Counting Chickens

Well May is Stitch a Chicken Month here at Garden Grumbles and Cross Stitch Fumbles.  I certainly have managed to collect an array of Chicken Charts.  I need to mess with this stash a bit and check my fabric and fibers.  Then I can figure out my Next Stitch.

We are at the beginning of a prolonged spell of good weather.

The 10 Day Forecast has temperatures from mid-60s to upper 70s - and no rain in sight.  That's good for Gardeners and Critters alike. 

Here's a pair of happy Evening Grosbeaks.  The female's coloring is much quieter than the males, but still very pretty I think.   

With our Disneyesque view of nature, we often forget just how brutal life can be - especially for prey like this brown bunny.  From the left side he looks just fine...  

...but on the right side he has no eye.  That must be challenging as his one eye is very much on the side of his head; so his field of vision is severely compromised. 

This chipmunk has rather battered ears.  I prefer to think that's the result of 'chipmunk tussles' rather than something more ominous.

I counted six chipmunks in our big woodpile the other day.

That includes the one with the fur missing on his tail, and this guy with his beat-up fur.

Gratuitous Cute Chipmunk Photo.

Can you see his little pink tongue?

I had to share this hummingbird photo.  It's a bit blurry, but you can clearly see that just like an airplane, the bird has 'taken off' from the feeder.

I still have a few Juncos and Golden-crowned Sparrows.

With mating season, the male House Finches have really ramped up their 'courting colors'.