WHAT ARE YOU DOING TODAY (PICS)

[Chap]

@mclaincausey:

@Chap:

@motojobobo:

That is one very cool visitor @Chap

The wife wasn't that delighted the whole neighborhood usually can hear it when she sees a snake in the garden… although they are harmless, just a grass snake

Not if you're a frog

It is a viscerally intimidating thing if you don't know your snakes so I get her reaction. I bet you chuckle every time

Well yes  but you got to know that venomous snakes are very very rare in Austria and none in our area. We once had a 2 metre grass snake lying on the lawn for a whole day trying to get a huge toad three times as big as her head into her mouth… guess who didn't leave the houes the whole day

[motojobobo]

Yesterday trying to build a feeder for a family of 6 woodpeckers which appear to be nesting in a dead palm tree in my yard. Not done yet.
Hope to post some pics of them in a few days.

Verbano wool cap
IH/Self Edge Battle Edition Horsehide Cafe Racer
3Works early, unnumbered flannel (scored thanks to @Clint_D )
IH 888S 21 oz superblack denim
IHxWesco black roughout chuckas

[goosehd]

Teaching the oldest to use the riding lawnmower:

[steelworker]

She doesn't look too happy 

[Aetas]

Yup, looks wild for Austria @Chap !

[Matt]

Getting big…

[Matt]

Also just noticed this…

[mclaincausey]

Flamethrower or grenade?

[Matt]

An entire bottle of bug spray. Then I set the back yard on fire.

[goosehd]

@Matt what kind of wildlife have you seen around your new home and hiking adventures?  Any special precautions for the snakes and spiders?

[Matt]

Prairie dogs, Coyotes and roadrunners are pretty common. Ravens and crows. Lots of lizards. There are scorpions and rattlesnakes but I haven’t seen any.  I just spray some Home Defense around the perimeter every few months and it seems to keep the bugs out.  That’s the second black widow I’ve seen in the yard. None in the house.

[goosehd]

Didn't even think about scorpions.  Are they typically found around homes and how would you control them?  Pest control?

[Matt]

They’re found in yards and in homes.  The spray keeps them out.  I’m sure we’ll get one sooner or later.  The ones we have here are pretty nasty.  Small and unassuming but potent.

[motojobobo]

@Matt:

Getting big…

Thanks for keeping us updated @Matt . Seems like their flying stage is still a ways off, what do you think?

[Matt]

I think it will be pretty soon.  The nest is so small they won’t fit much longer.  I can see their little beaks poking out looking for food from my chair beneath it when we sit outside.

[Matt]

Mario & Luigi are growing like weeds…

[motojobobo]

Yep…beginning to look quite crowded in there. However their feathers look quite inmature/brownish/mottled, suggesting flight # 1 is still a ways. I’d expect more colourful feathers for initial flights…are their parents colourful/iridiscent feathered?
I find your tracking of this nest fascinating @Matt ; hope I don’t tire you with my questions. Great job, and thank you for sharing it!!

[endo]

wonderful, thanks for keeping us updated @Matt

[goosehd]

Cool pic from of the lake last night.

[Matt]

@motojobobo:

Yep…beginning to look quite crowded in there. However their feathers look quite inmature/brownish/mottled, suggesting flight # 1 is still a ways. I’d expect more colourful feathers for initial flights…are their parents colourful/iridiscent feathered?
I find your tracking of this nest fascinating @Matt ; hope I don’t tire you with my questions. Great job, and thank you for sharing it!!

Not at all.  I’ll see if I can get a pic of the mom returning to the nest later.  She’s pretty skittish when we’re around.