First, a bumble on the nodding onion. This bee was the only one and I think it was enjoying having these little blooms all to itself!
The Black-eyed Susans are really out now and make a very bright spot in the garden. They’re in a place in the bed that I see from inside the house when I glance out the windows on that side, and it’s so nice seeing them there!
Update on the pretty fern patch. They have gotten quite tall and are lovely to the point that I want to create a mulched bed around them. Another project for the list.
This little scene became a favorite yesterday when I was standing on the walkway and glanced over. If it weren’t such a bright shot, it would be even better. I tend to like things slightly overgrown, not perfectly manicured, and while this tendency gets me in trouble in the garden a lot of the time (there’s a short distance between slightly overgrown and totally out of control when it comes to growing plants), in this moment I really liked how the garage looks with all the plants framing it.
Overall, some things are out of control right now with weeding, and we had a couple of days where two Corgis smelled a bunny and went crashing through the front bed, trampling the Stoke’s asters and narrow leaf mountain mint, and while those plants are alive and blooming and serving pollinators well, they won’t stand back up the way they were for the rest of the season. Daughter has worked with them to set some boundaries and I hope they will stay out of my flowers now!
It’s just too hot to do too much out there right now.
In other news, we had a big drama yesterday on the farm when I opened the back door and heard a cacophony of crow shrieks. It was the loudest ruckus I’ve ever heard from the crows and I knew something was amiss. I called out to my husband, who ran out the door to the back pasture where they were, and he found a crow in the horse water trough. Thankfully it was alive, and the moment he rescued it from the water, the crows went totally silent.
The crow couldn’t fly and seemed stunned, and it was shivering, so he brought it around to the garage and we nestled it in dry cloths in a box in the sun to see if we could help it warm up. We read during this few minutes that when crows get in water they can get hypothermic quite fast, and pass out, roll over, and drown. I had no idea! While we were on the phone with our local rehabber, the crow warmed up and flew away! So we’re glad the crow family made such a racket and this one made it.
When I went in the back pasture yesterday evening to scrub and refill the trough, several crows came to the oak tree where the trough is and cawed softly. I really do think they know we helped and were there to let me know things were okay.
Crows are sooo smart! I don't doubt your residents called out for assistance.
ReplyDeleteThere were experiments done with people wearing masks and capturing the crows for tagging, then wearing the same masks around the area where the crows lived. The birds remembered the capture-ers and chased and scolded them for a long time after the experiment. They also solve complicated puzzles and use tools. Plus there's that famous video of a crow repeatedly skiing down a roof on a bottle top.
I rescued a baby once - they are cool birds.
Thanks for the great links! I remember reading about the masks and loved the video of the roof slide. :)))
ReplyDeleteWe love the crows who live here. It took years for them to let me photograph them, and the past few years it seems they have been much more comfortable coming close in to where we are. It really amazes me that they knew to create a huge loud ruckus - a month or so ago we found a huge raven dead in that same trough and husband took it to Poplar Folly and buried it. I don’t know if they saw that or if they just knew we would help if we could, but it was clear they were trying to attract attention. Would love to hear more about your rescue of the baby!!!
Once found a baby crow sitting under a tree. Oddly it didn't try to get away as I got nearer. I picked it up and checked it over - seemed stunned but alive - and absloutely crawling with mites. Made a cage out of a cat carrier and transported it to the local wildlife rehabber. He ended up keeping it for it's whole life in his very cool apiary.
ReplyDeleteI love the crows too. I did read about the mask experiment and I still have that video of the crow skiing on the roof. It's funny J. and I were actually talking about that this morning. We've got lots of crows at the farm that come daily. They are so smart and they work together with the horses. They will alert the horses when they think there is danger or something different for them to watch out for. J. has seen this happen more than once. They have a different call and the horses will stop grazing and look around them and be on alert. When the crows give the all clear they go back to grazing.
ReplyDeleteA, how wonderful - I love that the crows and horses are in sync!!
ReplyDeleteC, wow - how wonderful that you found it and it ended up in a great home. :)))
ReplyDeleteSweet crow, glad he warmed up and flew off!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about him today.
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