The Clouds Hang Poised

Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of Him who is perfect in knowledge?

Job 37:16

Linking with Skywatch Friday

Day Job

A faint tapping sound came from upstairs, like the sound of someone knocking on the window. When I went up to investigate, I saw a Black Vulture at the large window in the living room, tapping softly. I was pretty sure I knew what it wanted.

About a week earlier, Don, bless his heart, had hit the wall about the squirrels that were taking over our bird feeder. It's squirrel hunting season here, and Don's a hunter, so I'll let you fill in the blanks. Having eaten his share of squirrels in his youth from necessity, and not from love of the meat, Don opted to donate these to our local clean up crew, the vultures. For a while, every morning, one squirrel was disappearing from the feeder and appearing, belly up, on a tall stump out from the kitchen. The vultures were efficient at disposal.

But now there had been a two day absence of squirrel meat, and the vulture at the window seemed to be asking politely, 

"Did you forget something?"

The next day, and for some time since then, there have been two Black Vultures here regularly. 

They are a lot like pets, in that they expect to be fed. 

Unlike Turkey Vultures, Black Vultures are almost handsome, with their amour-like head gear and white stockings. 

They perch on our deck... 

preen themselves...

drink from the birdbath...

lounge on the stump where the squirrels have appeared...

stretch, and generally make themselves comfortable.

 One of them even tried to take a bite of our door mat.  

It may have been a ploy for sympathy, as in "See how hungry I am?" 

Occasionally, they get demanding, flying up and striking the window with force, but for the most part, they are friendly, and even let us join them on the deck if we stay quietly in our corner.

Of course, with all this activity, squirrels are not coming around as much. The vultures haven't seemed to figure out that their frequent presence is contrary to their interests. So, until they do, we'll enjoy the entertainment. Soon enough, they'll get hungry and find it necessary to return to their regular day jobs--policing this area's highways, county roads, farms and woodlands for opportunities to put on their bibs and get back to work.

Linking with Wild Bird Wednesday
I'd Rather B Birdin'
and Saturday's Critters

King of the Forest

This little fawn, with a glint in his eye, is a feisty one.

He came out with his mother this week, late in the evening. 

There was a short stand-off with a turkey, until the turkey stood his ground...

and the fawn scampered away.

When the doe was tired of babysitting, she gave the fawn a kick, 

and the little one responded by kicking back, and almost climbing on his mother's back. 

The turkeys were polite enough to pretend not to notice.

                                      

We'll be watching this one.

One of these days, we expect, he'll be ruling the forest.


Linking with Saturday's Critters

Neighborhood Watch

There's something magical about a summer evening when the heat of the day has disappated. Fireflies leave their grassy daytime perches and rise over the ground like twinkling, slow motion pop corn.

Foxes normally work the night shift, but on these long summer days, sometimes we see them before full dark. A mother fox came by in the late hours of the daylight this week, walking the perimeter of the woods, in and out of the fading sunlight, with the confidence of one who was on familiar territory.

Most likely, she was hunting for an unwary bunny, mouse or squirrel. 

She glanced over her shoulder, ever watchful in her role as preditor, and as prey. The light had faded, and she welcomed the gathering darkness.

Linking with Saturday's Critters