Flock Friday for January 1

Happy New Year! 🍾🥳🎊🎉

Today, a surprise revelation about the ducks… but first, some chicken pictures:

Chickens

Chickens

Chickens

Chickens

The ducks in the back corner of the pond:

Ducks

Ducks

Our pond partially froze for the first time this season on Tuesday. Here’s a time-lapse GIF of about an hour of the ducks swimming around in the non-frozen portion:

Ducks

A still shot:

Ducks

Another time-lapse GIF:

Ducks

When I went out there on my morning rounds, the ice had already somewhat melted, but there was some left:

Ducks

Ducks

Ducks

So what’s the surprise? Well, we noticed that we had misgendered one of our new ducks. In the second batch of ducklings in 2020, we expected to have all females, including a Khaki Campbell, who we named Clara. When ducklings are young, it can be hard to tell their sex, and apparently the hatchery made a mistake. Ducklings initially develop feathers like females when young, but as they get older, males start to show distinctive plumage. So apparently Clara is actually male; we now have two male Khaki Campbells, and one female. So Clara’s true name is now Cam.

Looking back at my photo archive, I can now see the first signs of a change as far back as October, but I didn’t notice until Jenn pointed out the change on one of the rare times she accompanied me on my evening rounds. I’m so observant!

Here are the ducks on the back lawn. The front rightmost two are the two Khaki Campbell males, Clyde and Cam:

Ducks

Ducks

In the pond, from the pond deck:

Ducks

Collision while going after mealworms:

Ducks

A closer view; Clyde and Cam, the two Khaki Campbell males, are the lighter ones with dark heads on the left; Cora, the female, is in the center, with a Rouen behind her:

Ducks

Peeking through the duck house:

Duck

The bank by the duck house:

Ducks

Another couple of pics from the pond deck:

Ducks

Ducks

Cat update for week ending December 26

It’s Caturday!

A rare picture of Bella; she doesn’t hang around as much as the others:

Bella

A Steller’s Jay stealing some cat food spilled in the water dish:

Steller's Jay with food from water dish

Paladout, watched from the cat house:

Paladout

GIF of Porcini going out the back door:

GIF of cat going out back door

Poppy and Porcini:

Poppy and Porcini

Three cats:

Three cats

Porcini watching me from the window:

Cat in the window

Spud trying to sneak up on Porcini; she sensed his approach:

Spud and Porcini

Three cats:

Three cats

Can you see Porcini and Poppy? Watching me when I went to the cat house to refill their food:

Two cats

Here’s a closer look:

Two cats

Another day, I flushed them out again; Porcini on the rock, Poppy next to the tree:

Two cats

Poppy watching me:

Poppy

Cat update for week ending December 5

Come celebrate a curated collection of cat cam captures.

Plus some iPhone photos, like this one of the cat house on a misty day, with Poppa sitting on the deck:

Misty

Cabin cats:

Cabin cats

Feeder cats:

Feeder cats

A screenshot of my iPad cams app, showing three cats:

Cams

Breezeway Spud:

Breezeway Spud

The cams app again, with four cats this time (one about to jump onto the outside cam housing):

Cams

Pommie on the awning, Porcini and Poppy on the deck:

Three cats

Poppy, Porcini, and Paladout:

Three cats

Poppy and Porcini snuggling inside their house:

Snuggles

Poppy concerned with me approaching:

Poppy concerned with me approaching

Me refilling their heated water dish:

Refilling heated water dish

And refilling their food dispenser:

Refilling feeder

As usual, I tossed some bonus food on the ground out front, and as soon as I left, three cats turned up to enjoy hunting for it:

Three cats

A cat jumping down from a tree:

Jumping down from tree

The alien black cat was seen again by the cabins:

Black cat

Three cats in their house, a couple enjoying the heating pads downstairs (the rugs upstairs contain foil to reflect the body heat, but the ones downstairs are actually electrically heated; you can see the coils in the night vision):

Three cats

Paladout watching me from across the lawn, near the pond:

Paladout watching me by the pond

Interesting lighting after sunset:

After sunset

Porcini scratching herself on the rough roofing of the awning, with Bella and Poppy below:

Three cats

All looking towards the main deck, probably Rory making noises:

Three cats

A photo from while refilling the bird feeders. Can you spot three cats?

Three cats

Answer: Poppy on the deck, Paladout behind her, and Porcini in front of the bench by the small pond.

Pommie in long grass next to the swimming pool area:

Cat in grasses

Poppy and Porcini snuggles:

Snuggles

Finally, a GIF of Porcini rolling around on the awning, startling Poppy, and slipping off:

Cats GIF

Cat update for week ending November 21

A happy Caturday to you.

Here’s Spud on our front steps:

Spud on front steps

And in the breezeway:

Spud in breezeway

Poppy and Porcini snuggles:

Poppy and Porcini snuggles

A GIF of snuggles (previously posted on my personal blog):

Snuggles GIF

A cams app screenshot, showing four cats:

Cams screenshot

(The outside cam is still offline, though I have received the replacement; just need some time to set it up.)

Spud between the cabins:

Spud

Another screenshot, this time with five cats:

Cams screenshot

When refilling their food, I flushed Poppy out of the cat house; she watched me from a safe distance:

Poppy

Porcini and Poppy licking in somewhat different ways:

Porcini and Poppy

Two cats; one on the cat deck, one near the lantern behind the tree:

Two cats

Flock Friday for November 20

Hey there. It’s Friday… Flock Friday. This week, ducks, chickens, and hummingbirds… and a rodent.

Here are some ducks on upturned-pot islands in the pond:

Ducks

In and around the duck house:

Ducks

On the pond:

Ducks

Hey there Betty:

Ducks

A rodent (rat, I think) has been visiting the duck house this week. Not welcome, due to possible disease concerns, though it doesn’t seem to be doing any harm, and I don’t know what I can do to stop it — it comes in via the pond pop door, and during the day too. Here you can see it under the ramp, with the ducks nearby:

Rodent and ducks

The ducks were very curious about it:

Rodent and ducks

Some pictures of the chickens in the veggie garden:

Chickens

Chickens

Chickens

Chickens

Chickens

In their run, coming to greet me on rounds:

Chickens

Leafy treats:

Chickens

More of the ducks:

Ducks

Going up the bank to the lawn:

Ducks

On the lawn:

Ducks

Ducks

A GIF of the rodent in the duck house:

Rodent GIF

I shared this GIF of dancing hummingbirds on my personal blog:

Hummingbirds GIF

And some pictures of hummingbirds, taken with me standing outside a few feet away:

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds

The ducks on the lawn again:

Ducks

Ducks

Ducks

Ducks

Some chicken eggs in a nesting box; we’ve been averaging about two or three per day of late, but occasionally have more:

Eggs

Finally, a couple more duck pictures:

Ducks

Ducks

Cat update for week ending November 7

Happy Caturday folks.

In case you didn’t see it, last weekend I added an upper door to the cat house, as an emergency exit. Check out that post for details.

Here’s Porcini by the new back door:

Porcini by new back door

Two cats inside the house; the new door gives them another window to look out:

Two cats

A cat peeking around the corner of the house while I was refilling their food; very brave approaching that close:

Cat peeking around the corner

Two cats hunting for food I sprinkled on the ground as a treat (it’s a fun game):

Two cats

Looking out the back door:

Looking out the back door

A GIF of jumping out the new door:

GIF of jumping out the back door

Cats looking out both back doors:

Looking out both back doors

Another GIF of jumping out, watched from below:

GIF of jumping out the back door

After a couple of days for them to get used to the concept of the new door, I removed the stick that was holding it open:

Removing stick holding door open

Snuggles:

Snuggles

Poppy-face:

Two cats

Poppy and Porcini outside:

Two cats

Porcini about to jump from the awning to the roof:

Two cats

More snuggles:

Snuggles

Long cat and round cat:

Long cat and round cat

Porcini licking Poppy:

GIF of licking cats

The reason I added that upper back door was as an emergency exit in case a raccoon came in when a cat was inside. Well, that happened this week, though ironically the raccoon headed straight for the upper level, so the cat was able to go out the front:

GIF of raccoon inside

A shot of the cat and raccoon:

Cat and raccoon

That didn’t put off the cats, though. Here are three inside a few hours later:

Three cats

Spud was in the left cabin, and Poppa arrived; Spud greeted him in the traditional way:

Spud and Poppa

Then Poppa settled down in the right cabin:

Spud and Poppa

Here they are again as it got brighter:

Spud and Poppa

They were both still there when I did my morning rounds:

Spud and Poppa

They didn’t even notice me standing nearby at first:

Spud and Poppa

Moments later they evacuated, then came back after I was gone, and stayed most of the day.

A GIF of contented stretching and touching:

GIF of cat stretch

Snuggles:

Snuggles

More snuggles:

Snuggles

Cat update for week ending October 31

Spooooky Halloween Caturday to one and all! This week, we were visited by scary raccoon monsters, and the scariest of all creatures, a skunk.

But fear not, much cuteness was also observed.

Such as three cats in the cat house, two in a pile:

Three cats

A short GIF of a sun dappled Porcini:

Porcini GIF

And you thought a pile of two cats was cute… see if you can handle three:

Cat pile GIF

Four cats

Three cats on the edge of the field:

Three cats

I took this picture of an old iPad stand to see if it’d work for modern ones (it won’t; designed for the original only), and incidentally got a picture of Pepper in the shop, looking rather concerned at my approaching so close:

Pepper in the shop

Here’s Pansy in the back of the shop, in the center of the picture, waiting for her food to dispense:

Pansy in the shop

Since it was below freezing earlier this week, I hooked up the cats’ heated water dish. When the temperature is below freezing, it gets just warm enough to keep the water liquid (I then discontinued the other waterer, filled with leaves here):

Heated water dish

Three cats outside… or maybe four; I think one is behind the shrub:

Three cats

A family of raccoons visited the cat house, including going inside; fortunately no cats home at the time:

Raccoon GIF

An app screenshot showing raccoons on the awning and inside the feeder:

Raccoons

Close-up of a raccoon inside:

Raccoon

Later that night, a skunk also explored inside:

Skunk

The scent of those visitors didn’t scare off the cats, fortunately (must be a bug on the ceiling):

Three cats

More snuggles:

Three cats

Spud and Pommie in the cabins (Spud on the left):

Spud and Pommie

Spud and Pommie

A screenshot of Spud and Pommie in the cabins, Poppy in the house, and a very damp Paladout in the feeder:

Four cats

Three cats in the house this morning:

Three cats

Finally, the usual summary GIF of 74 photos this week:

Summary GIF

Flock Friday for October 30

Welcome to Flock Friday. This week, I am highlighting 20 chicken-related pictures plus 12 duck pictures, along with a summary GIF of 59 candidates.

What’s a more fun way to start the week than mucking out the chicken coop:

Mucking out chicken coop

Fresh bedding in the nesting boxes:

Mucking out chicken coop

And a pile on the floor for the chickens to scratch and spread:

Mucking out chicken coop

A duck interlude — Betty in the grasses:

Betty in the grasses

It’s a little warmer now, but earlier in the week it was freezing overnight, resulting in a frozen waterer:

Frozen waterer

The hose wand is actually dripping water to top up the waterer, which is what caused the big icicles (and helps stop the hose from freezing):

Frozen waterer

Frozen waterer

Frozen waterer

GIF of dripping icicles (as you may have previously seen on my personal blog):

Frozen waterer GIF

On afternoon rounds, the chickens waiting for me:

Chickens waiting for me

They then all rush into the new coop to wait for treats:

Chickens waiting for treats

Thusly:

Chickens with treats

Ducks in a leafy pond:

Ducks

Ducks

Also previously posted to my personal blog, photos and GIFs of ducks flapping wings:

Ducks flapping wings

Ducks flapping wings GIF

Ducks flapping wings

Ducks flapping wings GIF

Ducks on the lawn, hunting for worms and such (I like the peek of the white gazebo in the background):

Ducks on lawn

A bunch of pictures of chickens; they’re all pretty much done with their molting and feather regrowth now:

Chickens

Chicken

Chicken

Chickens

Chicken

Chicken

Chicken

Chickens

Pecking at my boot:

Chickens

More pictures of ducks on the lawn (the grass is a bit long, but I’m probably not going to mow again till next spring):

Ducks on lawn

Ducks on lawn

Ducks on lawn

Ducks on lawn

Finally, the aforementioned summary GIF, with the above and lots more photos from this week:

Summary GIF

Cat update for week ending October 24

As mentioned in yesterday’s Flock Friday, it has been below freezing the last few days, which of course means the feral cats have been hanging around home more, snuggling in their heated shelters.

For today’s Caturday, a few pictures of snuggles, and several GIFs. I really restrained myself from uploading too many snuggle pics; at the end I have a summary GIF with 78 pictures, and I think at least half of them are of cute snuggling.

So let’s get a couple of those out of the way to start:

Cat snuggles

Cat snuggles

Here’s a GIF of Porcini and Poppy snuggling, that I posted earlier in the week on my personal blog:

Cat snuggles GIF

As usual, Pommie has been spending most of her time at the cabins:

Pommie at the cabins

Three cats inside the cat house:

Three cats inside the cat house

Another snuggle GIF:

Cat snuggles GIF

Porcini and Pommie outside:

Porcini and Pommie

I flushed out Porcini and Poppy when visiting the cat house to reset the cameras; they watched me from a safe distance:

Porcini and Poppy

Three cats; they look like they’re telling secrets, but are actually going after some bonus food I tossed there when refilling their dispenser:

Three cats

Four cats at breakfast time:

Four cats

Three cats in the feeder:

Three cats

Four cats again:

Four cats

And four cats inside the house, which is rather unusual:

Four cats

A little more snuggling… because three cats:

Three cats

Porcini and Poppy:

Porcini and Poppy

Cats playing on the awning and jumping down from a tree:

Cats on awning and tree

A GIF of that playtime:

Cats GIF

A screenshot of my cams app showing 3 cats (deck, feeder, and house):

Cams screenshot with 3 cats

Later, four cats (cabin, feeder, two in the house):

Cams screenshot with 4 cats

And five cats (deck, cabin, feeder, two in the house):

Cams screenshot with 5 cats

A time-lapse GIF of several days inside the cat house:

Timelapse GIF

And finally, the aforementioned summary GIF of 78 photos from this week, if you haven’t already overdosed on snuggles… plus glimpses of Poppa, Paladout by the pond, and more that I didn’t include above:

Summary GIF

Flock Friday for October 23

Fabulously freezing Flock Friday, friends! (The temperature was below freezing overnight.)

28 degrees F overnight

A shot from the new coop cam of three chickens on their favorite roost by the window:

Chickens

A GIF of a fourth flying from the other roosts, and knocking the camera off:

Chickens GIF

A freeze-frame of landing on top of another chicken, causing that chaos:

Chickens

The camera is magnetically attached to a metal plate wedged under the window screen; here it’s just hanging by its wire:

Camera

The ducks on the back lawn, rooting for bugs:

Ducks on lawn

Ducks on lawn

Ducks on lawn

Ducks on lawn

A time-lapse GIF of a chicken flying up to the roost and back down again:

Chickens GIF

Chickens hanging out on top of logs etc:

Chickens

A bunch more pics of the chickens:

Chickens

Chickens

Kiwi is still looking quite scruffy, but you can see the new feathers coming in:

Chickens

Ditto with Buffy:

Chickens

Chickens

I had a cunning idea, to make it easier to see if the pop doors are open or closed in the dark: I added reflective tape on the pop door:

Reflective tape on pop door

And on the outside:

Reflective tape on pop door

The old coop too (the horizontal one acts as an extra indicator, only being visible when the door is closed):

Reflective tape on pop door

Here are roosting chickens again, with the light on:

Roosting chickens

A little spooky after the light goes off (it’s on a timer):

Roosting chickens

As it gets darker, the night-vision of the cam turns on:

Roosting chickens

The pop door closed; now clearly visible via the reflective strips:

Roosting chickens

I can see the state of the door outside too, via the reflective strips:

Coop outside

In the old coop, door open:

Roosting chickens

Door closed:

Roosting chickens

The ducks have recently been hanging out on the bank to the left of the pond deck:

Ducks

Ducks

It started raining, so the ducks came up to the lawn to hunt for worms that come to the surface during precipitation:

Ducks on lawn

Ducks on lawn

Ducks on lawn

Ducks on lawn

A GIF of a Rouen running up the bank, using her wings to assist:

Ducks GIF

Sassa doing the same:

Ducks on lawn

She kept on going:

Ducks GIF

Exploring more of the lawn:

Ducks on lawn