I spent part of yesterday watching baby tits on our bird feeder. They're either great tits or coal tits, I'm not sure which. The young birds could already fly, so I guess "baby" isn't really the right word -- more like adolescent? Anyway, they would follow the mother to the feeder and ask her, by vibrating their tiny wings and opening their mouths, to select seeds for them to eat.
The young bird above flew to our nearby quince bush and picked a dead blossom from its branches. It wrestled with it a while before deciding that it wasn't really food.
Here are the babies on the feeder with Mama bird:
Not a great picture because of course they were clustered at the back of the feeder, probably hiding from me (even though I was watching from inside the living room 15 feet away and behind a window). Mama is down below, picking out seeds, and a baby is above her, with its mouth open. Another baby is at the top of the feeder. I think there were three babies altogether.
So, yeah, that was part of the excitement around here yesterday! Otherwise I did some housework -- cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed, put away laundry. Then I went out into the garden and did some weeding. I haven't weeded anything all season but I finally decided to pull the dock and a few other odds and ends. The dock will grow back because, like a dandelion, its taproot is as firmly implanted as a tooth in a jaw. If I don't dig it out, it breaks off at soil level -- but at least that keeps it from going to seed.
Our figs are still on our fig tree, about the size of a golf ball and looking very promising. They're not ripe yet -- in fact I think they have another few months to go -- but Dave saw a squirrel make off with one the other day, so I still don't expect that we'll ever taste them. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.
In the afternoon I walked to the cookshop on the high street and bought an espresso pot. Bill had one in Vienna and it made fantastic coffee, especially with the Austrian grounds I bought while I was there. I usually use a French press and it works fine, but the Austrian coffee didn't taste as good in it. So now I can duplicate my Viennese coffee at home.
Our figs are still on our fig tree, about the size of a golf ball and looking very promising. They're not ripe yet -- in fact I think they have another few months to go -- but Dave saw a squirrel make off with one the other day, so I still don't expect that we'll ever taste them. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.
In the afternoon I walked to the cookshop on the high street and bought an espresso pot. Bill had one in Vienna and it made fantastic coffee, especially with the Austrian grounds I bought while I was there. I usually use a French press and it works fine, but the Austrian coffee didn't taste as good in it. So now I can duplicate my Viennese coffee at home.
Enjoy the coffee. We should have lunch the next time I am in London, or you are in the USA.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! We'll arrange it!
DeleteHi Steve, I have some small press and seal polythene bags which I place over each individual fig and then close around the stem, it's much like each fig being inside its own mini-greenhouse, and, of course, it masks the smell, so they won't be taken by scavengers. Good luck with yours.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the hint, Joy! These figs are VERY high up in the tree so I'm not sure how I would bag them, but maybe I'll try.
DeleteThe birds are fledglings once they can fly and still relying on parents for their food, they are loud here sat along the fence close to the feeders.
ReplyDeleteYes, fledglings! That's the word!
DeleteAnd now I need to know what an espresso pot is. And maybe a French Press although I have a vague idea already about that, google will tell me. Those baby birds will be feeding themselves in no time. Good advice from Joy about the figs. I was going to suggest small paper bags.
ReplyDeleteAn espresso pot has two sections that screw together in the middle. Water goes in the bottom, coffee goes into a filter above the water, and when the pot is heated the water flows through the coffee and into the top section, where it can be poured off. I'm sure you've seen this.
DeleteWith a French press, coffee goes in a glass carafe and boiling water is poured over it. A press with a screen goes on top and when the handle is pressed down, the grounds are filtered out of the water so the coffee can be poured off. Again, you probably know what I'm talking about.
Just made my coffee. Coffee beans in the coffee grinder, then brushed into the paper filter and then the hot water which dribbles through. It is a ritual of course!
ReplyDeleteWe all have our rituals! I used to grind my beans but I couldn't stand that grinding noise so early in the morning. :D
DeleteI do a melitta pour over. Very simple, makes one cup, which is as much as I need. I like my coffee snarling strong and hot.
ReplyDeleteThat's how I like mine too! I always buy a dark roast.
DeleteI am surprised that you have not had an espresso pot already. It's what got me into coffee - I disliked the taste when I was younger and only started drinking coffee at Librarian School with my friend in the next room in the large dorm where we were staying. She was 7 years older than me (I was 18), and she had studied in Florence before switching to Libarian School - she brought her espresso pot along, and we developed a habit of sharing half a litre of freshly made espresso after school, with me usually providing the biscuits (almond were our favourites)... Happy memories! (She later married a professor of Mathematics at Catania University, had three gorgeous children and still lives on Sicily at the foot of the Etna).
ReplyDeleteWell, if any country is going to influence your coffee consumption, Italy is a good choice. Sounds like your friend ended up having a pretty good life!
DeleteI have heard about retired men like you - who spend their days drooling over pictures of tits.
ReplyDeleteWell, I wouldn't say drooling, but they do excite me! LOL
DeleteSeveral years ago, I discovered fresh figs. What a revelation! After only tasting the cookie version, I was in love. Unfortunately in local stores when I can find them, they are about $2 each, a real luxury. I love your posts.
ReplyDeleteOh, a real fig bears absolutely no resemblance to a Fig Newton! I became a fan of figs when I lived in Morocco back in the '90s.
DeleteGreat tits, coal tits and blue tits. All too much for me.
ReplyDeleteI am ignorant about Viennese coffee pots. I'll be interested to learn more.
There are also long-tailed tits and coal tits! And probably more!
DeleteI experiment with coffee blends for my French Press. Currently, I use half dark roast Columbian and half Cafe Bustelo Espresso ground coffee, and it works well if you like strong coffee. For less strong coffee, I add cream or milk. This is good over ice too.
ReplyDeleteYour birdfeeder is busy this morning and there are no conflicts with a sole bird family.
I've used Bustelo in the past and I like it. I also like coffee with chicory, which gives it a strong taste -- like Community Coffee from New Orleans, or Naviera from Tampa.
DeleteThere is much bird busyness in our garden, too. Robins and blue tits are exhausting themselves.
ReplyDeleteThey are busy birds at this time of year!
DeleteSnapping Off Photos , Cleaning Up Around The House , And A Walk For A Proper Cup Of Joe - Perfect
ReplyDeleteStay Fancy ,
Cheers
It WAS perfect!
DeleteHopefully your squirrels aren't as spiteful as mine are. The not only rob my apples early from the tree, but they eat them and dispose of the core on my sidewalk or someplace where I have to pick it up and dispose of it properly myself.
ReplyDeleteOh, our squirrels are horrible, despite how much I feed them. Ungrateful rodents!
DeleteBaby birds are so hilarious to watch. Especially because they're often bigger than their parents (or so it seems to me). It's like an adolescent who hasn't figured out how to use the microwave yet. Ha!
ReplyDeleteYeah, when they reach that fledgling stage they're just about the same size as the parents and you can't help but think they should be fending for themselves! (I love the microwave comparison!)
DeleteHow wonderful to watch the feeding! I've only been given that opportunity twice and it was mesmerizing. It sounds like quite a perfect day! (I think the birds are getting my early strawberries. Sigh.)
ReplyDeleteDo you have any netting over your strawberries? Would that help?
DeleteI didn't know what an espresso pot was until I Googled it. We use an espresso machine for the morning coffee and then use a French Press for coffee with guests.
ReplyDeleteThe French press is better for company, I agree. My espresso pot is theoretically a nine-cup model but it makes ONE mug of coffee! LOL
DeleteA gay man taking photos of tits. The jokes just write themselves:)
ReplyDeleteLove the photos.
It had to be said! LOL
DeleteI never drink coffee - never even liked the taste of coffee - not even in desserts.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it nice to wake up and not have to dash off to work?!
It's so funny -- when I first tasted coffee as a teenager I loved it immediately. In fact I begged my mom to let me keep having it for breakfast but she said no because it would "stunt my growth." LOL! I didn't become a habitual coffee drinker until college.
DeleteI've been watching the same thing only with house finches. We use an old fashioned drip coffee maker. Just more convenient to get it all made at once. I've had coffee made with a french press and wasn't all that impressed. Austria grows coffee?
ReplyDeleteOh, Austria doesn't grow it. They just import and roast it!
DeleteWe tried a different coffee today in hopes that it would do, as the coffee we always use has gotten to be ridiculously expensive. I'm okay with it but Glen is very unhappy.
ReplyDeleteIs there anything more precious than watching baby birds learn to function in an adult bird way? With the help of a parent, of course.
Weeding. Yes. I need to.
I could watch the birds all day. Endlessly entertaining! I hate it when my coffee routines are disrupted by something out of my control.
DeleteYour Viennese coffee is going to be delicious! I've used the same coffee for years in my ancient Krups espresso machine. I worry about trying anything new because I don't think it will measure up. :)
ReplyDeleteTraveling always helps break those old routines!
DeleteI think watching birds makes for a rather exciting day.
ReplyDeleteWell, I think so too, but many would disagree!
DeleteI so enjoy seeing birds ... many thanks for sharing your photographs.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
Glad you liked them, Jan!
DeleteWhat a shame. We have two unused espresso pots under the sink in the kitchen. I could watch those birds all day.
ReplyDeleteOh, bummer! I could have taken one of those off your hands! :)
DeleteYes cover those figs!! Instead of individual bags you can get net cloth or covers that you can drape over the entire fig. Very light weight ‘frost ‘ covers but also used for this purpose. The plant gets sun and rain but the pesky animals can not get at the figs. Key is to fasten the bottom of the cover with special landscape pins so they don’t just crawl up under the cover!
ReplyDeleteOK, I will keep an eye out for those! As I told Joy above, the challenge is that the figs are so high up in the tree. Honestly, I'm not sure how I could ever pick them even if they DID ripen!
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