Betty hatched some ducklings a couple of days ago. Today they took their first swim in the pond.
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:
And Spud:
Spud and Porcini:
Spud and Porcini again:
Bella:
A GIF time-lapse of the cabins:
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:
A squirrel visits the feeder:
Porcini and Pommie watching me approach; Pommie retreated, but Porcini just stayed there:
Paladin watching Porcini from the window:
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:
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:
Sonja and Betty in their nests:
Betty’s nest is conveniently behind the feeder tube, so she’s able to eat without moving:
Here’s an animated GIF of my first sight of one of Betty’s ducklings last night:
A still image of Betty and ducklings:
Another GIF, with a couple of ducklings visible:
Another pic:
Dark GIF:
Sonja, Betty, ducklings:
GIF (with broken egg shells visible too):
GIF of an adventurous duckling:
Pic:
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:
And watching me from a path:
Three cats at the cat feeder; Porcini eating, with Bella and Pommie waiting outside:
An animated GIF of them:
A view from outside:
Porcini went out the back door:
A fast time-lapse of a cat playing around in our new front garden:
A long real-time GIF of a cat on the front lawn, and finding a rodent:
A shorter excerpt of that:
A GIF of Paladout jumping onto the cat house roof:
One last GIF, of Paladout startling Spud at the feeder, resulting in a chase, aggressive posing, then deescalation:
Pansy in the shop, reaching for food:
Bella and Spud:
Porcini relaxing under the irises:
Very unusual to see Bella by the cabins:
Pommie on a path:
A wider angle, showing the view from our closet window, of the cat house, fountain garden, etc:
Cabin 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:
Flock Friday for May 21
Still waiting for Betty’s ducklings (could be any day now); still waiting for Sonja to start full-time nesting (could be any day now); plus some other pictures of ducks and chickens (with a particularly funny one at the end).
Here’s Betty, still nesting on her eggs, and not happy to be disturbed:
I added more straw to the duck house, and refilled their food and water:
Taking a peek at Sonja’s eggs while she was away; I see 10 eggs here (at least one under the straw):
She has been increasing the time spent sitting on them, but isn’t full-time yet, so I don’t think we can start the clock on them hatching quite yet. She has also gathered up most of that new straw to insulate her nest.
Ducks on the floating island:
Ducks in the pond:
Ducks on the pond bank:
Chickens with treats:
Um, three chickens don’t really fit in a nesting box:
An assortment of May flowers
Various flowers that are blooming around the homestead at present.
Calla lily:
Bluebells and irises:
Bluebells:
Irises:
Peonies:
Irises:
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):
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:
A more realtime GIF of her cutely rolling over:
A couple of stills:
Another shot of Spud jumping up, this one during daytime:
Porcini in the cat house:
Porcini on the front steps:
Waiting for food:
Two cats waiting for food:
Two cats at the feeder:
TikTok: Betty still nesting on eggs
A new @YellowCottageHomestead TikTok video of Betty nesting on her eggs, not happy to be disturbed, but I needed to refill their food:
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:
An animated GIF of a heron landing on the pond island:
Ducks on the lawn:
Chickens in their run, and ducks on the lawn:
We evicted the chickens from the veggie garden, and closed the gate into their run:
Another GIF of the heron, this time flying from the island to the edge of the pond in front of the camera:
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:
Lots of finches on the bird feeders:
Betty on her nest, and Sonja laying an egg on hers; not on it full-time as of this date:
Chickens with treats:
Ducks in the pond:
A nice circle of eggs in Sonja’s nest; about nine there:
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):
Here she’s pulling some 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.
Bee shed project summary
I’ve just added a summary page for the bee shed project. Check it out for an overview of the project, with links to each of the individual blog posts.
While you’re there, you may be interested in looking at some other projects too.