A sweet for his sweet...

I wish this was a better shot, but the fact is that I was a nano-second off in my timing and missed him passing the little treat to Madame.  So, what you get is the nano-second before the handoff, and only Monsieur in focus.  I think the treat is a bee, although it's kind of hard to tell.  Monsieur has been bringing Madame tasty little insects and grubs as she perches near the nest, in the trees, or on the roof of our house - he's obviously reminding her of what a good provider he's going to be once the young 'un's hatch.  

I had a great hike this morning with my naturalist group.  And, although we heard many birds, the photo ops weren't great and I ended up taking only a few photos.  Still, it was a great morning.  I never seem to walk away from this bunch not having learned something and today was  no exception.  

Temps topped out near 90, so I was in need of a shower when I got home.  Once fresh again, I hopped over to have a visit with MIL.  She was on her game today and was laughing as she told stories about her transition from Catholic school to public high school.  It was a very enjoyable visit.

Back at home, I took myself out to the patio, camera in hand, and waited for things to happen.  Lucky for me, I had a pocket of peanuts because one of last year's chippies showed up, ran right up to where I was sitting, and put her little paw on my foot, gazing intently at me.  I fished a peanut out of my pocket, she took it from my fingers, pouched it, and gazed intently at me again.  Second peanut handily dispatched.  Finally I ran out of peanuts and had to go inside lest I be attacked by a six-inch rodent with racing stripes.  According to a book that was recommended to me a number of years ago by JustBe, the male chipmunks are much harder to "tame" while the females are fairly willing to be hand fed.  Since I've never had success getting Scoobie (who's definitely a boy) to eat from my hand, I have to think this information is accurate.  Anyway, expect photos soon of little Flossie eating from my hand.  Can't help myself.

Five delicate little brown eggs in the House Wren nest and I believe she's done laying.  Catbirds are nesting all over our property, including in a favorite big shrub right next to our garage.  The nest is too high for me to see inside, so the number of eggs shall remain a mystery.  I think the woodpeckers (downy, hairy and red-bellied) are all feeding nestlings now.  In short, things in the avian nursery are heating up!

Hubs is at the track today, doing some practice sessions.  Since it's been quite a few months since he last raced, having time on the track ahead of tomorrow's race is good.  Fingers crossed that they don't have any problems with the car.  

Tomorrow is forecast to be much cooler, so I plan to head out on one of my favorite trails early.  Then I need to finish planting the last of the bedding plants I bought yesterday.  Today was just too hot for planting.  Although it was just right for chipmunks...

Thanks for the love on my bear yesterday.  I hope not to blip him/her again anytime soon.

xo
Debbi