The fish, the birds, the cat & the paparazzi

Suddenly my front yard has turned into a haven for critters, from fish to cats....

It started when Cap decided to build a small fish pond outside so he could enjoy it not only when he's outside, but from his bedroom window. He spent a year mentally planning out how he'd build it , and recently finished it, waterfall included! Then came the fish. Small goldfish type, to see how they'd adapt. Well in building the pond, he cleared all the shrubs from the front of the house (thankfully, since they were ugly and never pruned properly by the previous owners) except for one small tree.

Well recently we noticed a bird's nest in the tree and JR & Cap have been having fun watching the "parents" watch guard over it. Next came the cat. Not ours mind you (we used to have 11 cats, but now with the dog, we have none). We have no idea where the cat came from, put suddenly it starting lurking around the pond. The other day Cap caught it trying to scoop out the fish! I suppose it's all cute, but....

Anyway, now we have also noticed that the cat is stalking around the nest and the parents won't fly back to it when the cat is there. Then last week I went to refill a sand pail shaped bird feeder in the red maple outside the house, and as I was pouring the seeds onto the top, a bird came out of the little hole in it, quite annoyed. Lo and behold we have another nest inside the feeder. JR of course is in his glory. He just loves the nature. He feeds the fish every day, tells me when the feeder is empty, and keeps guard from his loft bed which overlooks the window, and the nest.

Earlier today I went out to try and steal a glimpse of the birds and looked the paparazzi. There I am perched on a step ladder, trying to hold branches back with one hand and get a good picture of the little creatures. My neighbors must think I've lost it...between hanging out on a step ladder in the front yard, and ironing my clothes on the deck once a week (whole other story for another time :) they must wonder what is going on here. Of course, this stuff is routine here and is what makes life interesting here at HH.

All the bird activity made research some easy-to-make bird feeder projects, and this afternoon when JR got home from Pre-K we made a couple of milk carton feeders (actually they're half & half containers since that's all we have at the moment. ) I posted directions on my DIY page. My nature child can't get enough of this stuff, and I suppose, all things considered, it's a good thing...messy generally, but good.