Village Squire, 1980-08, Page 35SIX ACHERS
Yvonne Reynolds and her husband, a
retired Canadian Armed Forces officer,
settled In rural Huron County six years
ago. The antics of one dog [daughter of an
Immoral Sheltie], one house cat
[Himalayan arlstocat], one barn cat [don't
ask] and a fluctuating number of chickens
and goats keep her supplied with more
than enough material for a regular monthly
column.
Strictly for the Birds.
Our birds, both wild and domestic, have
taken to heart the Biblical injunction "be
fruitful and multiply". The blackbirds,
starlings and cowbirds seemingly hear only
the first two words and head straight for
our sweet black cherry tree. They start to
eat the cherries as soon as the fruit turns
pink, and we have yet to pick ripe cherries
from our tree.
We have tried everything we can think of
to discourage the thieves. They laugh at
tinfoil pie plates dangling slowly in the
wind. Don shot some cowbirds and hung
the carcasses in the tree; the survivors
stood on the bodies of their fallen comrades
to obtain a better footing while eating more
cherries.
The blackbirds are smarter. If Don
appears with a shotgun, they all immedi-
ately disappear. As soon as he gets tired of
armed warfare and puts the gun back in the
rack, blackbirds appear from nowhere and
head straight for their free lunch.
We retired from the contest when we
heard that the previous owners had
actually covered the whole tree with a
fishnet sent from B.C. by a relative, and
the birds still ate the cherries. We are
convinced the birds are aware of our
decision. Now they boldly eat their
ill-gotten gains and contemptuously spit
out the pits and let them rattle and roll like
a hailstorm down the metal roof that covers
our kitchen.
As for the multiplying, a pair of
kingbirds have taken up residence in the
pear tree. They act as if the tree is theirs,
not ours. Whenever anyone approaches too
closely, he or she is subjected to an aerial
attack accompanied by very ungentlemanly
language, if tone is any indication of
content. By the time the pears are ripe I
trust mother, father and family will have
moved to more suitable quarters. It would
be just our luck if they all come back in the
fall to sample the pears.
A ZOOMING BLACKBIRD
Our strolls to the back garden were
interrupted until recently by a redwing
blackbird. When we approached too closely
to his nest (which we assume must have
been hidden in the long grass) he would
zoom down from his sentry post on top of a
high pole and either dive-bomb us, fly low
in strafing position, or hover directly
overhead like a miniature helicopter. And
his language! He could give the kingbird
lessons!
I wonder if Daphne du Maurier drew
inspiration for her famous story "The
Birds" from a similar incident.
Another first is a nest of barn swallows
above our living room window. We
watched in fascination as Mom and Dad
laboriously built their nest with little daubs
of mud, each no bigger than the eraser on a
pencil. At first most of the mud fell to the
verandah floor, but gradually more and
more adhered to the brick. The two
graceful wee creatures worked steadily and
patiently for the next five or six days until
their efforts had produced a large bowl -
shaped structure, a natural incubator and,
in due course, a nursery for five baby
swallows. The adults are now in constant
motion catching insects and flying home to
satisfy five voracious appetites.
And how have our swallows repaid our
tolerance and protection? In true bird
fashion. At first, Mother Swallow cleaned
her offsprings' tiny behinds with her beak
and dropped all the guck on the verandah.
Now she has them toilet trained - the
babies answer nature's call by flipping
their little birdie bottoms over the edge of
the nest, relieving themselves, and pop-
ping right way round again. Is there a
market around here for guano? You can
have it all, just for hauling it away.
TWENTY EGGS, SEVEN CHICKS
We have had the same kind of luck with
our domestic birds. Although we set
twenty eggs under the three part -Bantam
hens, Cream now clucks over seven chicks
which she hatched in ideal fashion, doing
everything just as the book says a hen
should.
Sugar is fiercely protective of her only
survivor, Little Twerp. Save your pity. We
have declared Sugar an unfit mother. She
never did go into the trance -like state a hen
is supposed to enter when her metabolism
slows down in preparation for 23 hour, 55
minute daily sessions incubating a batch of
eggs. She remained quite alert (for her)
and snacked on two of her eggs one day
when she felt a few hunger pangs. Because
she abandoned the nest quite often to
partake of at least three square meals each
day, most of her eggs became too chilled,
and the embryos stopped developing. Thus
solitary Little Twerp.
Batty may get another chance. Most of
the eggs we put under her had been given
to us by a friend, and were not fertile. But
there is also a black mark on her record -
she accidentally killed one chick while
overzealously helping it to break out of its
shell.
The local chick hatcheries need not
worry about competition from me.
DECORATE ON A BUDGET
with ALMATEX PAINTS
AND VARNISHES
also a wide selection of
WALLPAPERS
A complete line of
Refinishing Products
Pictures - Plaques - Figurines
Exeter Decor Centre
235-1010
15 Gidley St. E. Exeter
VILLAGE SQUIRE/AUGUST 1980 PG. 31