As mentioned yesterday, Bert really doesn’t like Sven. I don’t know what his problem is, but he keeps chasing Sven.
First, some glowy Rouens:
Looking at them from across the pond:
Resting in the duck house; that’s Sven on the left at the back, and Betty next to him:
Sven with a Rouen:
Then along comes Bert:
And Sven quickly retreated:
A GIF of Bert chasing Sven across the pond:
A somewhat more clear picture:
They’re just going to have to sort that out themselves.
Sixty days sounds like a lot, but is only about 8.5 weeks.
The ducks swimming and/or sleeping on the pond at night (they can swim with half their brain and sleep with the other half):
Greeting the ducks in their run in the morning:
Leafy treats:
Ducks jumping into the pond:
Hmm, the pop door didn’t open on the duck house this morning; the opener had an error, so maybe needs more attention. I recalibrated (again), and will see if it opens tomorrow:
Afternoon treats from the pond deck:
Bert seems to have taken a disliking to Sven; he chased him away from the treats:
I’ve seen Bert chasing Sven several times. He doesn’t chase any of the other ducks. Sven will be bigger than Bert when fully grown, so the tables may turn on that.
Let’s take a brief digression from the usual cute ducks and other animals to talk about a nemesis of mine: bamboo.
We had a stand of bamboo between the propane gas tank and the deck at the back of our workshop, planted by some previous owner of our property:
If it had contained itself to that location, I’d be fine with it, but bamboo has a tendency to send out runners, spreading to unwanted places. For example under the gas tank:
Under the driveway, pushing it up:
And even between the deck boards and behind the shop siding:
So it was time for it to go. Today, I took on that project, cutting the stalks to the ground using our heavy-duty loppers (one of my favorite tools; works better than most others).
Here’s the state partway through:
That square on the wall is where a fireplace vent used to be; another project on my list is to patch that, which I’ll probably do soon, now that it’s more visible.
All cut:
A view of the side of the shop; much more open with that bamboo gone:
In due course we’ll probably plant some shrubby things in that area.
The cut bamboo on the burn pile (which won’t actually be burned for several months at the earliest):
This battle isn’t over; the bamboo will continue to sprout for several months. I’ll need to spray it and continue cutting it for a while, until it eventually admits defeat.
We also have another stand of bamboo on the other side of the shop, which is also spreading, and needs to go. A project for another day.
We have one more large stand of bamboo by the pond, but it is fairly well contained (using heavy duty pond liner), and not near any structures or driveways, so it can remain.
Don’t plant bamboo, people. It’s nasty stuff.
Today I mucked out the duck house.
But first, sleepy ducks:
Approaching for treats:
Eating treats; check out those tongues!
Mucking out the duck house; it had many layers of compacted straw:
I took several loads of dirty straw to the compost on my cart:
The straw added a lot of volume to the compost bin:
Empty duck house:
Fresh straw:
I probably won’t need to muck it out again for a while, now that they aren’t living in there anymore.
I also refilled their food, in the inverted jug at the top of the feeder tube:
Swimming:
The ducks visited the duck house to eat; here Bert and Betty seem to be comparing notes:
Bert with a dirty bill, while others eat:
An animated GIF of ducks eating:
As is usual for warm weather, the feral cats haven’t been hanging around as much in the last week, so I only had 16 photos from which to choose; perhaps a new low for me. I picked 10.
Poppy and Porcini inside their house:
Porcini and Pommie outside:
A mother and two young raccoons looking at the cabins (no cats were home):
One of the twins in the breezeway cabin just before dawn:
Waiting for breakfast:
Breakfast dispensing:
I startled Porcini when walking on the path near the cat house (her mouth is open licking her lips after eating, not reacting to me):
She retreated to behind the cat house (lots of lens flare at that time of day):
Two on the deck:
Pepper in the shop:
