Animals | wordsfromanneli

June 17, 2026
by wordsfromanneli 36 Comments

Robin Rescue

I know this is a blurry picture, but it has a story to it, so if I can beg your indulgence, I’ll tell you what happened.

Yesterday morning, I had our English cocker spaniel, Emma, out for a walk around the yard – on the leash in case Henry (the raccoon) showed up. She stopped to sniff something under one of the hazelnut (filbert) trees. I waited a moment and then I thought, “Oops! I bet she’s found another pile of Glosette Raisins (rabbit poop),” and I pulled her away. I looped her leash around the corner post of the veggie garden and went over to see what was so interesting.

It was a young bird on its back (which is never a good sign), and I tried to turn it over to see what kind of bird it was. As I nudged it, it opened its beak wide as if to cry out, but no sound came out. I thought, “Oh, the poor thing! It’s going to die out here in the grass. Not enough wing feathers to fly yet and not enough strength to cry out.”

I brought Emma into the house and looked for the Captain to tell him about the poor little bird. I couldn’t find the Captain right away so I took a picture of the bird. It was a l-o-n-g distance, hurried shot from the house deck way out to the front yard, but I got a fuzzy semblance of the bird. BUT, it had TURNED OVER. So maybe it wasn’t ready to die yet.

Next question: How did it get there?

I looked for a nest nearby. The most obvious answer would be the filbert tree overhead.

Yes, there was a nest. I could see only one other face looking over the edge. As I picked up the fallen bird’s tiny body, I could feel that it was still warm. I reached up to put it in the nest. It clung to my finger and gave it a squeeze as if to say, “Thank you.” Or maybe it was saying, “For God’s sake, please don’t drop me!”

The picture below was taken the next day, and shows the other baby robin that was in the nest. I still didn’t know if the fallen-angel robin had made it.

So I took my cellphone and reached up to try to get a picture of the inside of the nest. I couldn’t quite reach, but as my hand got near the nest, two baby robins perked up and so did both parents who had been foraging for food nearby. They came in like two mini fighter jets in defense mode.

Turn on the sound to get a sense of their alarm as I told them to “Smile please!”

For sure I was smiling when I saw that both babies were alive and well.

June 13, 2026
by wordsfromanneli 26 Comments

Oh, Henry!

Henry is back again, and once again, in broad daylight. This is the part that worries me. If he is confident enough to make himself at home in the middle of the day, where does that leave us? Can I still feel okay about letting our Emma outside to run around in her fenced yard?

Here’s Henry coming from the woodshed where he had a drink of water that I had put out for the squirrels. He’s heading straight for our house.

In the first video he comes right to where I have the wheelbarrow in front of my veggie garden, which is in front of the house. In the second one he continues on to the trees on the other side of our deck. He was so close to the house I had to stop the first video, run to the other end of the deck and start the second video.

Here he is already up pretty high, but he keeps going up on the back of the tree until he gets to a big branch where he has a place big enough to stop for another nap, as he’s in the habit of doing in the daytime. He’s safe up there and has a lovely view.

But I’m going to have to start charging him rent, and maybe a playground fee.

June 6, 2026
by wordsfromanneli 39 Comments

Baby Squirrel

One baby squirrel showed up today. There may be more, but I suspect that there was only one this year. I think they would have all come out together like they did in the new family of squirrels a couple of years ago.

No name yet for Junior, but some idea will come up.

Whatcha eatin’, Mom?

Hazelnuts, Junior. Watch! This is how you do it.

Junior’s full of energy,

Zipping right along,

Though he still is quite naive,

Can’t tell right from wrong.

Mother squirrel teaches him,

What’s okay to eat,

Showing him the way to get

All that good nutmeat.

June 2, 2026
by wordsfromanneli 26 Comments

Henry’s Return

Henry knows all the comfy seats up high in the fir trees. It was time to get off ground level. So many dogs were being walked in the nearby path. Up he climbed until he needed a break from the exertion. Just in time, he found his cot in a high-up perch and lay down for a midday nap.

I think I see an eye. I definitely see his right front foot. Count his fingers! His right (?) back foot is sticking up into the air. Apparently his bed is too small for him.

And of course there is the telltale-tail….

The climb was tough,

I’m high enough,

I’m safe up here,

And when I peer

Across the bay,

I have to say,

It’s work to do,

But what a view.

May 30, 2026
by wordsfromanneli 26 Comments

Breakfast with Crispin

I was baking this morning and wanted to put some walnuts into my banana loaf. I found them in the freezer next to a big bag of hazelnuts from last year’s harvest.

Should I substitute hazelnuts for the walnuts? Crispin would like some, I’m sure. So I used the walnuts for baking and put some hazelnuts out in the woodshed for Crispin.

He loves them! See how he gets right into it?

“These are so yummy. Who would have thought I’d get a taste of hazelnuts before this year’s crop is ripe?”

“I’m just so tickled to have found this treat waiting for me. Would you like a bite?”

“No? Okay, that’s fine by me. I’ll just have to eat it all myself.”

“I’m just wondering if Anneli went without breakfast this morning. Her hands are shaking so much, the video clip is all over the map.”

May 28, 2026
by wordsfromanneli 31 Comments

Butterfly’s Advice

The rhodo is mine and to me it tastes fine,

Just lucky I’m not someone’s dog,

Or cat, or a horse, chowing down on a course

Of rhodos, like these on the blog.

The rhodo tastes good, perhaps all but the wood,

Though toxic to all of these pets,

Don’t let them ingest any leaves and it’s best,

If need be to call on the vets.

May 24, 2026
by wordsfromanneli 30 Comments

Rufous the Towhee

Rufous spies some newly planted grass seeds strewn liberally on black soil.

“A meal for me?” he wonders.

“Nahhhh…. I’m sick of the same old, same old. I’ll wait ’til they feed Crispin his sunflower seeds and invite myself for lunch.”

“I’ll leave you a few … if I’m not hungry anymore,” says Crispin.

Don’t think I’m not caring,

And I don’t mind sharing,

But Rufous is greedy,

It’s not that he’s needy.

It’s lovely to have enough,

Life here is not so rough,

Maybe I’ll leave Rufous

Seeds. Such a doofus.

May 20, 2026
by wordsfromanneli 31 Comments

The Food Filcher

I brought some hazelnuts out to the squirrels and put them by the post in the middle of the woodshed.

Crispin helped himself, and then nearly choked on his food.

“Yikes!” he mumbled through a hazelnut. His teeth chattered.

“Wh-wh-what’s Henry doing here?”

“I heard about all the free food,” Henry said.

“I’m comin’ up there to get me some of that, and you’d better be gone if you know what’s good for you.”

But Crispin had already stashed away most of the hazelnuts, and only a few sunflower seeds were left.

*****

Watch as Henry roots through the wood chips and dirt to try to find leftovers. Notice his fingers and the toes on the end of his long feet. But he’s a dainty eater when he does find a morsel.

Having eaten his fill of leftover sunflower seeds, he climbs a tree to look for a safe place to have a nap. Must check out the now-vacant birdhouse on his way up.

When he gets beyond the birdhouse, watch how he looks down and then decides to risk a little jump to the next branch for a new grip. He’s fussy about which branches to pull himself up on. One is rather skinny and dead, so he contemplates it only for a split second before moving on to a thicker branch.

And up at the top he found a very fat branch that provided a cozy platform for him to have a nap in the sunshine, out of reach of lower level dangers.

May 2, 2026
by wordsfromanneli 41 Comments

Robin Robbin’ the Garden

I’ve hired some help in the garden this year. She’s done a beautiful job of sorting out the weeds and making a lot of bare soil ready for planting. I love it, but the robins love it even more.

When they see a patch of newly disturbed soil, they move in to mine it for food to feed their children.

“Look what I found under the rhubarb plant!”

But wait! There’s even better shopping along the fence. Watch the video and see what the robin comes up with.

“Want a closer look at what I found?”

“What? You feel sorry for the worms? We don’t worry about that. The kids love a feed of fresh earthworms.”

“I’ll be there soon, my darlings!”

Welcome to the world, babies!

April 23, 2026
by wordsfromanneli 40 Comments

Here, Kitty, Kitty!

I’m assuming it’s okay to use this photo taken by Janice Hayward, who glimpsed this young cougar as it came up the road where I live. Luckily she was in her truck as she took the picture and a video which she then posted on facebook. It’s because of her posting, that I feel it is now in the public domain and she won’t mind if I use it, while giving her credit for the photo.

I live near the end of this road on the right where the squared off hedge is so nicely clipped, thanks to our friend Pat.