Yard, Gardens, Birds and Critters

Bird Brawl By Mary J Williams European Starlings Are really a pain They think they own the feeder But they don’t use their brain Jump on the feeder Stick there beak in the hole Pull out a nut Drop it like hot coal Pick out another Don’t eat that one either Grab another one Don’t take a breather In flies the Woodpecker The Red-bellied one He hates the Starlings waste He is going to see they get none  It’s beak versus beak One higher one low Move around the feeder Finally, the Starling goes Only trouble is Red-bellied just takes one Flies off to feed Starling’s back, because he is gone Sometimes the Red-bellied stays Fills up his beak with more than one The Starlings wait around Because he knows he will soon be done Lots of bird brawls on the feeders Many little birds need to eat Some sit quietly waiting you see No fight for them in this heat! Both birds will be back They will have a brawl One will leave and wait The other will get a haul! Red-bellied Woodpecker                   Europea

Squash Blossom By Mary J Williams There are maybe three leaves On my squash plant out there It doesn’t look great I wonder how it will fare I have watered since planting No rain has been around Yesterday one tenth Fell on the ground This morning I looked out To see what’s not there Critters eating the plants They are almost bare So, I check in the mornings I have been so upset Chopped down plants The critters I threat But today I had to smile Because the squash had a surprise Three little leaves And a flower greeted my eyes I couldn’t believe it The plant is so small And yet there is a blossom Maybe some squash after all!

A Roly Poly Morning By Mary J Williams © Some call them sow bugs Pill Bug is another name Woodlice is another Roly Poly is the same A little bug-like character That rolls up into a ball That’s when they get scared They are not insects at all! They are more closely related To lobster, crabs, and shrimp Not to beetles and butterflies Is that what you did think? This morning after a little rain I stepped outside my door Looked around the yard And the sidewalk had pepper galore Wait that isn’t pepper Those are pillbugs out there Some are even mating I’m watching and they don’t care I have never seen this before Roly Polies everywhere I couldn’t resist and touched Then flicked that ball into the air The ball fell into the grass Back to where he was from So many need to go there too I’m afraid to move and kill some No idea why they were there It had something to do with the rain Coming out from under the mulch I wonder if it will happen again. Just one section of the sidewalk Mating pair in