Window watching

Most of the time when I look out the windows I see the same butterflies and birds doing their usual thing. Sometimes I look out and see something astonishing. A week ago, I saw a bluebird and his lady on the birdbath. Bluebirds prefer the yards with large expanses of grass, so I was surprised to see them come to take a bath and drink in our fairly small clearing. They probably come quite often, but I happened to be looking that time. While they were there, a hummingbird came by for a drink but flew off when he saw the bigger birds already on the bath. When the bluebirds flew away, two cardinals came immediately, just as the hummingbird made another pass and again flew off to a nearby branch to wait. The birdbath needed an air traffic controller that morning.

I get a lot of pleasure out of watching the birds go about their business. On the weekends we sit on the porch and watch them come and go at the feeders and baths. It's especially rewarding to see the shy ones when they think no humans are around, like the bluebird and his lady, and the indigo bunting I saw early in the spring.

A few minutes ago I looked out at the birdfeeders and there were the usual suspects and someone I had never seen before. He was the size and shape of a nuthatch and his markings were striking. Not the nuthatch I have seen many times in the woods-- this was a red-breasted nuthatch. I just added another bird to my life list. That's exciting even after all these years of birdwatching.

Knock, knock. Who's there?

The deer is not alone. Last night we were awakened by the loud hunting call of a coyote-- a long howl and three short barks, three times in a row, then a few small barks, possibly an answer from another coyote. It was very close to the house but avoided the motion detector lights. I knew all of our cats were inside the house, but I felt a stab of doubt just the same. Although it was dark, I looked out the window and checked the stairs and front hallway for the cats. They were not looking out the front windows as they usually do when there are animal visitors in the yard. Then I immediately thought of the little cat next door who lives on a screened porch. Could a coyote break in through a window screen?

With all the wildlife in our yard, the coyote would have rabbits, possum, raccoon, and deer to choose from without even beginning on pets. We have other predators too-- bobcat, fox, owls-- all these things are milling around in the woods and across the lawns at night. From the nibbled state of two of the roses, I can tell this morning that the deer has been visiting, because I didn't spray the organic untasty spray on them last week. She is vigilant, so I will have to be also.

After the coyote called, I lay wide awake for a long time. I didn't expect to be able to sleep after that, and I was safely comfortable in bed in a house; it was an instinctive reaction to the presence of a predator. However, I know I went back to sleep because at dawn I woke up to the sounds of a cat throwing up. I had to smile at the irony of the two disturbances.

This morning we played a recording of a coyote howling to confirm that that was the sound we heard. I had just set down the cats' breakfast and the smallest one, Daisy, bolted and could not be coaxed back to eating. Nicky ran too but he came back to his plate after a couple of minutes. Daisy is the one who was abandoned on a dirt road with her sister and nieces and nephews. She knew exactly what that sound was. I spoke to the neighbor and was relieved to hear that the little cat stays inside at night.

We let the cats outside later than usual and they did their rounds before lunchtime, well past the transition between night and day. Tonight is the night before school starts, so it would be nice if it is a night of good sleep and not one full of animal sounds like last night.

Roses and friends

A deer has been eating my roses for years. I have seen her only twice, but I know she is a regular visitor from the condition of my roses. Throughout the year I fertilize, add new mulch, and water the roses. New leaves and buds come quickly in response to the care. I am lulled into thinking the deer has moved on. Then all of a sudden, there are only bare twigs.

I understand the deer's repeated assaults on the antique roses that have no thorns-- Duchess de Brabant and Madame Joseph Schwartz, Le Duchet, La Marne, Mutabilis (the one the tree fell on), St. David, Louie Philippe, and the little unnamed sport of Cecile Bruner. Roses taste good. But this summer I realized the deer is also eating the Altissimo, which has monstrous thorns, and the Alachua Red Climber, which has little ones. The only roses she doesn't like at all are the Mermaid and the Cherokee, and those are the only roses I wish she would eat, because they are so vigorous that they need frequent trimming. Several years ago, The Duchess de Brabant stopped growing on the side most accessible to the deer, and instead grew up into the Mermaid for protection. Smart rose.

A month ago, desperate after years of trying this and that remedy, I purchased an organic spray and began applying it once a week. The roses have leaves again, and even a few blooms.