Springtime at Frog Hollow

So, it's spring here at Frog Hollow and our prolific chickens are "at it" again!
This is the first clutch to hatch this year and the first clutch is greeted with a great deal of excitement. This mom is a really good mother. She is extremely protective of her chicks. She's the first one Bob has let have pretty free rein with deciding when she could take the kids out for a walk, etc. Usually he puts new little families in their own protected nursery areas, but this gal was exceptional in many ways.

We saw her nest some time ago when she first started to lay. She chose a spot in one of the bays next to the soap studio and as soon as Bob noticed, he started blocking the door open so she could get in and out. The odd part about the spot was that it was almost underneath a large air compressor that would start up at any odd time of the day or night with a loud, loud clamor!
I'm assuming the first hatch of the year is a bunch of deaf chicks...

We;ve also been visited more than usual this year by an assortment of wild animals.

My little chipmuink was back dancing on the wall outside the bathroom window, a doe seems to have decided our back yard is a great spot for her mid morning naps and three wild turkeys have started hanging around.

A couple of weeks ago, I thought I caught a glimpse of a turkey slipping around the house. A few days later, a neighbor showed up wondering the turkeys he saw were ours.... no, not this time. Then, last week, Bob came in and told us to come out and look.... The elusive turkeys were in our front yard.Now, they seem to show up in our yard almost every day and I finally got a picture of them this afternoon as they strolled across our driveway. We're especially impressed with the one in the middle - the coloring is really unusual.

If the doe is ever in my camera sights, I'll post a picture of her too.