Around The Farm

This flower sprang up among my Irises, almost directly below where the bird feeders are each winter, so at first I assumed it had grown from a missed seed. On the other hand, it doesn't look like much of a commercial seed producer, does it?

 The baby fantail pigeon continues to grow and appears to be completely on its own now:

 It has even grown a fantail. Its damaged head (from being pecked) still shows, but it is certainly a hardy survivor:

 I have at least one (and probably more) barn chipmunk, probably meaning that the Least Weasels are gone. Otherwise, the weasels would probably have eaten the chipmunks by now:

 Several pairs of fantail pigeons have made use of the cake pan nests I made for then. This bird was busy turning an egg when I snapped the picture:

 Another bird, moving around in its nest. Male and female pigeons both care for the eggs and babies, and it's not always obvious which is which:

 This bird got defensive when I tried to photograph it. A protective parent is a good thing:

 The bantam hens have reduced their egg laying to almost nothing, sometimes only one or two eggs each day:

 The seven bantam Barred Rocks are getting rather old now (as chickens go) for egg laying, so I consider them to be in retirement:

 The four Easter Egger bantams are younger and still laying, though one day I found this miniature egg next to the bigger one. I give the eggs to my neighbors, so I included the tiny egg just for fun:

 This is merely a sprig which fell from the Eastern White Cedar which towers over my back door and porch. I was struck by its beauty and mix of textures and colors, so I photographed it. There is beauty everywhere - one needs only pay attention:

 I thought all my Tall Garden Phlox had died last winter and indeed, most of them did. But a few plants struggled up this summer and, though they stayed short, I at least got a few flowers this year: