He stayed there long enough for me to take a good picture. Some of his friends were waiting to see if there would be any bird seeds today. :)
Geyri and Chuckie are both happy that by some miracle of nature, there are some dandelions still producing flowers. (https://sarasinart.net/2024/02/13/dandelions-in-winter/) I’ve been amazed to see a couple arugula plants still struggling to grow in the lizard/herb bed too.
I’ve had my usual assortment of birds and squirrels out back every day where we feed them. I enjoy watching them so much: one of a few winter pleasures. But a few times lately there has been a different visitor: a Cooper hawk lives up in the woods and I saw him around here in the trees all summer. Lately he has done something unusual: come down near the house, and sat there for a few minutes. The places where he sits are right near where the ground feeder birds get their seeds from the patio. I know that in each case he’s looking for his lunch. It’s a fact that everybody eats. Not the best picture but it was a scramble to get my phone and get any picture on this day when he was just off the back porch.
There were a lot of the tiny crocus up and a few days ago we got 4″ of snow. But they were under there when it melted and more will come up because that’s what they’ve done for many winters now. They are the first things up in the spring, way before their bigger cousins and flowers like daffodils.
There are robins here already and it’s too early for them to be this far north. They were pecking the ground, and surely not finding any bugs.
I’m already tired of winter and it’s only late February, lol, but there’s no choice but to keep on trudging along. After a long while, I’ll be posting pictures like this………………
Yea, a long while. Till then, have a safe winter and stay warm.
Sarasin's thoughts....... 
Thanks for another great post with beautiful photographs, especially the last one… But I’m looking forward to see this photo again the coming months… 😉
In the mean time, I’m counting the days for spring and summer…
You’re welcome. Yes, I want to pick veggies. It’s a good day in the day it’s time to go to the storage room and get the old pickin’ basket. In about another month I’ll start seeds for tomatoes and peppers in the kitchen. ❤️
OH! Was that first picture for me?
Sure; did you like it better than a lizard picture?
NO!
Oh dear, you didn’t like that cute little squirrel either?
CUTE?!?! It looks vicious!
Well they aren’t to be petted cos they’re wild, but not actually vicious. Didn’t the ones above looking down bother you at all? Maybe they would jump down and pounce on you.
Yes, but at least they are at a distance. While I lived in town, a squirrel decided that he did not want to be wild, and moved into my home. I could not figure out how he kept getting in. He would come to the table while I ate breakfast, and want some of what I was eating. He was not very scary though.
So what part of your breakfast did you give to him? Did you take any pictures? 🙂
I gave it nothing. It just grabbed what it wanted. If I stepped into the kitchen for something, it would be on the table eating when I returned to the dining room. I sometimes gave it bits of apple so that it would be distracted from what I wanted to eat.
That’s fun, and funny, both.
It was . . . weird. I would escort it out, but it would just come back in. I still do not know how it got it. The only access to that home was from the front door and one front window. All other windows were upstairs, with stucco walls.
It’s good it would leave, even tho it came back, and it didn’t destroy things in there.
Actually, now that you mention it, it was rather well behaved.
Semi-tame or at least a little acclimated from coming and going from your house. I have one out back who I call the Brave One. He will continue to eat bird seed and let me get 3′ away, or sometimes walk up close to me. I showed his picture in a blog.
The dude who came into my home liked to be rubbed on top of his head. It was weird. Weirdly, all sorts of wildlife wants to live in my home, but I have never had a problem with vermin. Some sort of bird nested in potted bromeliads in my shower. When I investigated to remove their nest, I realized that there were eggs in it. They actually raised a family in my shower! (Yes, that was somewhat disturbing.) Doves nested on top of the refrigerator. A herd of finches came in to eat seeds from cut sunflowers that I brought in, which is why I leave sunflowers in the garden. For a while, a duck kept coming in and going to the kitchen, but somehow avoided the oven. It is like that in every home I ever live in, even our dorm room in college, which neighbors knew as the ‘Jungle Room’.
Do you ever close the windows and doors to keep critters out………….I don’t understand how this works.
I would not want to offend. Besides, when I closed the dining room and kitchen windows to exclude the doves who wanted to nest there, they came in another window and found their way to the refrigerator anyway. I wanted to exclude the starlings who nested in the shower, but by the time I realized that they were bringing nesting material, they had already built a nest and left eggs in it. I could not exclude the squirrel because I could not determine how it got in. Strangely, no one made much of a mess. If the starlings left a mess, it was only in the shower, so rinsed away while I waited for the water to get warm. The doves were mysteriously clean. The duck did not stay long enough to get messy. This has always been an issue, wherever I live. I know it will be an issue at my next home also. Did you see this?https://tonytomeo.com/2018/03/14/timmy-in-the-garden/
No I hadn’t seen it. That was fun to read. I love animals, wild ones too, but I like it that those here stay outside. You’re had an exciting life with your wildlife.
Such a lovely post. I am glad the squirrels and birds keep you company. We occasionally see a couple raptors in the yard too and now that you mention it, they perch near the bird feeders. Makes sense.
We have had very little snow this year. Not sure about any herbs, but the weeds have survived this winter. I might give some hardy herbs a try.
Did you plant the arugula from seeds? Do you know if it would grow indoors?
Arugula will grow inside if you can give it enough light. I grow a small pot of it from seeds inside in the winter for my lizards. Raptors, yea, looking for food. All these wild animals outside add so much to my life, living right among them.
I’ve missed so many posts. Where does time go? These are great photos, even of the hawk. I’m so glad the feathered and furry ones have a friend in you. It seems that when I was little, there was no greenery in the middle of winter, except the evergreens, of course. Some amount of years now, that which should be brown or gone remains green. We’ve had dandelions here as well. Love to Geyri & Chuckie.
Thanks. They are both so happy it’s dandelion season. We had a little tease of spring and things started to grow, and now we have a few very cold night. I hope things won’t get bit by the cold.
Same here, and for there as well, for the darlings.