Baby Spider Video

The spiders are much bigger (though still very, very tiny)! I spent some time watching them today. They are pretty cute! This video is not great, but gives you a good idea of their size. They have black legs, and orangish bodies.

I still can't figure out what kind of spider they are. No amount of searching yields me my answer. I may have to resort to emailing some kind old college professor.

In other news, we had peas! Fresh peas! From the garden! Only about a 1/4 cup, but still...  I suppose it won't be long before I'm tired of stringing fresh peas, but today I really enjoyed it. Last weekend, I sowed more, so we'll have succession crops.

And the chickens REALLY like the pods.

Interesting Wildlife

Today Adam is competing in the local Odyssey of the Mind competition, and we have just a few hours here at home to relax in between events. And two wonderful and interesting things have happened!

First, when we arrived home, I took out the jar with the unidentified eggs in it - the ones I think are spider eggs - to show my folks. When we looked at it, we noticed it was moving. (This is on a very tiny level - I mean you can barely see this happening - but the more we looked, the more we were convinced things were moving.) We realized that we needed greater seeing power, so I rummaged in Kate's room for her microscope. I took it outside and we spread apart the egg sac on a slide, and sure enough, they are hatching!

Dad, taking a look

Now, since we saw them through the microscope, of course I couldn't take a photo. They are translucent white with black threads running through their legs. There are millions and millions of them. I must confess that even though I thought the whole thing was cool, it also gave me the serious heebie jeebies. I put the egg sac into a larger, clearer jar, and I'm hoping by tomorrow I'll have better evidence to show you.

Then, while I was putting Kate's microscope away, I noticed activity outside her bedroom window, on our front porch. I have recently rearranged things out there, and on a whim, I put a decorative birdhouse on the porch railing, just 'cause it's cute. I never dreamed any bird would actually get interested in it. I've had it 10 years and no matter where I've put it, no bird has ever been interested. But guess what? Two tiny birds were taking turns putting sticks in the house, building a nest together! I did some research and they are Bewick's Wrens, a bird I've never seen in our yard before, even though they are apparently quite common. My pictures are crappy (the link above gives a much nicer one) because whenever I tried to get close, they stayed away.

I got this shot before he got hip to me, but I couldn't get any closer

Through Kate's screened window, but at least you can see him holding a stick!

I could not be more thrilled and hope to have lots of photos for you in the future of these cute little guys. Poppy Corners was just recently certified as a Bird-Friendly Habitat through the National Wildlife Federation. We are pleased to have this, along with our 2007 certification as a Wildlife Habitat.

I've actually been reading up on building more nest boxes, as we only have one other that Adam made with Dad years ago, and it gets a lot of action.

It's behind a large Ribes (flowering currant), which is why I think birds like it

We also have a nesting perch that Dad built when we starting getting lots of Mourning Doves in our yard. They don't like boxes, just these sorts of things:

But so far, nothing has built a nest on it, not even a Scrub Jay, who tend to like these sort of things too.

So I'll let you know what I find out about building nest boxes. Meanwhile, back to Odyssey of the Mind...

Insect nest, chickens, a new resource

While showing a visitor the top bar beehive last weekend, I noticed an interesting nest attached to the roof. As you know, the hive has been empty since the end of November, and some intrepid spider or insect decided to leave a legacy in this warm, protected place. I scraped it off and it is full of orange eggs.

Now, I've done a lot of searching on the web about who this nest might belong to, but I'm coming up baffled. It could be an orb weaver nest. We get a lot of these spiders in late summer, and apparently they lay one last clutch of eggs before dying in the first fall frost. The eggs overwinter, then hatch when the days get warm. It could also be a yellow sac spider, and the sac does look a little yellow. However they tend to lay either in houses or in the garden, I suppose they could pick an outdoor structure. We get a lot of black widows, but I've seen their nests and they don't look like this, and the nests are usually in the web.

Anyone have an idea?

I have put the nest in a jar and poked holes in the top. I hope it hatches and I get to see what comes out. I'm keeping it outside. I appreciate spiders, but I don't want them in my house, no siree!!!!

Of course, they may not even be spiders!

The chickens have been fun and interesting. First of all, they poop an awful lot. But it doesn't smell, at least not yet. Either that's because it's not hot yet, or because I have a good amount of bedding in the coop, which I do. I've had to clean out the house part once in the past week, because it got so poopy. I'm glad we got the new compost bins built in time.

The chickens themselves have a very nice smell, their feathers I mean. It's distinct but I feel like I've smelled it before, if that makes any sense. It's warm and barn-y. But extremely pleasant.

They make the most adorable peeping noises, all the time, even when eating. Then they make another sound when they are startled, kind of like "whaaaa?" That's what I hear, anyway.

They couldn't figure out how to get up or down the ladder from the house to the run for a while, but a few days ago they learned how to get down (gravity helps, doesn't it?). It took them until tonight to figure out how to get up, but they've finally done it.

They have access to food and water at all times in the run, but we've been giving them a daily treat of dried mealworms in the morning, and cracked corn in the afternoon. I also have been giving them greens (and hopefully slugs) from the garden, which at first they couldn't figure out how to eat. Every time I open the door, I make a sort of chirping sound, and it's working - now they associate me with delicious things. But they are still very cautious and don't like me making any sudden moves. The Rhode Island Reds are the bravest by far, also the biggest. Molly has even pecked my shoes. In the chicken world, she's a hero.

Actually, this is Ginny.

The Barred Rocks are the most aggressive, flying mostly at the Easter Eggers and keeping them away from the treats. Well you know I don't have that. Everyone gets their fair share. But even though aggressive, they are also the first ones to sink to the sawdust and nestle down with their eyes closed, which is pretty cute. The Easter Eggers seem shy and really don't like being handled, but they are scrappy. They are also the prettiest, in my opinion. But I think the Reds have really earned the first place in my heart because they are so brave and curious.

And finally, as I was out cutting greens for dinner, an acquaintance pulled up and asked me some questions about my garden. Turns out she runs a wonderful nonprofit called Sustainable Contra Costa. I've been perusing their website for an hour now, and I've even signed up for a class in greywater systems, something Tom and I have had on our list for a while now. They have some terrific classes. If you're in the 'hood, check 'em out!

Chickens!

The chickens arrived this morning from Dare 2 Dream Farms. It was a fairly unceramonious transfer and took place in about 10 minutes. The farm workers took the chickens out of their cute van and plopped them in the hen house, filled the feeder they brought for us, instructed us to fill the waterer, and that was it.

The chickens promptly found the part of the house that was furthest away from us, the scary humans, and nestled together, squawking tremendously. After an hour or so, they ventured out to eat from Kate's palm.

After a couple of hours, they hadn't gotten any closer to figuring out the ladder that would lead them out of the hen house and into the larger coop and run. So we lifted them out and put them by the water, and they started drinking right away.

After drinking and eating, they snuggled down to have a nap in the sun.

At 5:30, we helped them up the ladder, with them squawking the entire time, so much so that Kate thought we were hurting them and cried a little bit. Kate has been very active with the chickens all day, sitting in the coop with them and handling them gently. Adam is very interested in helping us care for them and wanted to make sure he knew where all the feed/supplies were kept. The kids are fascinated by this whole adventure. As are others; we had three sets of visitors today, as well as some random neighborhood kids.

We got two Rhode Island Reds, two Plymouth Barred Rocks, and two Easter Eggers. Here is a good picture of one of each of them.

The two Barred Rocks (black and white) are called Hermione Granger and Minerva McGonagall, as they seem clever and brave. The two Reds are called Ginny and Molly, as the Weasleys are red-haired, and the two Easter Eggers are called Luna Lovegood and Professor Sprout. We can tell the two Easter Eggers apart, but we can't tell Hermione and Minerva apart, nor Ginny and Molly. They are all quite lovely though I think the Easter Eggers have the most beautiful feathers, at least right now.

The chickens don't seem like awkward teenagers at all, they just seem like miniature chickens. So far they seem fairly uninterested in eating anything except their 'baby' food - crumbles with vitamins added in. As they grow, I imagine they will enjoy all sorts of our scraps.

Already, the poop is copious. I'm glad we got two new compost bins built, out of pallets, for the coop waste.

Nothing makes you feel more like a genuine farmer than hauling straw bales around. Those suckers are HEAVY.

Another use for the tried and true little red wagon

It was an exhausting day, and we didn't even get that much done around here - just welcoming our new livestock was tiring enough. Hope they stay warm tonight and the opossums stay away!!!

In the Garden, In the Woods

Interesting things are happening both in the garden and in the woods. First, the garden:

The first asparagus has popped up!

We ate the first baby beets, delicious!

It's ceonothus season - here's one with white blossoms about to open...

... and one with the more traditional purple/blue. You can see why it's called the 'lilac of the West.'

I'm finding the white threads of mycelium everywhere, especially on wood chips.

The peas began to fruit!

And, in the woods (and trails):

Interesting bark on a fallen tree

Poppies and Buttercups blooming; this is how I picture spring in Northern California

Sulfur Buckwheat is growing new leaves

Dutchman's Pipevine everywhere

Thimbleberry; hoping the ones in my yard bloom soon

Yarrow

A rare sighting of two elusive creatures. 65ish degrees today.

That Dutchman's Pipevine is everywhere this year, and it's the main feeding ground for the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly. On our walks with the kids at work (I work at a school for kids with disabilities), we've seen numerous cocoons of this butterfly, attached to the underside of a bridge railing.

All evidence points to spring.