My daughter was sitting at my computer the other day and spotted a hummingbird at the feeder hanging just outside the window. I did not see it and have not since, but I’m hoping it will come back with friends.
The Purple Martins seem to be gone. I miss their morning racket and I can see a little wren or sparrow or something already sitting on one of the house failings. I guess that means the place is empty.
One of my daughters sent me a bird seed feeder that clamps onto the railing of my front porch. It has a mesh bowl for the seeds. I had not had it in place long when a squirrel found it and apparently enjoying the feed so much he/ she was sort of sprawled over the bowl edge, literally lying in the food, still eating. I throw feed on the porch floor also since the birds don’t seem to have a chance at the new feeder.
It was sunny and a little windy on June 18. I was awakened by an alarm from my phone at 2:30 a.m. reporting possible tornadoes in the area. Nothing happened and I didn’t even get much rain but the weather channel on TV has just been bursting with reporting from all over.
My house guest left a day early because it looked like she would be driving straight into bad weather heading east. She’s home and said it’s just sprinkling there. Hopefully that’s all she gets.
I, on the other hand, went to a school board meeting in Napoleonville and the weather was just find enroute. On the way home, however, it was like a whiteout with such heavy rain it was hard to see the road. I used the white side line as my guide but even that wasn’t enough some of the time. I might have exceeded 30 mph but likely not. I pulled off in somebody’s drive once just to wait for a bit less rain. About half way to Pierre Part the rain slacked enough to see the road relatively clearly. It wasn’t pretty though. I drove once in rain like that coming back from Lafayette and it was scary.
On July 8, Sheriff Beckett Breaux is having a lunch for seniors in the Stephensville Elementary School gym. It is a once a year event and very nice. The food is always good and there are always lots of Bingo prizes. I don’t know if there will be any vendors. I’ll hand out flyers at Food for Seniors distribution on June 25.
The Belle River maintenance person called to tell me someone had delivered the latest Spice of the Month packets to the Belle River building. I’ll pick them up today.
When my guest was here we were delighted to be taken for a boat ride by a dear friend who lives in a houseboat along upper Hwy. 70. He also has one of those containers fixed very nicely as a home. Mike drove us back in the bayous and I saw the trail markers for the first time that are part of the Veterans Park Watertrail. Also lots of wood duck boxes. My friend didn’t know who had put them up but they were not new. He also said the bayous we traveled were once the old highway into Pierre Part before the current Hwy. 70. Way before my time. He was born and raised on the bayou right there.
It was a lovely ride. We saw lots of Ospreys and other birds, one medium sized alligator lying on a log in the sun. He pointed out some pink things on some trees which were those snails that were all over the place a few years ago. I can’t recall what they were called but every stump and board along any water way was covered with the pink egg masses. My friend said a bird he called a ‘lipkin’ was brought in or somehow came here and apparently has done a great job eating the snails which as I understand were becoming a real hazard to vegetation and crops. Anyway, we only saw one pink blob on one stump so these birds must be doing a good job.
Teche News’ Lower St. Martin correspondent, Linda Cooke, can be emailed at lindacooke1939@ gmail.com.
