Kim is actually up in the cage.
The cage needed a tune-up. I’m not willing to leave the walls unprotected to see if the guinea pigs try to eat them like my rabbits and parakeets do. However, the back panels protecting the wall were odd colors, and were slipping down. They’re all white now, and attached to the horizontal red ones for support.
Thank you, Kim!
Kim is especially partial to Carl Sagan.
Kim and Carl, BFF’s Forever!
We had a big windstorm and 14 hour power failure. Because Connor trimmed back all those branches last summer, we didn’t have any damage to the aviary. I was surprised to discover that the old mailboxes, now relocated as birdhouses to the front yard, had taken a hit.
Three boxes are open, the far left one is askew, and Dobby’s flag is drooping.
In the photo above, please also notice the horizontal branch to the left of the mailboxes. That was not my tree until it fell into my yard Saturday night.
Poor ickle mailbox
Here’s that tree, or rather, what’s left of the treetop after it shattered itself on the old mailboxes.
Thank you for the tree, neighbor!
In the photo below, you can see where the tree “crossed the line.”
Maybe it was trying to escape.
The last tree that tried to escape onto my property was a full-sized weeping willow. When it fell over, the roots turned skyward, breaking the edge of the pond, causing a bit of a flood. This attempted escape was very subtle.
Neighbor’s property | My Property
The photo below looks back at their property from mine, toward the newly created stump. That’s Scamp’s turtle pond to the right. A second tree broke off near this one and is still laying in the middle of his pond. My neighbor lost 6 trees altogether. It’s all wetland over there, and the dead fallen trees make excellent habitat for amphibians.
Scamp’s turtle pond
My neighbor is very efficient and has already removed the tree off our fence. The larger bent pipe is the top rail of the fence. It’s still high enough to keep curious capybaras out of his pond. (Yes, I should take him over there, but I’m not confident I would ever get him to come back. Plus, from the pond next door he would readily find the creek that leads to nearby Lake Washington.) The smaller pipe, not so bent, is electrical conduit leading out to the greenhouse. Maybe I should get that checked out someday.
Larger darker pipe: top rail to chain link fence Smaller lighter pipe: electrical conduit to greenhouse
Earlier in the week, tragedy strikes. The graveyard has a new resident.
Dobby pays his respect.
Little Krumpit, my handicapped Sparrow, died abruptly at the age of 5 years. This has been a year of many losses, but I am surprised at how much I miss this tiny bird. My little indoor flock has also been affected by his departure.
Krumpit the Sparrow, in the garden, with the prayer flags that adorned his summer-afternoon-outdoor-visiting cage
Dobby has been allowed to carve his own pumpkin. He has gashed a couple jagged scars in it. Now that Halloween has passed, we’ll see if he’s interested in sharing it with the guinea pigs, rabbits, and chickens. Or whether the squirrels will haul it up a tree, to join those decoys!
Scarface and Scarface
Stacy's Funny Farm 