April Showers Bring May Flies and other things, as well you know

Well those giant mosquito looking things otherwise known as May Flies are everywhere which means only one thing: Fowl Feast! The chickens and goslings (and cats) have been chasing the little buggers down all over the yard. I never knew what they were until last year when I was hand raising baby chimney swifts that got dumped at the clinic. With all the May flies swarming about, all I had to do was go out with a mason jar and harvest bugs a couple times a day. They are easy to catch (and harmless, thank god) and it's kind of addicting once you start hunting and catching them. I can completely relate to the obsession that has overtaken the fowl on the farm. The goslings weren't even interested in following me to the pond. They kept getting distracted because they just had to chase down a fly.

Today was not a good day for pictures, but look at the fly about to get crunched! RIP little fly.

The cats were very active today. I guess they only disappear during hot days. Today they ventured into the front yard.

One Cat.

Two Cat.

"How the hell did they do that?"

Hummer Time!

Today was wonderful! I rolled out of bed at about 9am, woken with sweet Yombi kisses. I made my coffee and sat on the back patio in the warm sunshine while the cats stretched out at my feet and my little goslings chirped to me. The bumble bees were buzzing around my head. One in particular was very loud and when I turned to see it, I saw not a bumble bee, but a humming bird! The small male must have come to tell me that he's back from Mexico and hungry. I immediately (well, okay, I finished my coffee first) went in and put on a pot of sugar water. By this evening there were already 3 or 4 at the feeders. Last year, at their peak, there were at least 30-40 hummers swarming my feeders at a time. I was going through 8 cups of sugar water a day.

After that I took the goslings down to the pond for their swimming lesson (like I need to teach them anything). As soon as we come down the hill and they see the water, they start running and jump right in. It's so cute. Yombi likes swimming lessons, too. Maddie prefers to life guard from the banks.

Mother Goose

Puddle Jumping

You know how when you were a kid, toys that could go in the water always outranked the ones that didn't? I was reminded of that today...

Testing the waters

The bottom one dove through the water and the one above it tried to do the same but it was too shallow, so he just ended up launching himself through the air.

it looks like he has little t rex arms.

Finally a puddle deep enough to swim in.

Sebastopol Goslings

I drove a total of 9 hours yesterday to pick up the two gray Sebastopol goslings I've had reserved since November. I really didn't feel like going and I couldn't even remember why I wanted them so much in Nov when I sent in my deposit, but I was going to E-town to sell some chickens, so I figured since I was heading west, I might as well go on to TN...And I'm so glad I did!

These little babies are sooo sweet. They are not at all like chicks, who run screaming every time they see me. The goslings follow me around and jump in my lap and snuggle up for a nap. I LOVE them! I was hoping the weather would be nice again today so I could take them outside to swim, but it's raining. I only got a few pictures last night because it was getting dark, but here they are.

Preening my "feathers" for me.