It seems my days are spent in classrooms, behind the wheel, or in front of the computer facing a mountain of paperwork. On those computer days, I find that I need to take a break every couple hours to get my eyes away from the screen and compose my thoughts.
During those break 
times, I enjoy sitting on the back porch watching the critters in my little wildlife habitat. For those who read my post last year about Bluebirds, I did make it back to that little barber shop and purchased two more bluebird houses. Both of the new ones were placed in the front yard where my wife could view any activity. Although these are in close proximity to one another, I figured it would give the birds a choice of where they would like to build their nest.
The bluebirds came back this year and built their nest in the back yard once again. They are very territorial when raising their family, and daddy bluebird refused to allow any other birds to perch within 20 to 25 feet from the nest. When the young leave the nest, usually all are gone within two hours. This year I was fortunate to see one of them as it took its first flight. The little one very nearly hit the ground before it gathered enough strength to fly upward to a nearby branch. Two of the young ones have been visiting occasionally to rest and grab a bite to eat before flying off once again.
Other critters include one squirrel, one young rabbit, a pair of doves and a turtle. The squirrel and rabbit frequently travel around the yard together, eating grass and the sunflower seeds that I throw out for the doves and cardinals. The doves are peaceful birds and get along with all of the others. Since hurricane Irene came through a couple of weeks ago, another pair of doves has taken up residence in the yard. The new pair are very light in color, almost white in comparison to the others.
Probably the oldest resident of the habitat is the turtle. We’ve been watching it grow over the years, but don’t see it very often. I suppose it spends much of its time under the bushes or in one of the flower gardens.
