His bill can hold more than his belican
He can take in his beak
Food enough for a week
But I'm damned if I see how the helican" by Dixon Lanier Merritt
So far this week the dominant theme seems to be wildlife. I awoke this morning rather early, even for me. Normally when I awaken so early I try to seduce myself back to sleep but not this morning. I was going deer hunting. I'll wait a moment while those of you who know me stop gasping. For the last two nights, our neighbourhood deer have dined on our fruit trees...the asian pear trees being their favorite. These poor trees were only planted last season so are rather small still....just the right height for a young deer. The hoof prints lead me to think the deer was young (and apparently stupid 'cause its not suppose to eat here). So more drastic action was needed...Barry attached many 5 foot long branches from prunings of the red maple to the back 3 foot tall chainlink fence and positioned our white flags around the tasty trees.
Previously we had protected some of our pea and carrot crops with 1-2 foot branches densely placed with the crops. These seems to have been successful so far. You may wonder why we are protecting the carrots from the deer. The crazy deer were using the large planters (where our Atomic and Purple Haze carrots are sown) as convenient steps over the fence and into the yard. Whether it was our improved security or the deer were dining elsewhere, I am happy to report no deer in the yard last night. Too bad about the sleep, though.While eating breakfast...it must be around 4:30 or 5:00 am by now...the northern flicker started hammering away on the suet, much to the joy of the other birds scrambling beneath the feeder. The adult starlings are accompanied today by the juvenile starlings. I am quite amused to see the adult starlings feeding the suet droppings to the juvenile starlings, which are the same size as the adult. A rock dove, or pigeon, willingly participated in the pursuit for the suet droppings. I know we should stop putting up the suet but I love watching all the action it creates. Yesterday we spotted a pair of american goldfinch frolicking in the apple tree and blueberry bushes. What beautiful little creatures they are. And talking about beautiful little creatures, it seems our hummingbird population is increasing daily. It began with the occasional hummer at the feeder and now the constant 'buzz' can be heard throughout the yard. We've seen two hummers aggressively battling for possession of the feeder. I have also witnessed one hummer busily checking out the bugs between the rocks in the rock wall. Previously I would never have believed the hummer was searching out bugs but after seeing the amazing video documentary, Hummingbirds: Magic in the Air, from PBS on Youtube, I am a believer! Moments ago, Barry called me to come quick and there on the suet feeder was a Black-Headed Grosbeak. Apparently their range is from southern BC and Saskatchewan south to its wintering grounds in western Mexico. I love all the birds frequenting our yard; didn't seem to be as many last year or maybe I was just too busy to notice them.
Yesterday, between showers, we were able to plant out 6 Bicolour Beefsteak tomatoes, with their companions, 9 Sweet Italian peppers and 4 Gold Nugget tomatoes, with their companions, 9 Jalapeno O peppers in the new bed on the south side of the house. We also transplanted a few self-sown borage plants into this bed. Apparently borage deters tomato hornworms, adds trace minerals to the soil, and improves the tomato's ability to resist disease. Can't have better friends than that! We sank empty and cleaned 4 litre plastic milk containers with holes, now called water reservoirs, in amongst the new plants. As tomatoes and peppers are water loving plants, and this area is somewhat sheltered by the eaves overhang (less water falling on the tomato's leaves), we have provided water reservoirs for them. Aren't we considerate? No, we just love salsa, spaghetti sauce, tomato soup...you get the idea. 
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