Baby birds, foxes, and things that go bump in the night.

There are so many baby birds in the nests around our porch... tiny baby barn swallows with blue, white, and black feathers. There are two baby birds in a nest by our front door and this evening after dinner, we saw the babies sitting on the edge of the nest, as if they were making up their minds whether to try their wings or stay safe under the porch roof. I'm betting that by tomorrow morning, the mama bird will have convinced those babies to fly.

Another pair of barn swallows have built a nest on top of the wood trim around one of the kitchen windows. The cats can see that nest from the screen doors in the TV room, and both Mickey and Sweet Pea have been watching the birds flying back and forth with bits of grass and thin twigs. The nest looks like it's complete now, so I'm sure the mama bird will be laying eggs in it pretty soon.

I let Mickey and Sweet Pea outside the other day-- the first time Mickey has been outside since the day before Easter when he caught the baby bunny. Thankfully, no more baby bunnies have been captured, but Sweet Pea did catch a baby sparrow yesterday, leaving it by the back door for me as a gift. I guess there's no way to keep cats from catching birds, and Sweet Pea is so agile that he can climb up into the trees and balance himself on the fences. That cat catches everything, from crickets to butterflies to tiny birds.

As I was going up the stairs tonight, I just happened to look out of the window on the stairway and saw a fox walking across the driveway. There was no mistaking that profile... long thin nose, bushy tail, thin and compact body... just walking along the driveway as if he lived here. We've seen foxes before, bigger than the one tonight, some red, some gray, all very pretty-- and very dangerous for the chickens. Our coop is very secure, with a concrete floor which would prevent a fox or a raccoon from digging underneath the fencing to get to the hens.

Heaven only knows what's outside at night here. We can hear all sorts of sounds and noises, and I know that on any given night, there will be some critter crunching his way through the pine mulch of the flowerbeds, looking for something to eat. Skunks, armadilloes, possums, raccoons, foxes... we've seen all of those.... and there's plenty out there that we haven't seen. I used to let Gatsby sleep outside at night, but I've been bringing him inside, to keep him safe. Gatsby is pretty much street-wise, but he's a coward at heart, and he wouldn't have a chance if a coyote came along anyway.

The female turkey is still walking around our yard every day, following the chickens, drinking water from their bowls, and sometimes eating vegetables or fruit or bread that I give to the hens. So far, I haven't found any turkey eggs in the flowerbeds. I don't know if the turkey would lay an egg under a bush or in a quiet corner, but I've been looking just the same.

I'm amazed that the turkey is so calm when she sees us walking in the yard. She will tilt her head to the side to give us a closer look, staring at us from head to toe, and then she'll slowly walk the other way. I've yet to see the turkey fly... seems like it wouldn't be a graceful flight at all, being that she's so bottom-heavy.

So many creatures and critters on the property at any given time, day or night. There are nights when my husband will go outside after dark and look at the millions of stars that we can see out here..... he will come inside to get me, telling me to come outside and have a look at the sky. My answer is always the same: "You want me to go outside in the grass? At night? In the dark? With all those animals out there? Are you kidding?!"