It has been a full week of wildlife visitors, with lots of animals and birds stopping by. I give treats to some, and some I have to hold my breath not to scare away. There is a small herd of five female deer that live in the forest on our property and the adjoining properties. We don’t see them often, but this day My Sweet Babboo came in to tell me they were on the hill behind the house. We didn’t dare go out, as they would bound away, so I got the camera and took a photo through the office window. You can see that they sensed even that movement behind the glass and froze for a moment. Four are visible in the picture, the fifth one had already moved away. A moment later and they were gone.
On the feeder, I’ve been watching for species to come by so I can report them on the Cornell site’s Feeder Watch project that runs through the end of April. This project tracks migration patterns. On this day, a female downy woodpecker took advantage of the suet cake. Her mate came by, too.
Two blue jays appeared this week, they will spend the summer here.
Oliver has been here regularly for his peanut butter sandwich. One day he was on the veranda, flinging himself on the glass to get attention, little rascal.
This squirrel got a sandwich the same time as Oliver, but I don’t think this is Jack. It doesn’t have the little nip on the left ear that Jack has. At one point, there were four squirrels rooting around under the bird feeder, and I have lost track of who is who.
In the sewing room, I didn’t get very far on the Quilt of Valor, just a couple of passes. I hope to get it finished this coming week. I need to do that and get it bound so I can count the fabric out for Stashbusters on April 1. Yikes, that is Friday of this coming week!
I needed to do one more panel for an article for Madam Sew‘s blog. This panel, called Cultivate Kindness, was purchased right after lockdown started in March of 2020. So, yes, I’ve had it sitting in a closet for 2 years. I loved the sentiments at the time, and planned to make placemats with the trucks, but never got to it. Now that we don’t entertain much anymore, I decided to just put borders on it. I’ll quilt it, then put it up for sale at the quilt show. The size is good for a wall hanging or a child’s quilt.
This lone female wild turkey was in the yard when we came home one afternoon. She seemed hungry, so I gave her a quarter of a piece of whole grain bread in tiny bites. She made the cluck-purr sounds while she ate, so I think she was happy to have the treat.
Our cardinal pair came by for a meal on a cold morning. They are in courtship mode and it is just so sweet to see. Here, the male has just gathered a beak-full of suet and seed.
Then, he will feed it to the female. It looks like they are kissing. So sweet.
No one has moved into the birdhouse that My Sweet Babboo put up last year in the redbud tree. The wrens haven’t built a nest on the veranda yet, so we will wait a while longer to see if it gets occupied. The redbud is just beginning to come into bloom, and the birdhouse is in the lower right of the photo. The red building is my neighbors workshop, and is farther away than it looks.
One more thing to mention, you all know I am always on the lookout for new and interesting shows on TV or Netflix. Recently we have seen several that I can recommend on Netflix. First, The Adam Project is a fun, time travel, sci-fi movie with some really funny lines. Second, definitely see Rescued by Ruby, a movie about an incorrigible shelter dog that becomes a K9 police officer and her handler. It is heartwarming, and suitable for the entire family. If you enjoy period pieces, the second season of Sanditon has begun on PBS. I also have enjoyed another season of Sweet Magnolias, a modern time series set in the south on Netflix. We saw the second season of All Creatures Great and Small on PBS, and hope for more of that one soon. If you know of something new on Netflix you liked, do tell!
Do you have any wildlife visitors? What are you planning to work on this week?
From My Carolina Home 
You really do get such an amazing array of wildlife. You’d think we would but perhaps since there are still so many unpopulated areas near us it’s easier for wildlife to stay secluded.
I haven’t seen our neighborhood deer for a while, but I expect they are up the hill, getting fed by someone. Last count I saw 14, which surprised me. Our not so welcome addition to the neighborhood is a great horned owl who is living in our spruce tree, or at least using it as a regular perch. I’ve heard him twice in the tree and seen him once, sitting on the transformer box in the corner of the yard. He is BIG and with Bandit being so tiny, the evening and morning potty breaks are a little tense! Bandit wants to run around the yard before he does his business, and I’m sure Mr. Owl thinks he would be a tasty breakfast. I saw him fly off the other night…his wing span is pushing 4 feet. 😳
The word is out amongst the squirrel hobos & they have posted the “Kind Lady Lives Here” hobo sign on your property. Yesterday I started quilting my donation quilt for Ukraine & need to finish it for stashbusters as it’s the only one to leave this month.
We have deer roaming through our woods often, and lots of birds and squirrels. My plan for this week, or at least several days of it, is to eat a lot of fresh Gulf coast seafood…and hopefully visit a few quilt shops while there! When we get home, I have a couple of quilting and embroidery projects I’m working on! Have a great week, Carole!
I am always amazed that you can identify some of the squirrels. Ours stay far away and rarely stop by for a treat. We have robins, sparrows, cardinals and a couple of blue jays around here. I hope you finish your quilt of valor this week. Enjoy your stitching.
hello,
i enjoy reading your blog. It always brightens my day. I’ve been wondering what you use/make the peanut butter sandwiches for the squirrels? We have several in our backyard. I would like to give them a special treat. Thanks a bunch! Serena
Thanks so much! They get Jif crunchy peanut butter on whole grain bread. I get eight squirrel size sandwiches from one piece of bread.
Your views of wildlife are so similar to ours. Several days last week we saw as many as 50 turkeys in our back pasture. Deer can be spotted on most days! I enjoy your photos and Happy Sunday!
We had a skunk wander across our yard early this morning when I was up to take the dog out…we went to the front yard and made sure the skunk was not there first! No peanut butter sandwiches for this wildlife visitor!
I love hearing about Oliver and all the neighborhood friends! How fun to see the deer. How about that romance with the cardinals. Babies in the spring! I can’t see much of our woods from inside the house, but we used to have deer in there. We have an old chicken coop in the woods that the buzzards have moved into. My hubby calls the flock “the kids” and we watch them circling and drifting as they return to our woods to roost. As long as they stay off the roof I am ok with them bunking out there. Protected species in our state, and since 2006, the flock has grown to over a dozen. We can’t “remove” the coop now, as it is their “habitat”. Our pairs of cardinals are flitting around the back yard. Working on an embroidery project for the spring. 1/2 way done and have about 8 hours into it so far.
Hi Carole!
Always enjoy seeing the wildlife in your posts! And, those squirrels are so cute, while enjoying their little peanut butter sandwiches!!
We recently discovered a great new to us Netflix original series, Outer Banks. We have a beach house in N.C.’s Outer Banks, so our thinking was that it would be fun to watch it, to see if we recognized anything …. The series take place in the Oak Island/Figure Eight area, and our property is much further north, in Corolla…the description of the series says it deals with a teenager whose father has disappeared, and he enlists his best friends to help him with the search. We loved the two seasons of this show. We were hooked after just one episode! We hear there is a third season coming, but don’t know when it will be available. When it starts, we will be watching it, for sure!! If you decide to check it out, let me know how you like it!
Here in central Virginia, we are having much, much cooler weather…lows tonight are expected to be in the 20’s!! I tried to work in the yard for a bit this afternoon, but it was so breezy, I didn’t last long out there….came in and had a cup of hot chocolate!
Happy (though cold!) Sunday. I love the cardinals and how they mate for life. I’m sure your birdhouse will soon be occupied. We watched the Adam Project – so good! Jennifer Garner is our hometown sweetheart here in Charleston, but she is genuinely a good person, actress, dancer and entrepreneur. He Pretend Cooking Videos on FB are a hoot!
Hope things are calming down a bit for you. Wishing you a good week.
Your photos of the cardinal pair are beautiful, Carole! So great that you spotted the deer, too. I’m always so amazed that the wild turkeys will get as close to you as they do. Fingers crossed you get someone nesting in your birdhouse – we are hoping for that here, too. Thanks for the reminder about Stashbusters coming up this Friday. You’ve got me thinking!
Deer around her go into hiding during hunting season and haven’t come back out yet. I do look forward to seeing them out on the pastures.
Your wildlife photos remind me of our years in New Hampshire where we had deer and turkeys in our orchard all the time. Of course with three hundred apple trees, there was plenty to share. 😊
Thanks for all the wonderful pictures! It’s still winter in Chicago! Light dusting of snow! But our deer are out. We have a rather large, for this area, band of 9. The geese and ducks are back. So maybe we will actually have spring. Thanks for the movie suggestions.
I enjoy your blog site–and today I really liked the turkey photo–cause I loved seeing all the wild violets in the grass around the turkey–how pretty–miss those living here in Florida!!
have an awesome week–hugs, di
The Cardinals are a sweet pair, and as for Oliver, he knows where to come, and maybe spreads the message that the peanut butter sandwiches are the best.Down here, autumn is showing up in darker mornings, cooler nights, and one very heavy dew on the lawns. Sewing, I am a pattern tester, so that and making some Roman Blinds takes over the days.
I am enjoying a program on Netflix called “The last Tango in Halifax” It is like a british soap opera, but the love the main couple has is so cute. Also here is a pic of the latest quilt I finished. Forest Fancy by Elizabeth Hartman, with 1915 pieces.
The Deer around here are too un-afraid of people. They don’t even move out of the drive when you’re trying to drive in. They’ve lost all sense of wildness I think, which isn’t good for them…not safe. And too many rely on people feeding them. We’ve had articles in the papers asking people to please stop feeding them, as we’re hurting them more than helping them. Sadly, though people don’t seem to listen to the experts. It’s cute you name the squirrels. We have too many too do that or pick up on any differneces between them. LOVE the picture of the Cardinals! You really captured it.
That is too bad, I don’t feed the deer, I just let them eat my hostas.
I miss having bird feeders but I don’t miss the vermin and snakes that it attracted! I do need to get out the hummingbird feeders soon.
What wonderful sightings you had! We got snow over the weekend (mostly gone now, just cold!) and boy, those feeders were packed with visitors! I’m thrilled “Call the MIdwife” has returned to public TV and the older episodes are on Netflix.
Our deer show no fear. I can walk right up to them before they turn tail. I haven’t seen any bunnies, but their droppings are everywhere in the garden. Lots of squirrels since we are surrounded by black walnuts trees. The wrens are back in the birdhouse on the front porch that was intended to be decorative, but has been home to generations of babies.
Great Pictures!
Haha, squirrels really aren’t shy about getting attention. They are always the loud ones in the woods. Your birds are ahead of mine in courtship, as I am much more north of you. I started watching the first season of Sanditon and like it so far!
I do like seeing the cardinals when they visit.
I love seeing all your little creatures….. And the deer……
I enjoy seeing your wildlife!! We have deer, also, in our backwoods, some ducks migrating through, cardinals and chickadees are our main feeder birds. I didn’t know Sanditon was back! It left under rather bad endings after season 1!