Spring Has Sprung!

Spring has finally arrived at Casa Tipton y Kelly here in the beautiful coastal plains of southern Delaware!  After the extended cold temps of the winter I began to despair that the warm temps would ever arrive.

Purple Martin house - they can't wait!

Bill cleaned out our Purple Martin house yesterday and before he even got the house all the way up on the pole, three Purple Martins landed on their summer home.  Bill says he hates all the noise that the Purple Martins make but to me, listening to their raucous cacophony is music to my ears.  I especially like seeing them gliding through the sky in circles above their house.  

Bluebird eggs in our bluebird house a few years ago

The robins are here as well as the swallows.  Bill said he saw a bluebird a couple of weeks ago but I haven't seen any.  Their house is here waiting for them.  Until last year the bluebirds usually raised two bunches of bluebirds each summer.  Last year though they had too much competition from the swallows and sparrows.  

Me checking out the new bluebird house a few years ago

I work tonight at the hotel then I have the rest of the week off.  I've already made my reservation for next year's Bloggerpalooza.  Yes folks, I will be staying on the premises.  This way I can have a few drinky poos (prefer martinis and margaritas) without having to worry about driving home.  Also, I can make the rounds of the different hospitality suites.  By the way, Dr. Spo and Someone said they will rent the Captain's Quarters which was worked so well as the hospitality suite last year.  

Cubby and Sassy Bear

You all don't have to make reservations yet but if you plan on coming you should reserve your room by the end of the year.  Also, let me know who wants to go on the Dogfish Brewery Tour.  There is no charge but the tour dates do fill up fast.  And........I have some great new fun plans for next year's get together.  Yes, I can TOP last year's Bloggerpalooza.  Some people can sing, some people can change a tire (I can't do either) and then some people can put together a fun event.  That's what I do folks.  And I love it!

Never know what surprises await at the Bloggerpalooza - the "Blue Thingie"

Have a great day!

Your host at the Inn

Heat Wave Breaks (Sort of)

Well folks, we finally got a break today.  The temperatures dropped ALL THE WAY DOWN TO 87 today.  A veritable cold snap. I better get out my sweater.

The video I took this morning.  A batch (or two) of baby Purple Martins made their entrance into the outside world yesterday.  They're still hanging around the house where they were born a few weeks ago but they will soon be taking off for South America.

This is probably the last batch of Purple Martins this season.  In a few weeks all will be quiet out in the Back Forty.  That's when I know summer is coming to an end.  Every year it seems like they leave too early but it is a long journey to Brazil and points south, so I guess the Purples want to get an early start.  I would love to know how many of them come back to this same bird house next year.  One of my joys of summer, watching the birds in our backyard raise a new batch of younguns.

I hear thunder in the distance.  Hey, maybe rain is on the way!  God knows the farmers down here in lower coastal Delaware could use some rain on their cornfields.  The poor corn stalks are drying up.  It seems every year the corn crop struggles to survive.  I washed my car yesterday specifically in insure that we would have rain.

I would have taken my daily evening walk in the development behind me but didn't because when the weather is this hot and humid I usually come back covered with bugs that look like ants with wings.  I don't feel like dealing with that tonight.  I miss my daily walks though.

The thunder is getting closer.  I better take my shower down and wash off the stink of the day before I settle down in my bedroom before my 60 inch Samsung TV with surround sound and watch my latest episodes of "Mad Men."  Oh how I love that show!  My favorite character (and there are so many) has to be Peggy Olsen.  Jon Hamm as Don Draper is hot, good-looking and sexy and all that but man is he a horn dog pig.  Not that people like that don't exist.  I have known my share of horn-dogs, gay and straight.  I'm not one of them.  Yes, I'm bragging and not ashamed to admit it.

Maybe tomorrow I'll get back to one of those thought provoking, controversial blogs that I usually specialize in.  This hot weather has just got be beaten down.  I don't have the energy to work up a blog entry scintillates and tantalizes. The old Ron will be back soon, do not worry.

Baby Bird Rescue!

Hatched Purple Martin egg shell in the grass at the base of the birdhouse

I just got up from my afternoon nap and walked in our backyard to water my new river birch trees.  On the way back, passing the Purple Martin house, I noticed a "leaf" moving in the grass at the base of the house that moved oddly.  Upon closer examination I saw that it was a naked baby bird, reaching its open mouth for food.  Nearby I saw a broken egg.  Uh oh, one of the eggs just fell from the Purple Martin house to the ground.  Emergency action needed to be taken.

No, I didn't take a picture of the newly hatched, naked baby Purple Martin.  Somehow that didn't seem right to take a picture of this poor creature that was born minutes ago, struggling to survive.  I just didn't feel right about this.  Now that I think about it, probably because some blog troll will think I staged the event.  Believe me folks, I get some strange comments on this blog.  I don't post all of my comments, especially from Blog Trolls.

I quickly walked back to the house and, seeing Bill come out of the garage I said "One of the baby Purple Martin eggs fell out of the house and hatched in the grass." He knew what I was going to do:  BIRD RESCUE.

I got my big step ladder out of the garage, took it to the Purple Martin house.  Bill followed me.  I opened and climbed the ladder to the Purple Martin house and checked the first apartment.  Ah ha!  The very first apartment had five naked baby birds.  No eggs shells though.  Oh, wait a minute!  I think the mother Purple Martin made a BIG MISTAKE.  She was cleaning out the eggs shells and must have pulled one out that still had a baby bird in it.

The bottom middle hole is where I placed the baby Purple Martin

While I was at the top of the ladder, Bill had picked up the little creature and was cupping it in the palm of his hand.  I asked him to hand the baby bird to me.  It was warm in my hand as I placed it gently with its sisters and brothers in the apartment.

Interestingly there were no adult Purple Martins around when I discovered baby Purple Martin or while I was performing my rescue.  Once I placed the bird in the nest and climbed down the ladder and folded the ladder up and began to walk away Bill and I heard the squall of several Purple Martins.  We looked back and saw eight or nine Purple Martins swooping around the birdhouse, making a racket.

When I got back to the garage, I looked back and I saw a female Purple Martin scoot into that lower apartment where I placed the rescued baby bird.

Yes folks, all is well in my latest Backyard Drama.  This is good.

Bill after helping me with the Rescue, returns to working on our front driveway.
We're gay so we have a LOT OF COLOR when you enter our driveway.

Purple Martins Have Returned!

First continent of Purple Martins (photo taken a few minutes ago)

They're back!

My annual visitors, the Purple Martins have returned.  Spring is officially here!

The spring of 2007 was the first year we put up our Purple Martin house.  Every year since then we have had these spring harbingers take up residence.  Summer just isn't summer without their cacophonous symphony of building their nests in the six apartments of their aluminum avian condo.

Bill complains ever year about their noise and their dive bomb deposits on our driveway but I welcome these midnight blue birds with their iridescent plumage.

This morning I tore out yet another house sparrow nest in one of the apartments.  Every year I have that battle with the house sparrows.  I have other bird boxes for them but for some reason they prefer the bluebird house and the Purple Martin house.  The house sparrows are bullies and very aggressive.  This is one place where they don't have their way.  I like all birds but when I protect the native species of birds before the invasive species, which is what the house sparrows  are.  Earlier Starlings were checking out the Purple Martin house like they do every year but they couldn't fit into the opening to the Purple Martin house.  They went elsewhere.

The house sparrows and the Starlings remind me of Republicans.  Ooops, did I let a little politics slip in?  I have a very progressive backyard habitat.  No lying Repugs in my backyard.

Bill not happy with the return of the Purple Martins

The Birds of My Backyard

Mama swallow guarding her young yesterday, in my backyard

After breakfast this morning I joined Bill on the back deck to enjoy the early morning breeze and watch the backyard bird activity.  This year we didn't have a problem with the sparrows invading the bluebird house like we did last year.  The bluebirds have already raised one batch of baby bluebirds and are working on the second batch now.  The swallows just hatched their batch (see the above picture "Mom" warning me away from her nestlings).

In previous years I've also had a problem with the sparrows invading the Purple Martin house.  I was very pleased to see that I didn't have that problem this year.  I lost count of the amount of sparrow's nest that I tore out of the Purple Martin house and the number of brown speckled sparrow eggs I tossed into threw into the adjoining cornfield.  I hated to do that but I had no choice.  I draw the line at destroying baby sparrows though.  Once they're hatched, they're free.  I leave them alone.

So I thought I was getting off free this year without the invasion of non-native species of birds.  Ha!  Bill hands me his binoculars and says "Take a look", pointing to the Purple Martin house.  And what did I see? A mama starling feeding her young!  I couldn't believe it.  Starlings are too big to get into the Purple Martin house slots.  This one got in.  Incredible.  Well, there's nothing I can do about it now.  They look like they're about to come out.  I'll check the apartment after they leave.  I wouldn't be surprised if there are dead Purple Martin babies in there.  That's what starlings do you know, they kill the other birds then lay their eggs on top of them.  Same with the sparrows.  I've seen it first hand.

Starlings and sparrows are non-native species of birds that will be discouraged from nesting in my backyard.  It's a constant challenge.  I thought I got away free this year, apparently not.  Well, at least the bluebirds were able to lay two batches of eggs this year, unlike last year when the battle with the sparrows prevented that from happening.

I look at the life in my backyard as a microism of life in general.  Things appear to be going smooth until someone else comes in and takes over, destroying all in its path.  There won't be anymore starlings in that Purple Martin house, I'll see to that.

Last of the Purple Martins

Purple Martin sentries this evening

The Purple Martins are raising their last batch of young and will leave their birdhouse in my backyard in a few weeks.  It always seems like they leave to early but I guess this is necessary for their long trek to their winter home.

I was successful in keeping the sparrows out of my backyard habitat this year.  None raised their young in my backyard.  However, quite a few were raised in my neighbor's backyard.  He doesn't discourage them like I do.

This was the first year in two years that I didn't have any bluebirds raise their young in my backyard.  There was one sparrow who was particularly aggressive.  He killed two swallows who attempted to build nest.  This was the same sparrow who probably discouraged the bluebirds from building their nest in the same bluebird house that they used for the past two years.

A few weeks ago a bluebird pair laid three eggs (they usually lay four eggs) but then they abandoned their nest.  Bill and I think the resident backyard catbird did the discouraging this time.  Lots of turf battles this summer in our little backyard habitat.

Summers wouldn't be complete without all the activity around the Purple Martin house and this summer was no exception.  The Purple Martins are always squawking, getting things sorted out.  Whenever I walked out to the back shed some of them with dive bomb me just as a warning to stay away from their house and young nestlings.  I think they know I won't  bother them but they give me the warning anyway.

Many nights during the evening in summer, before the sun goes down, Bill and I sit out on the back decks and watch the young Purple Martins practice flying.  I can't think of much that is more pleasing than to see these young Purple Martins doing their aerial acrobats and then landing back on the birdhouse where they were born.  They know instinctively that they have to learn to fly for the long flight that they will soon have to make before winter sets in here on the Delmarva peninsula.

View from the bonus room towards the back yard 

Then there comes the day that they are gone.  They all go in the same day.  No lingering.  The silence is so sad.  The only thing Bill and I will hear is the wind and the traffic on Route 1.  Sometimes the catbird hangs around but usually all is quiet in our little backyard habitat once August arrives.

I hear the thunder outside now and I write this.  Now I hear the rain pelting the side of the house.

It's late.  Time prepare myself for bed and put another day to rest as the gentle thunderstorm rolls in.

End of the day July 19 2010 where I live on the Delmarva peninsula

Murder in Milton

My backyard with its perimiter of birdbaths, raised flower beds and bird houses

Every year at this time in early spring migratory birds arrive in my back yard to begin their nesting. This year was no exception as the bluebirds, swallows, starlings and the sparrows swooped down and around, checking out the housing accommodations on the verdant green acre of lawn that is our backyard.

Two years ago I placed three blue bird boxes on the perimeter of the Back Forty. I also had a purple martin house installed by the Frank the Birdman of Milton. I’ve always wanted one of those multiple apartment purple martin birdhouses. Now that I had an open clear field of almost an acre I could do this. I also wanted to have those fence post bluebird houses like my dad used to have surrounding his three acres of land he used to lovingly farm his crop of corn, tomatoes and string beans.

My dad's garden in Pennsylvania

I couldn’t have those types of birdhouses at our home in Pennsylvania because we lived in the middle of the woods. The only kind of birdhouses that we had success with in Pennsylvania was the Jenny Wren birdhouses which my dad built for me. Here at our home in Delaware I only have one tree, an ornamental prune tree in the front of the house. Here in Delaware we no longer lived in home that attracted woodland birds.

My house in Delaware with its lone tree - no room for woodland birds

So I had had the bluebird and purple martin birdhouses installed. However I soon discovered my first visitors were the common house sparrow. I didn’t think too much about it at first. But then one day, Frank the Birdman was over adjusting my purple martin house and he happened to take a peek in one of the bluebird houses. Immediately after swinging open the door he discovered the sloppy bird nest of a house sparrow! Much to my shock he put his calloused hand in the bird box and scooped out the nest, eggs included, and tossed it into a nearby cornfield.

Swallow checking recently emptied birdhouse of sparrow nesting and eggs last summer

After tossing that sparrow nest in the cornfield he turned to me with a look of surprise and anger and said “That’s a damn sparrow nest! You don’t want that!” Well, excuse me but…….. Then he explained to me the trouble with sparrows. They are a very aggressive bird. They are not native to this country. The sparrow and the starling are the two species of birds mainly responsible for the decimation of the blue bird and other song bird population of the continental United States. If I permitted the house sparrows to nest on my property I was contributing to the extinction of the bluebirds. Frank’s comments caused me serious concern.

The Determined House Sparrow

Well, I did some research and he was absolutely right. In fact the sparrow and starling are so aggressive that they will kill any other bird that is in a nest they want. They will even build their nest over the dead birds and sometimes, the dead baby birds. I found this hard to believe until I witnessed it myself. Last year when I fought a six week battle to remove a sparrow from one of the purple martin apartment I found one nest of three baby purple martins that had been pecked to death by the sparrow. I wrote several blog postings last year about my frustrating battle with the Determined House Sparrow.

Baby purple martins last year - the type that were pecked to death by the house sparrow

So this year I was ready for their invasion. The house sparrows didn’t disappoint. This week they arrived. I was ready for them. I had taped the entrances to the six purple martin apartments. They couldn’t get in there. The purple martins don’t arrive until May 1st, so I had plenty of time to discourage the Determined House Sparrow.

My purple martin house

Of my three bluebird houses, there is only one in which the bluebirds nest. It is the one near the white fence of my neighbor Tom. For the past two years a bluebird couple has raised two batches of four baby bluebirds each summer. Early last week I saw the bluebirds checking out their house from their perch in one of Tom’s pine trees.

Baby blue birds in their nest last year

Then on Thursday I saw my worst fear. The Determined House Sparrow was on top on the bluebird house! Oh no! I have three other bluebird houses. I’m willing to let the sparrows in those houses but no, the Determined House Sparrow wants THAT bluebird house next to Tom’s fence. It ain’t going to happen.

Blue bird house next to my neighbor Tom's fence

At first I chased it away every time I saw it land on the bluebird house. But that was futile. Then I put a bucket over the house to discourage the damn sparrow. But that was only a temporary measure plus it prevented the bluebirds from using the house too.

The Determined Sparrow atop the blue bird house last year

So, I decided to do what I did last year. I would let them sort it out themselves. That’s what they did last year. I know the sparrow has a reputation for being the more aggressive the species but they did work it out last year. I think the reason the bluebirds won out because on of the bluebirds was pretty big. That one bluebird was like the Hulk Hogan of bluebirds.

The "Hulk Hogan" of blue birds guarding his blue bird nest last year

So yesterday, I took off to the 42nd Annual Kite Festival at Cape Henlopen. It was a beautiful, sunny day with lots of wind for all those colorful kites. After a morning of kite festival (and enough of the crowds) I came back home for lunch. But, before lunch I thought I would check the bluebird box to see if anyone had built a nest. As I put my forefinger in the bird box opening to bring the front down, a bird made quick exit from the hole, surprised by my invasion. As I lowered the front of the bird box I was shocked and saddened to see this: (WARNING – DO NOT LOOK IF YOU ARE SQUEMISH)

Dead swallow (pecked to death by the sparrow) in blue bird box yesterday

It was the body of a swallow that had been just pecked to death by that damn sparrow. I lifted it still warm body out of the bird box and took it to show to Bill, who was mowing the lawn on his riding mower. I wanted to show him what his “cute sparrow” had done. Bill is always sticking up for the sparrows, putting guilt trip on me every time I threw out one of their nests. Here was proof positive that this was a bird we do not want in our backyard.

With a sad heart I gently placed the limp body of the dead swallow in an empty planter on my back deck and went inside my house to have lunch.

After lunch I decided to take a trip to Milton to visit Frank the Birdman and ask him his advice.

He wasn’t at home. His wife told me he was out on a job. I told her my problem with the sparrows and asked her what Frank does to discourage the house sparrows. Frank has several purple martin houses in his yard which are always populated by a very noisy colony of purple martins throughout the spring and summer.

She went to a shed and opened the door and pulled out a cartridge of gold colored copper tipped bullets neatly arranged in a even row. She told me he shoots them with a 22! She assured me that shooting the 22 “didn’t make much noise.” Oh, well…..okay. Well, now let’s see. First I don’t have a gun. I told her that I didn’t have one which surprised her. Uh……okay. Another thing, I will never have a gun. The last time I fired a bullet was when I was in the Army during my annual qualification at the rifle range in 1962. My father was a lifelong hunter. None of his three sons were hunters. My brothers were also in the Army and fired rifles but none of us ever possessed the desire or need to have a gun. And I wasn’t about to start. Running through my mind at this time was a visual of me firing a Twenty-two from my back deck at my bluebird house. I’m sure my neighbor Tom and his wife Shannon would appreciate that especially since they have a couple of dogs who use their back yard and a two year old daughter. Talk about your Neighbor From Hell. I told Frank’s wife I would seek another solution to my sparrow problem.

This is NOT a picture of me firing a gun

Now what was really unusual about yesterday was the location where I was talking to the Birdman’s wife was only one road away from an actual murder that took place this past winter. The body was just discovered last week in the backyard of a singlewide trailer. It was under a blue tarp. Police suspect the badly decomposed remains were the son of the man who lived in the singlewide, his father. The police arrested the father on suspicion of shooting his son. So here I am yesterday, being given advice to use a Twenty-Two to get rid of a murderous sparrow. Do you not see the irony?

Michael Hudson, the arrested father suspected of shooting his son

Spencer Ashing, the suspected deceased son who decompsing remains were found under a tarp in the back yard of Michael Hudson

I taped the entrance to the bluebird box closed. The murdering sparrow was out there today pecking away at the blue painter’s masking tape. I went out and taped it about six more times. I think they gave up (they never actually give up) and began building their nest in one of the other bluebird boxes.

The taped entrance to the blue bird box this morning

My plan now is to let them build that nest. That should keep they occupied. Once they’re well on their way to building their nest I’ll take the blue tape off of the entrance to the prime blue bird box so the returning blue birds can use it to start their family.

Four blue bird eggs June 17, 2009 (the second batch)

The sparrows will never raise their family in my backyard in my bird houses. Once they build that nest and lay their eggs I will take that nest (and eggs) out. There were no sparrows raised on my property last year and there won’t be this year either. I don’t care how “cute” they are. There was nothing “cute” about that dead swallow.

A lone swallow from last summer keeping watch over my back yard

Bluebirds Growing Fast

The second batch of baby bluebirds is growing fast! I haven't been checking this batch as often as I checked the first batch. It seems like it was just a few weeks ago that this bluebird box held four pastel blue eggs. Judging by the knowing eyes of the baby bluebirds this morning, it looks like they will be out of their nest sometime next week. Then the bluebird box will be empty until next year.

The Purple Martins continue to reproduce. I thought I had a problem a few days ago. One of the baby Purple Martins was on the ground at the base of the Purple Martin house but couldn't fly. For about four hours the young Purple Martin tried to fly but couldn't. Except for a few feeble flaps of its wings, it stayed on the ground, waiting for its parents to feed it. It's a good thing I don't have cats because they would have made quick work of that vulnerable young bird.

Bill was getting concerned that the young Purple Martin would die from the heat. He suggested that I put it back in it's nest in one of the Purple Martin house compartments. I wondered if this was the same baby Purple Martin I had rescued a few weeks ago who was also at the base of the birdhouse. The bird I rescued was so young it's eyes weren't even open and it had not developed any feathers yet. I pulled down the Purple Martin house and placed it in one of the compartments with other young birds about its same age. That is the same thing I did with this new baby Purple Martin I found, I placed it back in the same nest.

Alas, the next day there it was again, flapping around at the base of the Martin birdhouse. Bill and I decided to leave it there and let Mother Nature take it's course. Good news. About an hour later there was no baby Purple Martin flapping around at the base of the birdhouse. We missed the takeoff but that is apparently what happened. After a slow start, that baby Purple Martin is now soaring with its brothers and sisters. Mission accomplished!

Purple Martin House Update

Almost all of my bird update blogs are about the bluebirds in my back yard. I also have a swallow nest and a Purple Martin House. The pictures on this blog were taken about a half an hour ago after I made a check of the Purple Martin house to make sure there were no dead baby birds. That happened one time last year. The only way I knew about it was that the adult Purple Martins were acting strangely by squawking and flying about in an alarming manner. I took down the house and found three dead baby Purple Martins, pecked to death in their heads probably by a house sparrow trying to take over their nest.

Thank goodness that wasn't the situation this time. Of the six compartments, four were occupied by baby Purple Martins in various stages of development. Those are the pictures I have placed on this blog. I've lost track of the number of baby Purple Martins born to this particular house but it was to be at least two dozen.

The Purple Martins arrived right on time May 1st of this year. I'm not sure when they depart. I think it is at the end of this month so these are probably the last batches. Then all will be quiet in my backyard again. I'll miss them and their soaring antics as the adults taught the young Purple Martins to fly. Soon they will be on their way to their winter destinations. I bet the mosquitoes in my back yard will be glad to see them go. Then it's just me and Bill against the mosquitoes.

Bird Rescue

About an hour ago while I was doing some yard work out back I noticed that the Purple Martin house was very quiet. That usually indicates a problem. I looked up and saw the Taliban House Sparrow barrel out of one of the gourds. He’s back. I went over and pulled down the Purple Martin house (as I have done many times this spring) and checked all the apartments. All apartments had either baby Purple Martins, eggs, and one had Mom sitting on her eggs (she wasn’t disturbed by me.)

In one of the apartments one egg was in the forefront. I felt it and it was cold. The nest in the back held four warm eggs. I took the cold egg out. I don’t know how it got to the front of the apartment but it obviously was abandoned.

I checked both gourds. One held a neat nest which was obviously the former swallow nest. The other gourd was stuffed with just about every kind of weed and trash that you can imagine. That’s a Taliban Sparrow nest. I checked it for eggs. None were there…..yet. I left the nest. I’ll wait until Taliban lays its eggs then I’ll get rid of the whole thing. That seems to be the only way to keep this varmint under control and out of my bird boxes and birdhouses.

As I was raising the Purple Martin house, I noticed a broken egg at my feet. Then I noticed a live, naked baby Purple Martin on the ground. I have no idea how it got there. Maybe it was one of those eggs hatched near the entrance to one of the apartments. A week ago I noticed there were two eggs at the front of one of the apartments but I left them there. Thank goodness I didn’t step on this defenseless baby Purple Martin. It surely would have died if left on the ground. The poor thing didn’t even have its eyes opened yet.

I gently lifted it up and put it in the nest with the other naked baby Purple Martins. I’m not sure if it belonged in that nest. If not, I hope that the mama Purple Martin doesn’t mind an extra mouth to feed.

I didn’t think to take a picture because I was anxious to get the baby Purple Martin back into the safety of a nest. Actually, I wouldn’t want to post a picture anyway of the poor thing lying on the ground. I did take some pictures of the activity around the Purple Martin house after my rescue, one of which I posted on this blog.

Whenever I rescue one of nature’s critters in harm’s way, I feel a complete sense of fulfillment. There were a lot of other things that happened today, some good, some bad. But the day ended well. My day is complete.

New Bluebird Nest!

New bluebird nest





















Purple Martin eggs




We have a new bluebird nest! After a delay of about ten days, mama and papa bluebird have built a new, neat nest. The bluebird pair is apparently the same because the Biggest Bluebird I’ve Ever Seen, is again perched atop the bluebird box. Of course there were a few forays into the bluebird box by the errant house sparrow but the Biggest Bluebird I’ve Ever Seen quickly took care of that unwelcomed intruder.

In a day or two I expect to see four small blue bluebird (what other color would they be?) eggs in the new bluebird nest. In about a month the new baby bluebirds will be grown and out exploring their new world just like their sisters and brothers are doing now.

The swallows have built a nest in one of the other bluebird houses. Their pure white eggs are nestled in another neat nest lined with white feathers. It’s interesting that each bird has its own unique nest. The Purple Martins don’t build so much of a nest as they line the bottom of their aluminum compartment with broad pieces of straw. The Purple Martin eggs are also pure white. Only the house sparrow eggs are a tan with brown dots. The house sparrow nests are a mess. Everything and anything is in their nest from trash to straw and plastic.

The Purple Martins quickly claimed the last compartment in their tall six apartment birdhouse when I removed the sparrow nest on Monday. From what I can tell the Purple Martins have already raised one batch of young ones and are now working on the second batch. I think the Purple Martins only raise two batches of young ones before they leave for the season.

This year, for the first time, both of the gourds hanging beneath the Purple Martin house area occupied by swallows. One gourd was occupied by another Taliban sparrow but it only took two cleanings to get that sparrow out of there. I think the house sparrows took up in my neighbor’s birdhouses.

Each evening Bill and I sit out on our deck and watch the Purple Martins sort out their pecking order. We enjoy their graceful swooping of the swallows over our back yard looking for a meal. The bluebirds seem to be more preoccupied with guarding their nest and feeding their young. They make no noise at all whereas the Purple Martins are always squawking about something. We will miss them all when they leave later this summer. Then the quiet in our backyard will be deafening.

Plants or Travel?

Me at Pepper's greenhouse in Milton, Delaware













One of my two new raised flower beds

Yes, I purchased more plants today. I wasn’t planning on buying more plants but when Bill and I were at Lowe’s this morning, I saw forsythia plants at a price that I couldn’t pass up. After I purchased the forsythia plants, the floodgates were opened to filling my cart. I couldn’t leave Lowe’s with a half empty cart. I also purchased a variegated barberry bush, a burning bush and a couple sage herb plants.

Then what did I do when I got home? I unloaded the plants and then took off to Peppers to buy some annuals for color in my new raised flower beds. So I’m thinking “Ron, aren’t you spending a lot of money on plants?” I answer “Yes, you are Ron.” Then I asked myself “What would you rather do – spend a couple thousand dollars taking a trip or spend a couple hundred dollars stuffing my backyard with plants?” The answer was easy, the plants won.

I haven’t traveled since 9/11. The last time I took a plane, I didn’t have to take my shoes off before I boarded the plane. I don’t want to take my shoes off to board a plane. In fact, I don’t plan to fly again until they get rid of that ridiculous requirement. It’s phony. It's a feelgood measure by those in charge of security to convince themselves they're doing something. How many potential shoe bombers have they caught? No thank you, I'm not going to subject myself to air travel these days.

Travel these days is such a hassle. While I would love to visit my brother and his wife in South Carolina I can’t bring myself to jump through all the hoops it would take me to visit them. I would love to visit Johnson City, Tennessee and the western North Carolina mountains where my father spent the first 10 years of his life. I haven’t been there since 1996. To visit would be so difficult. I would have to either drive my car or connect with a series of flights and rent a car. I just don’t have the energy. What I do have the energy for is working on my backyard to create a natural habitat for the local birds and insects. I get immense satisfaction from working in my backyard. I love listening to the Purple Martins training their new young to fly. I love seeing the swallows gracefully swooping down on my backyard scooping up mosquitoes. What I don’t like is the stress and aggravation of travel. While I would enjoy seeing the people I visit, getting there is the problem. I also have to consider the expense. Now that my hours have been cut back to once a week, I don’t have those extra discretionary funds. My choice is obvious.

So, I will continue to look for that spot in my backyard that needs just the right plant. Gardening is my joy and passion. It’s better than a backyard pool.

Backyard Update

Swallow peeking at me from her nest.















Swallow eggs in birdhouse.








Here is the latest on my backyard bird sanctuary (except for the house sparrows.) The bluebirds have built another nest in the same bluebird house. The first crop of baby bluebirds are now on their own, now it’s time for the second batch of new bluebirds. Last year the bluebirds also raised two batches in this same bluebird box. I'm happy to say it looks like a repeat performance this year.

This year for the first time, swallows have taken up in one of the other bluebird houses. Their pictures are featured on this blog. There is also a swallow nest in one of the two gourds hanging from the Purple Martin house. Last year the only swallow nests were on my neighbor’s porch. They built a mud nest right over his front door. While it was cute and interesting to watch the baby swallows grow, the mess they made wasn’t too cute for my neighbor’s company. This year my neighbor took down the hook the swallows built their nest and moved it over to the side of his porch where the mess wasn’t so noticeable.

One house sparrow pair continues to build a nest in one of the Purple Martin apartments. I cleaned out that last nest about an hour ago and I don’t expect to see them back. I checked the five other apartments and they all have the white Purple Martin eggs in their modest nests. One of the apartments was formerly the house sparrow nest that I had taken out at least a half a dozen times before the Taliban Sparrows gave up. I don't like cleaning out their nest and I hope this is the last time I have to do it. My backyard bird habitat is for native bird species only.

This year we’re getting plenty of rain unlike the past two years in which we watched the farmers’ fields of corn burn up from lack of rain. With all the rain we also have plenty of mosquitoes. I’m food for the mosquitoes but the mosquitoes are food for the birds in my backyard. My backyard is ecology 101 at work. As I type this I hear thunder rumbling in the distant sky now. More rain, just what we need.

My goal when I moved to our new home in Delaware was to create a backyard habitat as a sanctuary for the local natives species birds. Yesterday Bill and I finished putting in the two remaining raised flower beds that border the edge of our acre of backyard. Anchoring each flower bed is a bird bath. The bird baths are probably the main attraction for the birds in our backyard. Now that I have two new raised flower beds, I’ll have to get two more bird baths. That brings the count of bird baths in our backyard to eight. One can never have enough bird baths in their back yard. Believe me, they’re all used. On especially hot days I have to change the water several times. No complaints from this quarter though, it is a labor of love. But there are a lot of dirty birds out there.

Reflections on a Rainy Friday Afternoon

Yesterday was cloudy. Today a gentle rain falls. While the rain is good for the local farmers it isn’t helping my energy level to do something around this house. Gray skies and rain has a way of doing that to my mood. While I like to hear the rainfall on the side of my house and watch the rivulets of water running down my windows, it doesn’t encourage me to attack my storage room downstairs in the basement and finish unpacking the boxes I moved down here in November 2006. Yes, I’m ashamed to admit it, but I still have unpacked boxes from our move from Pennsylvania almost 2 ½ years ago. I have to wait for the mood to hit me. That hasn’t happened yet.

I don’t have to go to work at the hotel until Monday so I have the whole weekend off. Unfortunately, rain is forecast for the next five days. Bill and I just about have the two new raised flowerbeds ready to be filled in with dirt. We will have to put that on hold until clear skies appear again over our southern Delaware skies. I also work next Friday at the hotel then I’m off until the Fourth of July weekend in which I work those three days in a row. That means I’m off a whole three weeks! I would love to visit my brother in South Carolina and take a swing up to my dad’s roots in the hills of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, near Johnson City, Tennessee. However, I don’t have the money for such a trip nor the energy. I think at 67 I am beginning to wear out.

Yesterday I called my Aunt Mabel who is 87 years old. She’s not doing well. I remember something she told me years ago. She said she knew she was getting old when she was 72. She said that was when she realized she didn’t have the boundless energy she had all of her life prior to that year. My Mother said something similar around the same age. After hoeing eight rows of corn in my Dad’s vegetable garden, she told me “Ronnie, I just can’t do this anymore.” I now understand whereof my aunt and Mother speak. Yesterday I put in a good two hours digging up the area for the two new raised flower beds. It just about killed me. I took a two hour afternoon nap to recoup my strength. This is scary because I’m only 67. There was a time when I thought 40 was old. Of course that’s when I was 22 years old. Now that I’m an Old Geezer I think 67 is young. Ha! Actually I don’t feel bad about getting old but there definitely are more aches and pains now that I’m approaching my eighth decade on this earth.

Not to change the subject, but I will. The bluebirds haven’t set up their new household yet but I think that is because the bluebird parents are still looking after their previous batch. Yesterday afternoon I saw several bluebirds flying around my neighbor’s house. However, as the picture on this blog attests, the Big Bluebird is sitting atop the bluebird house. He has been chasing away all potential tenants such as the Taliband House Sparrow and swallows. I predict within two weeks a new bluebird nest will be full of five tiny blue eggs. This is one my great joys of living where I do so I can have a backyard habitat to provide a safe and secure nesting location for the bluebirds.

Yesterday I pulled down the Purple Martin house to check to make sure there weren’t any dead baby Purple Martins like I found last year. Two of the apartments had baby Purple Martins. They were so quiet when I open the front door to their apartment. The other apartments had nesting material but were empty of baby Purple Martins. As I suspected, those young Purple Martins had already taken wing. It’s interesting to see them learn to fly. At first they venture out only a few feet before they fly back to the Purple Martin house. Eventually, they soar higher and further out from the house until they’re just a speck in the distance. I don’t know how many Purple Martin batches there are but I do know they make the back yard come alive with their lively cacophony of noise.

The rain is falling against the window like it does in the movies. This is a good time to snuggle up to a good book in my bed and drift off to a Friday afternoon nap. Life is good in southern Delaware, even when it rains.

Good Morning Sunshine

What do we have here? Why it looks like the dominant member of the baby bluebird Batch of Five. A short while ago I went out to the bluebird box to take my latest progress picture of the first batch of bluebirds this year and this is what greeted me. Apparently, Skeeziks here figured out this is where the food come in and he (she) is going to be first in line. I dare not open the bluebird box lest this one falls out. Mama bluebird was nearby keeping observing. I think she knows that I am not a threat to her babies.

The Purple Martins are doing fine in their house. The one lower apartment that I had such a devil of a time getting rid of the sparrows is now occupied by a Purple Martin family. Last week when I threw out the sparrow nest; eggs and all. That did the trick. The sparrows have been coming back with decreasing frequency looking in the other apartments for its eggs but no go. This afternoon I checked an apartment on the front of Purple Martin house. I haven't seen any Purple Martin activity up there. I pulled down the birdhouse and checked the apartment. Sure enough it was stuffed to the ceiling with straw, weeds, trash and whatever else the sparrow could find. Out it went. And for good measure I checked the other hanging gourd. Yep. Another sparrow nest. That one went out too. No eggs in either one. They're building new nests as I type this. I'll wait until they lay their eggs then I'll take the whole shebang out. We can fight this battle all summer but there is no way any house sparrow is going to raise their young in any of my birdhouses. Tain't happening.

Today was/is a beautiful sunny day for a change. Rain is forecast for this weekend though. I just returned from Peppers, a local nursery, with geraniums for my container pots. My neighbor put out a beautiful geranium planter this morning. I cannot let that go unchallenged. Yes, we do the lawn thing and we have a friendly competition in container planting. I love living in a neighborhood like this where we can enjoy one another's efforts instead of battling the deer like I did at my home in Pennsylvania.

The waters of unrest continue to roil at work. I can't go into much detail on this blog but I did want to make the point that all is not well at work. Things should come to a head this week. I hope I can continue to work there because I love my job and the people I work with. I'm good at what I do but sometimes that's not enough when other factors come into play to sap one's enthusiasm about going to work. My rule has always been if I dread going to work, then I'm in the wrong job. I hope things work out at work but if not, then that is the way it was meant to be. Life will go on. I have a comfortable and lovely home. I have more than enough to do around here to keep me busy. Of course I wouldn't be making as many trips to Peppers.

Now I'm off to go outside and enjoy some of this late afternoon sun. This is my favorite time of day in the summer. Just me, one with nature. No worries about living up to someone else's unrealistic expectations. This is the way I live my life at this moment in time.

Rainy Sunday in Lewes

On this gray and dreary Sunday in May I had little energy to do anything but read a book and take a long nap. After I did that I suggested to Bill that we hit the Dairy Queen again in Lewes for another take at one of those Banana Cream Pie Blizzard shakes. He agreed so off we went to Lewes.

It took awhile to get out of our development, located on the right side of Route 1. We had to wait for a break in the Horde traffic of vehicles , i.e., the weekenders returning to their homes in the after spending a rainy weekend in the Delmarva peninsula. Nary a vehicle going south on Rt. 1 but wave after head lighted wave of vehicles headed north on Rt. 1. Bless their hearts. I hope they left a lot of money during their weekend sojourn to our coastal shores.

Down the rain slicked highway we went, turning left on New Road for our entry into Lewes. Over the Canal Street Bridge to the Dairy Queen located on Savannah Road, one short block from the bay beach in Lewes. I didn't have to wait in line to order our 5,000 calorie concoctions that would ruin our appetites for the rest of the day (I'm still stuffed and it's 7:30 as I type this blog entry.) I assured the young lady that waited on me that sunny days are forecast for the coming week. She said "Anything to get rid of this boredom." Not a pretty day at the beach folks.

Thus armed with two medium gut busters (aka Banana Cream Pie Blizzards), I headed back out to the car. I asked Bill to hold my Blizzard while I cranked up the car to head down Cedar Road to the end of the canal where the Broadkill River meets the Rehoboth-Lewes Canal and Delaware Bay. We would indulge ourselves with our treats while watching the fishermen at the jetty. That all went well until one of the fishermen got a bite. Excitedly we watched as he reeled in his catch. I don't know what it was but it had what looked like wings. I think it was a sting ray. The fisherman got out a stick he had in his bag and beat it off his hook and threw it back into the bay. Nice. Now I really have an appetite. Another living creature ruined for the benefit of man.

We left the scene of the casual brutality. I didn't feel like going home so we took a ride down to the end of Pilottown Road. I wanted to see what was down there. Working at the front desk at the hotel I'm often asked questions about areas I haven't seen so today was a good time to see those areas. Hopefully I wouldn't see another fisherman pull some sea creature out of the ocean and beat it to death with a stick. We didn't. We had a nice ride and I found the University of Delaware's sea station (I can't remember the formal name of the place) at the end of Pilottown Road. Now I know. I still didn't feel like going home so I suggested to Bill that we visit our friend Big Bob who lives near Georgetown, Delaware. Off we go down Rt. 9 to Big Bob's hacienda.

Off we go down almost deserted, gray dreary roads this May Sunday in our coastal resort community. There was little evidence of the summertime hordes of tourists. Big Bob was home. We had a pleasant visit. I brought him up to date on the latest gossip. His partner Jim (aka "Big Jim") was at work. Thus we had a comfortable visit. No Jim Drama today. Maybe another day we can bear witness to one of Jim's hissy fits or meltdowns. We invited Big Bob over for dinner sometime in the next week or two when Jimbo is off at work. It must get lonely for our friend when he's left alone in his double wide without benefit of cable or a computer connection. And we always enjoy Big Bob's company.

Arriving home I checked out the bluebird box to see how this year's batch if progressing. As the picture on this blog shows, they are doing quite well. I have some good news on the Invasion of the Sparrows front. The Determined Sparrow finally gave up making a nest in that one Purple Martin apartment. The Purple Martins have taken over. The trick was to throw out the sparrow nest with the eggs in it. Prior to this I was just throwing out the sparrow nest. That wasn't working because they would just build a new sparrow nest. Next year I will only have one clean out of sparrow nests, after they lay their eggs. Not something I like to do but I have to make a safe place for my Purple Martins and bluebirds. The sparrows don't rule in my back yard.

Pictured also on this blog are my "Knock Out Roses", or as Bill calls them "Punched Out Roses." They are performing spectacularly well this year. Only problem is when the Japanese Beetles emerge in about two weeks. Then I will have a major problem on my had getting rid of those pests just like I did last year. I had to spray insecticides on my plants because it kills everything including beneficial insects like praying mantises of which I had many last year. I tried to pick off as many Japanese Beetles as I could last year but quickly became overwhelmed.

Sun is forecast for this week. Hallelujah! I know all this rain is good for the farmers but we're getting moldy with all this moisture. The dreariness of gray, raining days is draining the energy out of me. I'm way overdue in updating my "Tipton Tales and Trails" blog. I'm even overdue in a housecleaning but I just can't seem to get my engines started on days like this. I'm reminded of the old Beetles song on their Abbey Road album, "Here Comes the Sun." It can't come soon enough. Right now I feel like I'm in a yellow submarine.

House Sparrow Attack

Today I get serious about the attack of house sparrows that I have on my bluebird boxes and Purple Martin house. Again, this morning I tore out a house sparrow nest in my Purple Martin house. That house sparrow is rebuilding that nest as I type this. One of the bluebird boxes has two house sparrow eggs in it. I was going to toss the nest out with the eggs but thought there might be a better way. I checked the Internet and found out there is several ways to deal with a house sparrow infestation. Some good and effective and some not so good nor effective.

I have already found one bluebird egg pierced and destroyed. The bluebirds have since laid five more eggs and they are guarded by the biggest bluebird I've ever seen. Last year three Purple Martin nestlings were pecked to death by the house sparrows trying to take over their nest. This year three of the apartments have Purple Martins in it but I haven't checked to see what their status is. I'm trying not to disturb them. I also have a gourd that swallows are nesting in.

I checked all the methods for controlling an infestation of house sparrows and the best one seems to be oiling the eggs, thus preventing air from getting to the embryo. Other options are freezing the eggs and putting them back in the nest. Piercing the eggs but you have to be careful to pierce the egg thoroughly or else you'll have the birth of a deformed sparrow. I don't want to cause any more harm than necessary. What I do want to do is provide a safe and secure environment for my native nesting birds to have a place to raise their young.

Tearing out the nests and eggs apparently doesn't stop the house sparrow from building another nest. The best thing to to is to keep the little buggers occupied with their eggs. Thus oiling the eggs seems to be the best option at this time.

I've posted a picture of what an aggressive house sparrow does to a bluebird when they want their nesting site. It is not a pretty picture. As much as I hate to destroy a bird nesting site, it is necessary if we are to maintain at least some of our native bird species such as the bluebird and Purple Martin.