Friday, August 20, 2010

NO STORY-- JUST NATURE

I have a lot of hummingbirds so I keep the nectar made up ahead of time and in the refrigerator by the quarts. I have two feeders and one is always more popular by location and empties first. Usually, I take a quart out of the refrigerator long enough to almost reach room temperature before putting it out for the birds. Don't want them to get little blue tongues.

This past week, they were scarfing it up so quickly that I didn't have time to warm it up so I took the cold one out. It was a slow time of day so I thought it would have time to warm up but ZOOM, there came a hummer diving on the cold feeder. He shoved his beezer in the fake flower, then quickly pulled it out and looked startled. I know, where was my camera? That was when the thought hit me, can a hummer get a brain freeze like we can? Hummm?















This picture was after he discovered that a brain freeze was not a bad thing after all when the temps are in the hundreds. Think he likes the frosty mug.

***********




I guess for sake of ego,it is better to be a big fish(or frog)in a small pond than vise- versa. Perhaps that is the thinking of this little fellow that has occupied my water fountain for over a week. I keep this fountain mainly as a large bird bath but Kermit has made it his home. Think the smile on his face says how happy he is with his very own pond, regardless of size.




This is not a toad that can do with out water but a regular ole frog. Perhaps he can make a "bug living" here, more power to him. However the nearest pond is ½ mile away so finding a lady friend is quite a remote possibility. But then how did he get here? Perhaps a nice lady frog will follow his path. I really don't want a pond full of pollywogs but guess I will adjust if that happens.



Golly, do you think that is why I like such tiny towns?



*************




Something has been tugging at my curiosity for a couple of weeks. At night when I walk Mighty before bed time, I notice a large spider web on my porch with a decent sized spider holding court. I am pretty much a "live and let live" type so I was a bit upset the next day to see the web completely gone. Awww. Something got it, I thought.






The next night there was the web again in full glory. Ah ha. However, the next morning it was completely gone again except for one strand near the roof. I wondered what could be tearing the web down each day and was just grateful it wasn't my face. Don't ya hate that.


Sorry about the picture but I wasn't getting close.

Then I noticed her or him, nestled tightly in the rafters in the day time. Each day the process was repeated. Thank goodness for computers. I learned that some spiders build a web every night and actually eat their old web to help make more silk. Wow, that is truly sustainable living. Wish I could be so pure.

41 comments :

  1. I am up early, for me, this morning, getting ready to go with my daughter and g-son to his eye surgery. Your brain freeze hummer and smiley frog have been an excellent way to break some tension here at our house. Thanks. I love the way you write, it puts me there....

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's right Patti! They eat their own webs. They need them to catch food and afterwards they eat their webs. I read it not so long ago.
    I like your little pond!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That feeder looks great! How much does it hold? Our newest 'feeder bird' is a mommy turkey and four poults. They are still too, er, chicken for me to get a good photo, but we have had them on our deck, peering in the windows. I love having them around.

    Enjoyed this post. Is great to see critters doing what they do.

    ReplyDelete
  4. My firsr comment dissovled into outer space.

    Who would argue with a recluse or black widow spider?

    My house spiders seem to eat webs and move/upgrade their locations. Must be like the big cities that use public domain to condemn and rejuvenate areas of their city considered blighted.

    I have a hummer dive bombing my kitchen window box daily aas it has a fake red rose in a vase in it. Poor deluded, desperate creature. There is not a feeder in the neighborhood, of which I am aware.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nice pics of your wildlife there, patti. Interesting thing about that spider and her web. Very cool.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Patti, Love the little hummingbird... We have alot of them around now --but I have YET to get a good picture... If I am standing inside looking at them through the glass, the pictures come out like a silhouette... IF I am outside, they don't seem to come around.... I have three feeders and keep them changed alot these days... Great picture you got...

    Love your little froggie also... We used to have those big spotted toad frogs. My mama used to tell me never to touch them or I'd get warts... SO--I never did... Don't know if that is true or not.

    Hope you have a great weekend.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

    ReplyDelete
  7. The kids had so much fun watching the hummingbirds when they were here that Mike is getting them a hummingbird firder and bird book for Christmas.
    We had a resident spider last summer. I was amazed at how strong the web material is. I didn't know that they would sometimes eat it, but that does explain why it was sometimes so raggedy.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Loved this post. :) When we're home we feed the hummingbirds too - I'll have to tell my husband (who does the filling of the feeders) that cold might not be a bad thing for them! And I enjoyed the frog and the spider stories - I didn't know that about the spider..very interesting. blessings, marlene

    ReplyDelete
  9. I really like this post. I once had two dripping bird baths for birds. I also had places to hang hummingbird feeders where I could watch them. In those days I worked so I missed most of the activity. Now I don't work and have plenty of time to watch, but alas, no place for a dripping bird bath or a hummingbird feeder. Drat! The information about the spider was very interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  10. a lovely nature post.
    Living where I do I get to watch a lot of that sort of thing too, although my creatures are totally different from yours. No humming birds and no nectar, but fatballs, peanuts and a mixture of seeds.
    Spiders galore, of course, inside and outside the house, and toads and frogs too. I have countryside and wild places all around me. We are very lucky, both of us.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I didn't know that about spiders; it goes to show that you have to be retired to notice and learn these things.

    I do like your fountain,pond. Who wouldn't like to jump in on hot days?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Linda in NM
    Thoughts and prayers with you, your daughter and your grandson today. Hope his surgery and recovery go sucessfully and easily.

    Reader Wil,
    Thanks,the birds love it. That was a new discovery for me. Facinating I thought.

    Barry,
    It is a one quart feeder(Walmart special) with 10 feeding stations. What I like is that it comes completely apart for thorough cleaning.

    Nitwit,
    Think that bird is trying to tell you something. You need to set up a feeder station. They are delightful to watch. They remind me of feathered politicians with all their squabbling.

    robin,
    I had no idea that they ate their webs. I just love the Internet for all the information that is at our fingertips.

    Betsy,
    I have a ton of silhouette pictures. I keep thinking I will get them to trust me enough to land on me.
    Not happening yet.

    Olga,
    I guess it is only some that eat the web. That is what threw me as I was used to webs being up for quite a while.
    Hummers are such fun to watch. They sure do squabble.

    Stichinbythelake,
    Evidently the cold nectar doesn't bother them for they keep coming back. I usually have one warm and one cold going outside and they both get action.

    Linda,
    That is sad since you now have the time. I so enjoy watching them either feeding or flitting. The rest of the birds just love the fountain and the frog is quite generous with his very own pond.

    Friko,
    Yes we are lucky. Don't know if I could live with out seeing nature from my windows. Used to live more in the woods and miss it for the larger variety of wild life. This will have to do.

    lakeviewer,
    Just think if this were years ago, how long it would take to discover that about spiders. It would take trips to the library and still I might not have learned. With the computer, it took maybe a minute. Love the times we are living in.

    ReplyDelete
  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  14. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I sat there trying to imagine your humming bird with brain freeze lol...they must be so greatful for the nector you provide.

    Love all your other photos too ...always a great read ...thank you xx

    ReplyDelete
  16. I would LOVE to lure hummingbirds...all we get is robins no matter what we do. There are many species near us, just not in our yard. Your hummingbird pic is amazing! Also, we're Frog People (well, we like frogs because the g'kids get a kick out of them), so I enjoyed the post from beginning to end!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Nice, eclectic post, Patti. I love your froggy!

    ReplyDelete
  18. We also love watching the birds. Bruce only has one hummingbird feeder, this year we have only had 2-3 hummers at a time. My favorite is the finches.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Oh I love all the critters you see at your place. The frog really does look like he has a smile. It is amazing to me how critters find water when you put it in the garden. the day after I built my bathtub pond at my last home I found water bugs in the water, how did they find it. They are doing things all around us and we just don't realize it most of the time.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Since everything I know about spider webs and nature in general came from Charlotte's Web, I suspect either a rat or a small boy.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Angie,
    I buy so much sugar for those little darlin's that I am sure I am being watched by law inforcement as possibly running a homemade whisky business.

    Deb,
    Awww, sorry about no hummers. They are such fun to watch. They are such crabby little birds.

    kenju,
    Thanks Judy, I believe I will keep him.

    Miss Dazey,
    Sometimes I wish I only had a few. I am now up to three quarts of nectar a day and the little ingrates get quite demanding when if I let a feeder go dry. Cuteness goes a long way however.

    Linda Starr,
    I know--- where do they come from?? The ditches are dry and the closest pond is 1/2 mile away. That is a long hop. Guess it is a case of "build it and they will come."

    ReplyDelete
  22. marciamayo,
    Aww, wasn't Charlotte's Web great. However, since I have neither rat nor boy, and it is every night, I think I have a bonifide web eater.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Sorry, Patti, I think 80 is the new 60, s0 70 must be the new 50. Or something like that. Enjoyed reading. Keep writing.
    Mike

    ReplyDelete
  24. Very cute story. I am smiling as broadly as the toad too :-D heehee.
    Never knew spiders eat their home. Wow.

    ReplyDelete
  25. mike kirkeberg,
    Thanks for stopping by mike and boy do I wish you were right. Actually, I am pretty sure 70 is just 70.

    lostworld,
    Thank you and we both learned something today. Don't ya love the Internet for instant knowledge?

    ReplyDelete
  26. I am amazed by the spider, I didn't know that some of them eat their own webs and make them "fresh daily (or nightly)" like an old fashioned village baker! I like your frog, I am sure that he/she will feel quite at home in the pond. Don't frogs have sweet looking hands (I always think so!).

    ReplyDelete
  27. The frog looks like he’s standing guard over his territory. Yikes…loveless for life - very grim.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Live and let live, is good, until the big old spider hits you in the face. LOL Is that a frog, or a toad? My Mother has several toads in her backyard. I wish we had one, they are rather cute, I think. We haven't had too many hummingbirds this year for some reason. Have a good (what's left of it) Sunday.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Patti - we picked up a smaller version of your hummer feeder today! Going to get the quart-sized one next year. I love how the bottom comes completely apart for cleaning. Thanks for the heads-up.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Peter,
    Aw, Now I am going to have to go outside and study the frogs hands. Hope he lets me near enough.

    Grayquill,
    I guess there is hope that a female can find the little pond like he did. Just hope some honking bull frog doesn't make it instead. There may be a rumble in the pond.

    Patty,
    That is funny for no good deed goes unpunished. Yesterday morning while walking Mighty in the dark, I got a face full of web from probably my fellows cousin. I nearly beat my self to death trying to get it off. I just knew that spider is on my head when it happened.

    Barry,
    I am so glad you got one. They are the best I have ever used. Why didn't someone think of that sooner? Such a simple solution.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Such sweet pictures, Patti....Love that Hummer and I just adore the little frog...That is a GREAT Heart Shape....Did you build that yourself?
    And that is a FANTASTIC picture of the Web....! Thanks for these wonderful images and the story of the Hummers possible brain freeze....lol!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Thanks for your visit! I love tall ships too, but I didn't go to Amsterdam this time. It was overcrowded and I have no car to travel to Amsterdam. I saw the whole event on TV.

    ReplyDelete
  33. I had no idea. I have no intention of eating my new kitchen after all the renovations. Seems such a waste! HAHA! But, nature is, for lack of better vocabulary, incredibly COOL!
    How are you these days? :D

    ReplyDelete
  34. OOLOH
    You know, I never noticed the heart shape. Good eye. I didn't build it, it is prefab but serves the birds and now the frog just fine.

    Reader Wil,
    That is the only way I have ever seen them. Some day----

    Linda G,
    I guess it would work if I built my house out of spinach. I just like the waste nothing approach of Mr. Spider.
    Doing good, thanks for asking.

    ReplyDelete
  35. I really like these photos. I am fond of ponds and running water of any kind and the frogs and toads they seem to attract out of nowhere. And these long and large snails that crawl up the bricks or across the sidewalk. And then I saw your spider and its web and then the last picture showing what it did with the web and where the spider rested during the day.

    I had the same identical thing happen here. At the doorway to my shop. She built the next across the doorway at night and the following morning moved herself over to one corner of the opening where the door is. And the next night she built the nest all over again.

    ReplyDelete
  36. oldmanlincoln,
    Thanks Abe, I too love any type of water feature, even my small one.
    Amazing how the frog found it but am glad he did.
    Glad you also had the disappearing spider experience. This was totally new to me. He now has a cousin building and eating on the opposite side of the porch. Really thoughtful tenants.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Honey you have really educated me this morning about spiders...I had no idea they ate their own webs. All I know is I hate to walk out on my porch and get caught in one their webs. haha Then I am twisting every which way to get it off of me.
    Love your pictures of the Hummingbird and frog...how funny that you would think about him living there without a mate..You keep this ole woman going every day and she loves you
    Maggie

    ReplyDelete
  38. One is never to ancient to be learning and I love all the interesting things I learn from your posts.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Grandmayellowhair,]
    Thanks Maggie. It wasn't a day later that one of his less thoughtful cousins built a web across the walk area of the porch. Caught it right in the face. Dang, I hate that.

    Brighid,
    That is why I love the Internet. It gives you instant answers to strange questions. I do love to learn.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Patti, you made me smile this morning. I've wondered about cold hummer water myself.

    ReplyDelete
  41. southwestarkie,
    Welcome to TNS. I am so glad you stopped by and I could make you smile.
    Will check your blog now.

    ReplyDelete

Comments moderated. No spam will be published nor comments with links