Bird's Haven in the Backyard

One of the many things I enjoy is watching the birds and butterfly fly around our  backyard.  So to attract more of them, I planted  butterfly bushes and  also put bird's feeder  under the trees.   we have a porch at the back so when we are sitting out there, it's nice to watch  the birds eat.

The birds that are usually  around are  finches, sparrows, robins, cardinals,  blue jays and sometimes wood pickers.  I don't like the crows that comes  because they are vicious towards other birds but I guess they have to eat too so they are also  welcome in our backyard.

We used to just put brick seeds but we thought  of adding a bird feeder that we could put a lot of seeds in so everyone can eat at the same time.  We chose this one with holes in it all the way to the top.

One full of birds seed  with this container  lasts for two days, these birds can really eat.  I am going to find  a bird seed that  doesn't have sunflowers in it because the small birds can't eat it and they fall on the ground then it grows in the yard.

Some birds stays in the winter so we will continue to put food in it for them to eat.

Most of these birds live in the bamboo forest  adjacent to our home so they always flock here in our backyard.

Another food they enjoy eating is bread.  We  give them the ends of  bread all the time.  It's funny seeing them  fight over it.

I feel bad for sparrows because they get bullied most of the times by other birds who are bigger than them.

I transfer the  hummingbirds feeder in the backyard but I did not see any  there.  I will have to transfer it in our front porch next year because that is where our hummingbird goes.  

The only thing issue I have putting the  feeder close to the fence is that,  they  love to  poop  on top of the fence.  Below are more pictures of the birds  having a blast in our  backyard.  Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

The colorful ones that I love watching are the cardinals and the  bluejays.  They are harder to take pictures though, they are always moving and not as trusting as the other birds.

The male birds are always more colorful than female birds.  I love how bright red the male cardinals are compared to the female ones.

Our backyard has many trees so it makes a great haven for the birds.  

We bought a big bag of bird seed so they would last until winter.  I hope that the bird are enjoying their free food.

Seagulls

During winter, the influx of seagulls in our   place is heavy.  They usually  stays where the  shopping plaza is located.  They are pretty smart to be there because a lot of people  is around and chances are, they will be given food, which is the case in our place. 

When they are back, we always drive bar and watch them  fly around.  My kids find joy in feeding them.  I don't think there is a rule or law that says we can't  feed them so we let the kids do it.  I know in  state parks, they prohibit  the feeding of wildlife.  

I think when they are starving, they are very aggressive.  They are not scared to land  near you when there's food.  I am kind of tempted to put food in my hand and not toss it to see if they will land on my hand but I am also  kind of scared  doing it lol.

I found some interesting facts about these beautiful creatures.  According to Steven P. Wickstrom

" the word “seagull” is an informal way that laymen refer to any of the species that belong to the family Laridae, or the gulls. In all actuality, there is no such thing as a seagull. There is not actually a single species called the seagull, but people all over the world refer to them as seagulls. They are actually, and correctly, referred to as “gulls.” Gull's are most closely related to the terns (family Sternidae) and only distantly related to auks, and skimmers, and more distantly to the waders. Most gulls however, belong to the large family named Laridae. The word Laridae is from the Greek word meaning “ravenous sea bird.” The term “Seagull” can be misleading because many species of gulls live, feed, and nest inland. Gulls can be found around the oceans worldwide with the exception of some central Pacific islands, and some areas in Southeast Asia. I never saw a single gull while I was living on Oahu. The gulls are relatively uniform in shape but do vary in size and coloration. Gulls are the acrobats of the sky, making the seemingly impossible antics appear effortless. They can float motionless in midair by catching wind currents with perfect timing and precision while positioning their bodies at just the right angle."

I wish I can be  like these birds who doesn't feel cold when it is freezing outside. 

I did not know this but the article I read said that Seagulls do not survive solely off scavenging and stealing food from other creatures. They eat insects, fish, and eggs and the fact that they consume insects keeps the insect population in check. So these seagulls are natural pest control for farmers and gardeners.  I would like them to come in the summer time when insects are heavy lol.

We like to give these seagulls some food when they come. We usually give them crackers or popcorn.

#Seagulls are back so my son is giving them some #popcorn. You may not see it in the photo but it's currently snowing, our first flurry this winter.

A post shared by Chubskulit Rose (@chubskulitrose) on Nov 19, 2017 at 11:14am PST

Molly our #FlemishGiantRabbit and #TICK Problem

Over the course of Winter, two of our Lionhead doe rabbits  got  pregnant because  I had to put them inside and the   Bucks  somehow snuck inside their   space and voila, we had 5 additional  rabbits.  So while I am busy looking for  some  people  who can take some of these rabbits, my husband came home with  another one.  He said that he could not say No to this Flemish Giant.  So now we have 9 lionheads and one fleming giant rabbits, it's crazy.    We are being overrun by rabbits here folks!

Her former owner  named her Darla but we decided to  change her name to Molly.  She used to live in a farm but  the owner is going back to school so she could no longer care for her.

I was against it at first but now I changed my mind.  She is actually  a pretty chill bunny.  I found out that the  bigger the size of the bunny, the more calm and relax they are.  That's how Molly is, while the lionheads are busy running around in the yard, she is just  on the yard laying on the grass. 

My kids are crazy about her, she love being pet.  I was worried that  she might have  ticks when she first came so I  looked  and inspected her on the first day and did not find any.  The next day though, I found one  latched onto her  eyelid so we immediately  removed it with tweezer and killed the tick.  Then the same day we found one  on our Jack Russell Terrier as well.  Ugh, now I am panicking about ticks, I am kind of paranoid everytime I go outside.   

So far, those are the  last two ticks we found.  According to the news, ticks will be heavy this year.  We are buying a tick collar for our dogs

It said that there are plants that can help deter ticks such as garlic, mint, rosemary, rue, wormwood, fleabane daisy, chrysanthemums and pennyroyal.  Glad we have so many mints where the  rabbit  house is.   

There is also a plant that it is a magnet to ticks which if you have it in your yard, you might want to   think about  removing it.  I used to have it at our old house but thank goodness, we don't have it here in our new home.  The plant is called Japanese   barberry, it's a thorny   and invasive plant.  It's gorgeous though when it blooms  especially when the fruits are out during winter but yes, it is  believed to be a tick magnet.  There's a lot of it  in the woods so if you are wandering in the wooded area and see  Japanese barberry, be very aware of ticks.

Anyway, despite of tick   scare,  my kids can't  stay away from Molly, she is really a darling.  I decided to put her  in a  house rabbit for now because my  vegetable garden is just starting to grow  and  I did not want her   eating the new plants.  

Molly weighs around 15 pounds, she is heavy!  The former owner said that she is 6 years old and had 8 kits.

She love  mowing the grass.  Now that she is inside the rabbits house, I cut fresh grass and  give it to her  every morning.  She also love  carrots.  We stop buying  lettuce for now because of the  bacteria outbreak recently.  I  planted some lettuce and still waiting for them to get thick, maybe I can give them some when it's ready to harvest.  

Molly's droppings are huge compared to the lionhead bunnies.  I used the rabbits droppings  as fertilizer in the garden.  

 I like it that she is not scared of the dogs.  The former owner said that she's used to being around dogs in the farm.

We used the other side of our yard to  put the rabbit house.  The kids call it the BunnyLand.  We put together all the female in one house, the new one that we just built.  Female rabbits can  get along well but the males are needed to be  separated because they fight with each other.

We  tried to sell  our lionhead bunnies to a local pet store here but  they said nobody wants lionheads, bohooo.  I don't know why because they are so adorable.  It's true that they  are a lot of work but then again every pet  is a lot of work so I don't see why.  For now, I am looking for some who would adopt some of them, we had so many already!