Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Eyes
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is: Eyes
I have fun doing things in my garden. I do gardening and feeding the birds. This afternoon, I spent a couple hours pulling weeds on the slope in my backyard, the last area of the garden needed attention.
By 4:00 p.m., there are about a dozen mourning doves perching on the telephone wires above the garden waiting for me to put the seeds out to feed them. I don’t have a bird seed feeder, I just put the seeds on the patio every day. The house finches are also regular visitors.
There are squirrels in the backyard. They like to eat the bird seeds. We don’t have trees with big nuts so they settle with bird seeds. There were several times when one squirrel came, I tried to scare him away. He looked right at me. Then he went to the corner of the wooden fence. But as soon as I went into the house, he came back. The birds didn’t like to be around him so they all flew away. The birds only stay until almost sunset. When the sun starts going down, they fly away. I had to make sure the squirrel went away and let the birds eat.
There are several stray cats in the backyard. The mourning doves like to stand on the cinder block retaining wall. They are not as alert as my other birds such as the house finches. This black and white cat is smart. He stayed low and ambled until he was behind the cinder block wall and right under the mourning dove, then he jumped up and snatched the bird and dashed up the slope to be out of my sight. I was so mad at him and tried many ways to block the cat from coming close to where the birds like to hang out.
My husband and I go on walks around Laguna Lake by our home. There are several turtles coming out of the water frequently. This turtle is the most colorful and handsome among them.
The Showers of Blessings 
Such pretty photographs, Miriam. You do live in a wonderful place. We get a lot of birds where we live due to the national bird park nearby, but I have never seen a squirrel in Johannesburg.
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Thank you, Robbie. I did a quick search. The Wikipedia says there are Gray squirrels in Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The squirrels were originated from North America and became a problem in South Africa in term of removing the barks of the trees and carrying disease.
Perhaps they are not in Johannesburg. You’re not missing anything and happy that they’re not around if they carry disease.
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I suppose any wild animal can carry disease, Miriam. I have seen squirrels in Cape Town.
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The first time I saw a squirrel was when I first got here as a student. I fed him with nuts on my palm. Later on people warned me not to do it.
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That squirrel sure seems cheeky!
And how sad that the stray cats are taking a toll on your birds, Miriam – dealing with feral cats and their impact on native wildlife is actually a major conservation issue in many parts of the world.
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I realized that issue. To bad we still have a long way to go as far as wildlife and ocean life.
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Oh what a lovely backyard you have in there Mirriam…i could imagine the dovea flying..while their are cats running around…so lovely
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Yes, I have to keep some and chase away some creatures in my backyard. I’m glad to have them,
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My birds are very demanding. I have feeders all around the garden with different types of seeds for different species. I also have coconuts filled with a fat and bug mix, and flutter butter, which is a special formulation of peanut butter made specifically for birds. I may have to ask the bank manager for a loan to cater for the demand!
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I know what you mean, Peter. I saw all kinds of seeds at the store but not ready for the investment yet. What kind of birds do you feed with your special mix?
I have a hummingbird born in my backyard. I have Salvia that he likes in addition to the sugar water. I bought some other plants for hummingbirds.
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We have lots of pigeons who are greedy and bullies, collared doves, blackbirds, sparrows, wrens, starlings, blue tits, great tits, chaffinches, gold finches, and robins. Occasionally we have a sparrow hawk come in to rest, but we do not encourage him as all other birds stay well away when he’s around!
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Wow, you got lots of different birds, no wonder you need all kinds of seeds. I only have about 5 kinds. The new bird, Western Scrub Joy is very pretty, the n=only blue bird I have around. He dashes in all the time and scare the other birds.
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What lovely pics you’ve got for the challenge Miriam 👍
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Thank you, Radhika. I have all kinds of creatures in my garden. 🙂
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I love all of these Miriam. 🙂
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Thank you, Marje. Yes, they entertain me! 🙂
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We often get squirrels, used to get stray cats in our garden. I must get a bird feeder!
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Good to hear you have squirrels to watch. I don’t know why cats run away and become stray cats.
I used to have a bird feeder, but the mourning doves are big, so I put the seeds on the ground.
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We get a lot of wood pigeons in our garden.
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We have different kinds of doves in our cities also. I got only one kind in my garden.
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Your backyard sounds peaceful. I love watching the birds, but have to be creative how I feed them with my cats. I have one feeder set high on a window so I can watch them feed and another high in a post. Have a great weekend and enjoy your birds:)
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Thank you, Denise. I’m glad you like to feed birds and watch them also.
I have several kinds of birds. If I get bird feeders, I can get one for the house finches and other small birds. Most of the feeders mourning doves are too small for the mourning doves.
I’ll be gone next week and next weekend to visit my granddaughter in Portland.
Have a wonderful weekend!
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