Foraging

This character* was only about three feet away, except I was shooting through the kitchen window, so it's not as clear as I would like. It was a tiny pointy bird, and so intent on getting something tasty from the wall. The best I can figure is that it's the beginning of another mud wasp nest, with yummy things inside. The bird definitely pulled several morsels out and kept coming back for more. In this instance, he's hanging by a foot on the nest and digging with his long thin sharp beak; in the Extra he's attacking the thing with a series of well-placed jabs, flying straight into the wall, bam, bam, bam. Then off he'd go with something in his mouth, only to come back a few minutes later and try again. Endlessly entertaining as I watched through the kitchen window. 

It threatened rain all day, but so far it's been a big tease. I got some planting and cleanup done, helped bring up more firewood, and was part of the cleanup crew after Treekeeper did some severe pruning of an old climbing rose that covered the carport and threatened to take over the world. It's an awe-inspiring plant for volume alone, but blooms only once a year, tiny yellow/cream flowers. Charming, but not something I'm really fond of. Every year we toy with the idea of removal, every year we just can't bring ourselves to do it, and every year we spend too many hours or dollars or both trying to wrestle it down to human size. I hate the idea of destroying a plant, especially one that's been around for so long, but today was the day. It's just too much for us to take care of, especially since I don't do ladders any more The pickup truck was piled high with branches after a couple hours. There is more work to do tomorrow.

* I think it's a Chestnut-backed Chickadee, based on the Merlin bird app....