HAWK

HAWK
Originally uploaded by inverted reptile

If it weren't for the chickens, I would unreservedly say I am doing something right/awesome in having a visit from this youngster, which I am pretty sure is a juvenile coopers hawk. As you can see, though, he was pretty excited by the ladies, who were pacing and bawking in hilariously useless terror (that wire under him is the coop). The chickens, which aren't full grown yet, are about twice his size. The internet says that it was once thought that coopers went after poultry a lot, and were hunted for it, but that they in fact almost never go for chickens. As far as I'm concerned he can go for all the pigeons and starlings he wants.

I didn't get a good picture of its back, but it has these great fawn-like spots.

Chances are good that I saw this kid getting conceived in a park near my house, back in April. (The best you can say about cooper's hawk sex is "grumpy ambivalence")

In other wildlife news, we seem to have a special needs possum living under our back porch. It is tiny, fearless and clumsy, and keeps getting itself cornered by our totally harmless cat, in plain sight. It is super cute. I hope it grows more so it can't fit under there anymore, but it has stayed the same size for at least a month. I'm sure I will find eviscerated by one of the more hunter-like neighborhood cats one of these days.

On balance, I am happy that our yard is a good wildlife hangout, even if it means extra vigilance.

wonder bean in flight

aerialbean
Originally uploaded by inverted reptile

This is my tuscan wonder bean. It has climbed up its six foot tall corn and I may or may not have helped it make the leap to the adjacent shrub. It is also trying to make its way up the peach tree on the patch's other side.

More soon on the early phases of my summer harvest! In the mean time, check out the flickr set.

Summer is doing its thing

sunpattern
Originally uploaded by inverted reptile

I don't have time at the moment to upload all my new garden and harvest pictures right now. Suffice it to say that that sunflower (the pattern is my doing) and a couple of others have been cleaned and the seeds are drying. Three heads came to about a quart of seeds, and I have approximately a zillion more to collect. We may try to make sunflower butter with them. We have this scheme, in the fall, to make a meal only of food grown in the garden, and if we make sunflower butter we can skim the oil and use it to make sopes or tamales. The first tomatoes are coming in. My volunteer sungolds are in fact sungolds, though slightly darker than they were. I think they may be ripening faster also. The extremely persistent but not totally delicious cherry tomatoes that are on generation 3 are both more delicious and starting to get that seamed look that heirloom tomatoes have! I will have to look up tomato genetics to get a clue about what is going on there.

I am really beginning to find the summer drought difficult. I kind of hate watering. I killed my wood fern by not watering. My sunflowers in the front bed that I haven't watered since my water barrels dried up are finally starting to parch, though they were okay through the heat wave. I will have to turn the hose on that side of the house on again. My potato boxes are also getting neglected over there. Oh well. Chris doesn't like potatoes anyway.

I finally figured out how to take close-up pictures with my crappy digital camera, so there will be many pictures soon.