Springin' into summer

It's hard to tell, but summer arrived this morning--officially, as today marks Solstice. The temp is still coolish, but not quite as "June-uaryish" as it's been the last while. So maybe it will even feel like summer soon.

The birds who'd built their nest inside the little lantern have even headed off for summery skies. We'd worried that the babies might not be able to fly high enough to get out of the enclosure, but presto--they did it!

We could see that the parents were getting tired of all the feeding (and yes, when it came to feeding time, there were two parent-birds, the father was no deadbeat dad at all), as towards the end they'd just sit at the top of the lantern and drop the bits of food down into the nestlings. 

Best news of all is that they did a lovely job of spring-cleaning the nest. 

Must admit I'm kind of hoping they'll come back next year. 

Rescue 6-13

It was just one of those lucky flukes -- a matter of being in the right place at the right time. 

One of the many local construction sites, where a bundle of bamboo was being dredged out by its roots...when that dear man I know spotted it and asked if he could have it. 

Turns out that wasn't a problem. In fact the person taking it out helped pack it into the car, even gave us a bungee to help anchor it there. 

It must have looked like a forest parade, as we carefully went home, flashers indicating how slowly we needed to go. As for back-up accompaniment, it was the lovely sound of bamboo leaves swishing against the surface of the road. 

Once home it was a matter of fetching the old bathtub we'd rescued a couple of years back, always with the thought of having it become a home for another bunch of bamboo. 

A bit of a chop to the edge of the deck and the tub slid right into place. 

Some teamwork, and voila -- a new 'mini-forest' of bamboo for us. 

Privacy and all those lovely sounds...

Tiny homes--not just for the birds

When we came home from our holiday travels, we discovered that we had a new 'tenant' in our gazebo. An ambitious little bird had built a nest in a hanging lantern. It's a lantern made for a candle, and since no candle was in there, the bird must have decided on claiming squatter's rights. 

Close examination (during one of those spells when the mother bird is out) revealed four eggs.

It's a very blurry shot as the angle for shooting was awkward to say the least. Still, small proof of my claim at least exists. 

I'm a little concerned about how the tiny hatchlings (when/if they come) will fly up to the top of their 'house' to go out into the big world. One more lesson to watch for...

This tiny house served as a reminder of how many people across the world are in need of housing. There's a wonderful sounding project going on in Kitchener-Waterloo which offers me a bit of hope that maybe we're not such an awful species as it sometimes seems. 

Looking forward to more such set-ups across the country and near at hand.