Early May

A Bighorn of the pressured Swansea herd. Photo by Lisa.

The Starlings outlasted the Flickers for the hole in the tree to build their nest. They are busy darting in and out. I try not to look at them as they get nervous with their eggs. Each day I put out a few peanuts for a Crow that is back to watch over the garden. The Crow used to bother Willow.

Not much moisture yet. I dug out some old raspberry canes that had stopped producing to make room for some squash plants. My kids are excited for the garden this year as the price of produce skyrockets. The thing about Lisa and I is we come from a long line of people who had very little, so it’s in our DNA to be able make do with not much.

Meanwhile the tourists and second home owners are flowing into the valley tearing it up.

Killdeer

8 thoughts on “Early May”

  1. mountaincoward's avatar

    mountaincoward

    What is that last photo? and what is ‘kildeer’?

    It’s a Bank Holiday here so should be manic where I live but, weirdly, the hills and roads were pretty quiet today. I was delighted!

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    1. underswansea's avatar

      underswansea

      Hi Carol, a Killdeer is a small Sandpiper shorebird. They have a call that sounds like kill-dee, kill-dee, kill-deer. Since I was a kid I’ve always called them Kill Deer but I think they are actually a species of Sandpiper. They are interesting to watch. They lead animals away from nests by using their voice and flying just out of reach. They continue to do this until they are far enough away from the nest and then they fly back silently. The animal is left looking around far from the nest and goes on to other things. Quite funny.

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      1. mountaincoward's avatar

        mountaincoward

        thanks for that. We have quite a few moorland birds which do the leading you away from the nest thing – I always take extra notice where I’m putting my feet when they do that!

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