OUR YARD AND BIRDS
FINS, FUR, SHELLS & FEATHERS
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We live on Lake Granbury in Granbury, Texas. We live in a settlement built around canals. Our diamond shaped lot corners on dissecting canals. At the bottom of our quay walls the depth of the canal is zero to three feet depending on the level of the lake and the middle of the canals the depth ranges from 12-15 feet. The Lake was formed in 1969 by damming the Brazos River as part of a flood control project.
We usually have between 30-35 wild ducks that live in the area of our canals year round. They hang out in our yard because it has more water access than the other lots and we keep them protected from stray animals and they know we are friendly and they are safe here.
They have come to know and trust us so well they will come up and eat out of our hands. If we sit down they will come sit in our lap and even fight for the coveted spot. We can walk into the yard and start yelling quack, quack, quack and they will come from the water and come running to us because they know they will probably get some pop corn, bread, dog food or quackers.:)
In the spring they make their nests under the bushes against the back of our house and usually a hen will sit on 8-12 eggs per nest. We love to watch the baby ducks fall and stumble around then grow into gangly teen agers and start getting out of the row and onto their own each year.
They are very territorial and should a duck that lives on another canal stray over into ours they will all gang up on it and drive it off. We love having them around as they make very good "watchducks". If something or someone strange comes around they will all quack an alarm in unisonce. Ever hear 35 ducks quacking an alarm all at once? Sounds like a rock 'n roll concert.
Spring and Autumn are an especially enjoyable time in our yard as the migratory birds come through at those times and have come to enjoy our yard so much they usually hang out for a couple of weeks on their trips each way. We have several kinds that stop each year but mostly Canadan Honkers. Over the years they have gotten to know us and we them. They will come and eat out of our hands also. It is such a joyous feeling to be able to walk right into the midst of 30 Canadian Honkers and talk to them and have the come up to you and eat out of your hand. About five years ago a flock came through with a very large white domestic goose traveling with them and over the years he has become the leader of the pack and that flock now has the strangest mixture of colors and markings you have ever seen on Honkers.
We have a family of cranes that live nearby and our yard is their favorite hangout. They can be seen all hours of the day and night standing on our quay walls fishing or just standing in the yard preening and sunning. It is a beautiful picture unto itself to look down the canal and see one of the cranes gliding so gracefully just a few feet above the water with their long wings spread as still and ridged as a gliders. As large and heavy as they are it makes you wonder how they can stay aloft so long without moving their wings any more than they do.
In addition to the waterfowl and small birds such as cardinals and brightly colored woodpeckers and squirrels we have swamp rats. They are nocturnal and are never seen during the day but I love to go our early in the morning and watch them cavort anround the yard just before the daylight starts breaking. The ducks don't like them and at night when the ducks are in the water and a swamp rat starts swimming towards them they start raising cane.
Another fascinating creature we love to watch in the yard is the turtles. We have turtles galore! One of their favorite spots to lay their eggs is right at the edge of our front concrete porch near the sidewalk. When we're driving down the roads and see a turtle starting across the road we always stop and carry it on across so no cars get him. There are a lot of turtle road kills in the area.
In the water around the yard we have lots of gar, eel, stripped and widemouth bass, drum, carp, croppie, perch, catfish and other various and sundry species of fish. It's no wonder when some people come to visit us they bring their fishing poles. I don't fish much at all. Daniel does occaisionally with his buddies. I do however enjoy going out at night and shinning a flashlight in the water and watch the fish come up to the light.
We have a large native pecan tree just at the front of the house that shades the place that usually yeilds between 125-175#'s a year. Our yard is such a joy to us and I especially enjoy sitting on the couch while on webtv in the spring and autumn with the front door open and glancing out at the squirrels busy digging up and covering up pecans and the ducks walking by looking in the screen and the turtles racing across the porch. We also have two parakeets that live in the house and create havoc, Einstien (He's the smart one) and his sister Sweetie. We are so blessed and appreciative of our yard.
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