Kitchen Fixin's

Back wall of kitchen

I’m the first to admit, I do things a little differently than most.
Take, for example, our kitchen windows.

When September arrives and others are shedding summer’s customs for the buttoned-up look of fall, I drag the screens out of the garage, hose them off, and get ready to put them up.
It’s all part of the plan--and goes hand in hand with feeding and watching the birds in the woods adjacent to our kitchen.

Ohio Valley summers are moist and muggy—hovering close to the 90-degree mark for weeks at a time.
And although air conditioning would not be my choice, mildew and mold grow faster than we can contain it, were we to use only screens and fans.
In fact, the windows remain closed for most of the summer, open only a crack in the evening, if the night air promises to be cool.
Screens seem unnecessary, and darken the already shaded kitchen—just feet from a large, leafy hickory.

With more bird activity in the burgeoning fields, we take the seed feeders down, too.
By the first week of April, hummingbird feeders fill the empty spaces.
And hang, well-visited, until September arrives, once again.

So, why drag the screens out now?
As the days are already showing signs of autumn’s chill?

Window strike 2007

They’re for the birds--our system of window strike prevention, over those that receive the greatest traffic and number of hits in previous years.
Those within feet of the feeders, and facing the hickory woods.
A sort of “airbag” to cushion the impact of a strike.



Now, doesn’t that look better?


In trying to photograph the kitchen window screens, I found I caught much more!

From the reflected images in the glass directly behind it, to what can be seen inside and through the window on the other side!

Daddy Long Legs on screen

View more ABC Wednesdays here!

Running Late

I had already made my rounds--a loop out through the back woods with a hurried check for any changes in the two vernal pools, and weaving back across the field, to the house.
A short walk.
Then, off to work.

Pleased that I was, for once, ahead of schedule, and excited that I might actually walk casually in the front door, instead of the more usual scurrying and apologies to my coworkers—I gathered my lunch bucket and purse, grabbed jacket, phone and keys…and stepped out.
Almost in the same moment as I was pulling the outer door closed behind me, a loud “TICK” stopped me in my tracks.

My first thought...bird hit window.

But as I circled the house, checking beneath each and finding no one, I reconsidered. Maybe a branch had dropped onto the skylight, for it sounded less like a feathered object than other strikes.

Scanning, finally, to the herb garden just outside the kitchen, I found him.
A Hairy Woodpecker, mired in the one remaining pile of icy snow beneath the east-facing window.

I would be late for work.
Again.

UFO

Window strikes are never pretty--somebody always gets hurt.

But, whoever left this "fingerprint" upon our kitchen window yesterday, picked himself up and fluttered away.

It shows such detail--from individual feathers, down to distinct toes! And its size is surprising--each wing measuring 8 inches.
Could it be a waxy film or fatty residue of a suet feeder? Or is it just the feather dust from such a strong impact?

I'm inclined to leave it for a while. The subtle shading catches the afternoon sun--and, perhaps will prevent others from doing the same.

Any idea who left it?