Betty’s ducklings on May 28 and 29

Lots of activity with Betty’s ducklings today!

We start with some GIFs and pictures from yesterday afternoon.

An animated GIF of a duckling going into and out of the dish under the feeder tube:

GIF

Duckling in food dish:

Duckling in food dish

A photo of Sonja half-buried in her nest:

Sonja

Me adding a duckling food dispenser:

David adding duckling food

A photo of Betty and four ducklings; I later saw a total of six:

Betty and four ducklings

A GIF of Betty gathering in a duckling with her wing:

GIF

A GIF of Betty flapping her wings; it’s good to stretch:

GIF

A GIF of ducklings exploring the food:

GIF

A GIF of ducklings eating:

GIF

A picture of ducklings eating:

Ducklings eating

Ducklings about to explore the ramp:

Ducklings

Betty chasing the ducklings back inside:

Ducklings

A GIF of Betty chasing off another duck, as one of the ducklings was exposed in the middle box:

GIF

A GIF of Sonja moving around in her nest, and ducklings exploring:

GIF

Ducklings:

Ducklings

A GIF time-lapse:

GIF

Ducklings by the door:

Ducklings

Ducklings

A GIF of Betty and her ducklings going into Sonja’s nest:

GIF

A GIF of Betty and her ducklings heading out the pop door on the way into the pond:

GIF

A bunch of pictures of Betty and ducklings on the ramp then their first swim in the pond, with other ducks nearby (thanks to Jenn for capturing most of these):

Ducklings on the ramp

Ducklings on the ramp

Ducklings on the ramp

Ducklings

Betty and ducklings

Betty and ducklings

Betty and ducklings

Check out the video on YouTube, if you haven’t already.

One of the ducklings was struggling, looking like it might drown, so I fished it out of the pond and put it back in the duck house:

Duckling

I put it in Sonja’s nest, as I noticed another duckling in there, probably from when Betty went into that nest:

Sonja

Here you can see Sonja and one of the ducklings:

Sonja and ducklings

The other four ducklings took a breather on the edge of the pond, while Betty was quacking nearby:

Betty and ducklings

Betty and ducklings

Hopefully the ducklings won’t overtire themselves, and will be able to find their way back into the duck house tonight, or some other safe place.

Stay tuned for more updates! 

Cat update for week ending May 29

More duckling pics later, but it’s Caturday, so tradition dictates that we start the day with some cute cat pics.

Here’s Bella by the cabins:

Bella

And Spud:

Spud

Spud and Porcini:

Spud and Porcini

Spud and Porcini again:

Spud and Porcini

Bella:

Bella

A GIF time-lapse of the cabins:

Timelapse

A real-time GIF of three cats at the cabins; watch as Pommie sneaks in the back door of the right cabin, hisses at Spud sitting out front, making Porcini run off:

Three cats

A squirrel visits the feeder:

Chipmunk

Porcini and Pommie watching me approach; Pommie retreated, but Porcini just stayed there:

Porcini and Pommie watching me approach

Paladin watching Porcini from the window:

Paladin watching Porcini

Porcini

A special Flock Friday: welcome to Betty’s ducklings

Last night Betty’s ducklings started to hatch! So this is a special Flock Friday primarily about that. I’ll probably follow up with daily posts about how they’re doing and with more pictures; I’ve only seen them on the duck house camera so far, as I don’t want to disturb them too soon.

I did get some duckling food when I went to the feed store a couple of days ago, so I’ll put that in the duck house for them later, though Betty will probably feed them. They don’t need to eat their first day; the nutrients from their eggs sustains them. For these ducklings, I want to remain fairly hands-off, letting their mother take care of them. She will provide them with her waterproofing oils, so they should be able to swim very soon. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes.

Before we get to the ducklings, here’s a peek at Sonja’s nest:

Duck eggs

Duck eggs

Sonja started full-time nesting last Friday (the 21st). So the clock starts then for her eggs hatching; expected around June 18. Assuming Betty allows the competition.

Here’s Betty on her nest, a week ago:

Betty

Sonja and Betty in their nests:

Sonja and Betty in their nests

Betty’s nest is conveniently behind the feeder tube, so she’s able to eat without moving:

Betty eating from her nest

Here’s an animated GIF of my first sight of one of Betty’s ducklings last night:

Betty and ducklings

A still image of Betty and ducklings:

Betty and ducklings

Another GIF, with a couple of ducklings visible:

Betty and ducklings

Another pic:

Betty and ducklings

Dark GIF:

Betty and ducklings

Sonja, Betty, ducklings:

Sonja, Betty, ducklings

GIF (with broken egg shells visible too):

Betty and ducklings

GIF of an adventurous duckling:

Betty and ducklings

Pic:

Betty and ducklings

Stay tuned for more (and better quality) duckling pictures!

Cat update for week ending May 22

Several GIFs for Caturday this week, plus pictures of all of the cats: the cute Porcini, of course, plus the twins Spud and Pommie, the elusive Bella, and even Pansy the shop cat and Paladout the neighbor cat.

Here’s Porcini sitting on a rock next to the stream:

Porcini

And watching me from a path:

Porcini

Three cats at the cat feeder; Porcini eating, with Bella and Pommie waiting outside:

Three cats

An animated GIF of them:

Three cats

A view from outside:

Three cats

Porcini went out the back door:

Three cats

A fast time-lapse of a cat playing around in our new front garden:

Cat GIF

A long real-time GIF of a cat on the front lawn, and finding a rodent:

Cat GIF

A shorter excerpt of that:

Cat GIF

A GIF of Paladout jumping onto the cat house roof:

Cat GIF

One last GIF, of Paladout startling Spud at the feeder, resulting in a chase, aggressive posing, then deescalation:

Cat GIF

Pansy in the shop, reaching for food:

Pansy

Bella and Spud:

Two cats

Porcini relaxing under the irises:

Porcini

Very unusual to see Bella by the cabins:

Bella

Pommie on a path:

Pommie

A wider angle, showing the view from our closet window, of the cat house, fountain garden, etc:

Pommie

Cabin twins, Spud and Pommie:

Twins: Spud and Pommie

A wet cat in front of the camera this morning, watched by a more sensible one in the cat house doorway:

Wet cat

Cat update for week ending May 15

It’s Caturday! Which means time for mushrooms and spuds, I guess?

The mushroom girls sniffing noses — Porcini and Portabella (aka Bella):

Mushroom girls sniffing noses

Spud jumping up to his breezeway cabin:

Spud jumping up to his breezeway cabin

(His full name is Potato, as all our cats have names that start with “P”, but that’s more of whatever the antonym of hypocorism is (hypercorism?) for Spud.)

A GIF time-lapse of Porcini going into a cabin, having a bath, sleeping, rolling over, looking around, and leaving:

Timelapse

A more realtime GIF of her cutely rolling over:

Porcini in a cabin

A couple of stills:

Porcini in a cabin

Porcini in a cabin

Another shot of Spud jumping up, this one during daytime:

Spud jumping up to his breezeway cabin

Porcini in the cat house:

Porcini in the cat house

Porcini on the front steps:

Porcini on the front steps

Waiting for food:

Waiting for food

Two cats waiting for food:

Two cats waiting for food

Two cats at the feeder:

Two cats at the feeder

Flock Friday for May 14

On Flock Friday this week, we’re visited by a heron a couple of times, a second nesting duck, and more.

Firstly, a couple of chickens in the new coop, one emerging from a nesting box:

Chickens

An animated GIF of a heron landing on the pond island:

Heron

Ducks on the lawn:

Ducks on the lawn

Ducks on the lawn

Ducks on the lawn

Chickens in their run, and ducks on the lawn:

Chickens and ducks

We evicted the chickens from the veggie garden, and closed the gate into their run:

Chickens with closed gate

Another GIF of the heron, this time flying from the island to the edge of the pond in front of the camera:

Heron

A GIF of Betty arriving back in the duck house after taking a brief break, drying herself off, then heading to her nest, and Sonja going to hers:

Ducks

Lots of finches on the bird feeders:

Birds on feeders

Betty on her nest, and Sonja laying an egg on hers; not on it full-time as of this date:

Nesting ducks

Chickens with treats:

Chickens

Ducks in the pond:

Ducks in the pond

Ducks in the pond

Ducks in the pond

A nice circle of eggs in Sonja’s nest; about nine there:

Eggs and nesting

Ducks on islands:

Ducks on islands

This morning Sonja seems to have started sitting on her nest full-time, like Betty is — we’ll see if she stays there, or is just spending a longer-than-usual time (apparently common to gradually increase the nesting time):

Nesting ducks

Here she’s pulling some straw into the nest:

Pulling straw into the nest

The ducklings hatch in about 28 days from full-time nesting, so Betty’s are expected within the next week, and Sonja’s will be around June 11. When they hatch, I’ll be sure to do a special post with the news.

Cat update for week ending May 8

This Caturday is a bit of a yawn… two yawns, actually. And some fun GIFs and such.

Porcini peeking at me from a cabin:

Porcini peeking from a cabin

Two cats at the cat house:

Two cats

A GIF of Porcini jumping onto the camera housing:

Jumping

Porcini looking up at birds in a tree:

Porcini looking up

A GIF of Porcini looking around:

Looking

Pommie in mid yawn:

Yawn

Here’s a GIF of her yawning:

Yawm

The twins, Spud and Pommie:

Twins

Porcini watching me from under a tree:

Porcini under a tree

A GIF of Paladout next to the cat house, when another cat runs by. I’m not sure who was more startled:

Cats

Bella chilling on the deck:

Bella

Another yawn, this time Porcini:

Yawn

Three cats at the cabins; Spud, Porcini, and Pommie:

Three cats

Cat update for week ending May 1

Happy Caturday to you! This week, some fun GIFs of the cats, several pictures of Porcini as usual, some of Paladout, and cat feet.

Here’s a GIF to start off; Spud walking between the cabins occupied by Porcini and Pommie:

Cats GIF

A still from that of the three cats:

Three cats

Porcini having a drink of water:

Porcini

Spud:

Spud

Spud (or Pommie? I still can’t always tell) and Paladout:

Spud and Paladout

A GIF of Porcini and Pommie arriving and going into cabins:

Cats GIF

A time-lapse GIF of a couple of cats playing around the cat house:

Cats GIF

A GIF of going up and over the cat house:

Cats GIF

Pommie (I think) and a rare Bella sighting; Portabella doesn’t sleep in the cat house or cabins, only turning up for food:

Two cats

Two cats

I spotted Porcini near a backyard path:

Porcini

Porcini and Paladout:

Porcini and Paladout

Spud and Porcini:

Two cats

Porcini watching birds from the front steps:

Porcini

Feet:

Feet

Feet

Feet

Spud in the breezeway:

Spud in the breezeway

Finally, a relaxed Porcini in the cat house:

Porcini

Flock Friday for April 23

This week one of our ducks, Betty, started sitting on the dozen or so eggs in a nesting box in the duck house. So we may have ducklings in a few weeks time!

But let’s start with some pictures of the chickens, the first of which you may have seen on my personal blog:

Chicken

Chickens

Chickens

Chicken

Chickens

Here’s Betty by the eggs, not happy that I was peeking in at her:

Betty on eggs

A couple of pictures from the duck house cam of Betty in the nesting box:

Betty on eggs

In this one, you can see Sonja joining her; she might be laying too:

Betty on eggs

Ducks on the lawn:

Ducks on the lawn

Jays grabbing peanuts from the feeder tray; I put out a handful of whole peanuts each morning for them:

Jays grabbing peanuts

Jay grabbing a peanut

Jay grabbing a peanut

Ducks in the pond:

Ducks in the pond

Ducks in the pond

Betty on the eggs again:

Betty on eggs

A time-lapse GIF of Betty in the nesting box, and other ducks coming in to eat:

Betty on eggs