Friday, June 5, 2009

Hummingbirds and a swamp creature…

The hummers are here in force ..finally!
I did get a neat video of them but..with my pitiful ISP connection I cannot load it up from here.
I do have a few cool pics though so that will just have to do you for now. ;-)
By the way I am sitting right under them in a porch rocker!!
Sorry pics are dark was just early.
There are more than the 4 or five that show up well some are above the feeder.
They really are hungry little critters!!
Funny how they will fuss over one feeder till empty then go to next one, instead of some on each one!!
Will keep me busy with making up food for a bit.
When a big mimosa tree we have gets to blooming, they and the bees will be all over it!!

So we have like 15 at last count and a gal on next road counted 23.
Aunt Dot says she has one maybe two but I think if she will look tomorrow she will have some more… ha!!
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Now for the swamp creature….!!
Yes we live near a ‘swamp’…called Rattlesnake Swamp .
I have never seen any rattlesnakes but others over the years claim to have.
There are other kinds of snakes though and not nice ones, along with a good many critters that live on and around the swamp.
Anyway we always see these certain swamp creatures come this way in late May.

Big old snapping turtles!!!
You do not want to mess with them either they can be quick and those big heads hold iron jaws!!
Old saying is if fin they get a hold of ya will not let go till it thunders!!!!
I do not plan to test that to find out!!!;-)
They really bother no one, so why mess with them ,will mostly stay near the water till time to lay eggs .
Then they will travel to find some sandy soil to do that.
We must be in the ‘flight path’… ha!!
Above is the one we did see this year.
Her shell is not as big as some, about 14 inches ,but the rest of her is …she is a young one.
Now in saying this ‘young’ for a turtle like this can be 20 yrs or more!!
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Next pic is so funny!!


Hey Dog …what the Holy Hairball is that??????
No idea Queen Cat but I must bark at it I think!!!!
...and she did!!!

8 comments:

  1. Love how many hummers you get.....so far, we've had just a few but it will become more crowded at our feeders soon, I hope. I have a friend who gets swarms of them like you do. As for the snappers and snakes....I'm not comfy with THEM at all. Funny photo of the dog and cat "on guard" there.

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  2. Very cute. We don't seem to have hummingbirds in our area. But we have had turtles, snakes, loons and even peacocks visit out property from time to time.

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  3. I hope the hummingbirds will take to our new feeder. They are my very favorite birds. What do you do to attract them?

    TTFN ~ Marydon

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  4. I don't know what happened with our hummingbirds, we've had them every year and this year I haven't seen one. I hope they come back, I love them and my house is full of hummingbird nick nacky things, plates, border, everything! But not a live one to be found.
    We named the snapping turtle here, Bill. He really isn't very friendly, but not aggresive either. But then we don't touch him! And won't try!

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  5. Haha! That's a perfect caption for that last photo. Good for a chuckle today.

    Have a great weekend, Lola!

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  6. Don't you just love the hummingbirds. I need to replace my feeders as they have started leaking and they were new ones. I usually only see three. We did have a rat snake in the back yard a couple of weeks ago. I came will close to stepping on it. It did not move and I slowly backed up and told it he could have his space back. I am not a snake lover, but there is pasture around us, so I know he was hunting any of the field mice. Loved your story and especially about the dog and cat.

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  7. Lola,
    We don't have hummingbirds, but we do have a birdhouse that feeds the birds all year round, and of course we don't forget the squirrels. It is fun watching all of the activity in the backyard.
    Micki

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  8. Lola,
    Love your pictures, the dog and cat are hilarious and I am sure they are having that conversation!!

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Luv hear'in from ya!!