YOU'RE NOT WELCOME!

We had an unwelcome pair of visitors this week.

Now let me be clear. We put out the birdbath and keep it filled with (relatively) fresh water. Every one is welcome to use it.

Even mourning doves. One of those coo-coo-coo birds was spending an inordinate amount of time at it the other day.

And that was fine. I enjoyed watching him even though their incessant call drives me somewhat crazy after awhile.

But it was when he began building a nest in the Redbud tree directly above the bird bath that I had to intervene.

It was fascinating to watch. A female was perched on a branch and the male was going to the ground, picking up small twigs and then building the nest literally around his mate while she sat docilely.

Now she may have been instructing him where to put the twigs and how she wanted them knitted together but it didn't appear like that to me.

When I told SWMBO what was going on she told me to chase them away. We did not, she said, want a couple of monotonous and noisy doves nesting that close to the house and we definitely did not want them perched directly above the bird bath. Fouling the water, shall we say.

So I chased them away and pulled down the beginnings of their nest. After my rude act of unfriendliness, they flew to someone else's tree and peace, of a sorts, was restored to Mr. Catalyst's Neighborhood.

Though I feel a tad guilty.

WILDLIFE

I was standing by the patio door gazing out at the back yard this morning when a movement caught my eye. SWMBO was sitting nearby and I told her "there's a little lizard doing push-ups on our hose."

I then went to the window in my den which looks directly down on the scene and snapped this picture.

As I said he's a pretty small lizard so you may have trouble seeing him.  Here's a closer view.

I'm not sure what the little rascal thinks he's going to do with that hose but it's probably warm from the sun so that may be the sole attraction.

There are many of these tiny fellows around the property. We tolerate them because they keep the bug population from overrunning us.

I've only seen one bunny this year and the warblers are still occupying a nest outside our front door. No sign of little ones yet.

And that's your wildlife update for today.

LOOKING AROUND OUTSIDE

Let's see how observant you are today.  See anything?

O.K.  I'll make it easier for you.  How about now?

Oh, all right.  Let's get in nice and close.

You should now be able to see the tail end of a dove, nesting in the arbor in front of our house.  I don't know what she'd do if I turned on that string of Christmas lights beneath her.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the yard, these things have taken bloom.  From the number of buds, it looks like it will be a good year for them.


They're pretty but there's one problem.  I can't remember what the darned things are called.  Any help out there?

Update:  The flower is called "Rose of Sharon".  My thanks to the lady who planted it - the Beautiful Rich Daughter.