Outdoor Wednesday and Indoor Too

Parvati Patel was going to lead us on an "Indoor Tour" this morning, but she found the idea too tiresome tiring, and settled down for a morning nap, leaving me as your guide.

I stitched on "Quaker Rooster" for a couple of hours yesterday afternoon, and I must say it is now beginning to resemble a rooster!  The next step is the comb, then finish the tail, and lastly add the legs...maybe a finish by the end of the week.

For our "Outdoor Wednesday" guide, there is no one better than Tom-Cat.

  

He takes an active interest in everything outdoorish.

He has been working on an early fall bird species tally...

and is annoyed to find we still have:

 

About two dozen band-tailed pigeons at the feeders. 

They are pigs - very pushy, and they eat the feeders dry!  

Both Tom and I had hoped they'd literally take flight, and have migrated somewhere else by this time of year. 

These birds are "makin' lazy circles in the sky".

They are not hawks.

They are the "clean up on aisle six" crew of the bird world - turkey vultures.  Once in a while they land in our back yard to carry off one of Tom's dead mice or bunnies.  Close up they are quite ugly, but they do provide a useful service.  Turkey vultures are also migratory, and will soon be leaving the area for warmer parts to the south.

  

Tom-Cat has also kept a close eye on this group. 

This is the second set of babies Mom and Dad Barn Swallow raised in a nest on our back patio this summer.  These three hatched on Sunday, August 29th and they flew for the first time Sunday September 18th - just three weeks later - wow!  They are still coming back to the nest in the evening, but soon, they too will migrate.

  

Tom-Cat is far less interested in our trees except to crib on their bark.  

Our three sweet gums have begun to turn color.

And our crab apple is lovely too.

 

It is "caged" to keep the deer from rubbing off its bark.

Even though it is autumn, having had some good rain lately, new things are germinating...

Including this clump of sunflower seeds.

Tom-Cat and I think we know the gardener...

Look at the cheeks and jowls of this squirrel!

He has stuffed so many sunflower seeds in his mouth he looks like he has a goiter!  I wonder if this is a sign of a "hard winter"?

You can read other "Outdoor Wednesday" posts at A Southern Daydreamer.