I'm so mad I could kill 1,000 aphids....

...so I did! Those little *#"§()&?!-ers!!!!!

Since I've been home from my vacation, I've been a bit worried about my chili pepper plants. Although some are getting buds and have even produced some flowers, the new leaves all do not look very healthy - kinda shriveled (not in a lack-of-water kind of way), and even have spotty discoloration:

....jalapeno that I have indoors now

At first I attributed at least the spotting to construction damage (see recent post), but upon closer inspection I discovered:

APHIDS!!!!!! Those stupid little *+"!"§$%!"§! Look at them all on there!!!

  

And of course on the backs of the leaves, too. I mean, just look at all of them on there! Greedy buggers! Groooossss! 

so many....right at the sweet center! eeww!

Of course they go for the good stuff, the nice, new, sweet, tender little buds and flowers. They would do that.

But they can kiss the good times goodbye - I just took action, a sort of balcony genocide if you will (did I really just say that?!)

How to get rid of aphids:

Step One: Power-blast them off with soapy water (I used a hand sprayer and a water/dish soap mix).

Step Two: Swab the rest off (carefully!) with a soapy paper towel. I just sprayed the mix on the towel and wiped off the tops and bottoms of the leaves, not forgetting the stems too.

Step Three: Hope that lasts a while and my plants survive all the soap exposure :) If they come back, I will probably just try spraying with water to see how long that lasts.

These aphids appear to be the monophagous kind, feeding only on one species, in this case my chili peppers. At least they aren't spreading to devour all my plants, and are fairly easy to keep under control (I hope?!) since I have a small garden. I think the plants wanted a little TLC anyway!

A falcon dragging its prey in the tree only yards away!

Who ever said that there is no wildlife in the city?! I live here very central and guess what I saw from my balcony the other day?

A falcon!!

Look at him!

If this were in the States I'd say it was a hawk, but falcons are more common here and it appears (based on pictures I found on the net) to be a European Falcon.

Birds do like to hang out in the willow tree between my building and the one next to it...I'll often see magpies or pigeons sitting in its branches, resting. But a falcon?! Right here in town? Wow!

There appeared to be a bit of bird drama happening, too. Upon looking more closely at the falcon, I noticed it had something in its talon - a dead (gray) bird!! It had caught something and was dragging it with him in the tree!

falcon with its prey (yes, that's some blood you see!)

The magpies seemed very upset by the whole scenario, squawking away noisily at the falcon. At first I thought the falcon had caught a magpie baby, but its kill looked like it was only gray in color. It was probably just a pigeon and the magpie wanted some!

the falcon keeping an eye on its catch

Finally, after picking at it some, the falcon abandoned its prey and flew to another branch, leaving the kill available for all. The magpie saw his chance and went for it!

the scenario

Of course after the magpie pecked a few times at the prey, it fell to the ground, where it was apparently suddenly not interesting any more - drama over!

Talk about nature up close and personal! How cool is that?!

Gotta love my slice of heaven here!

Squirrel in the City

European Red Squirrel

Who says just because you live in the city, or have *just* a balcony garden, you don't get to attract and admire wildlife? Well, whoever it is is wrong, very wrong!

Despite being on the corner of my building, and despite it being quite windy up here, I have been able to experience a multitude of different kinds of wildlife on my little balcony paradise! Despite Punxsutawney Phil's forcast the other day, I sit bundled up in my apartment, waiting for spring and longing for a nice and lush, green balcony, where I can enjoy a nice dinner with freshly-picked herbs and vegetables and look out at sunrise over the skyline....

I digress - unfortunately do think it is a little to early to allow myself to be consumed with thoughts of Spring and gardening outdoors on my balcony in a warm breeze, but that doesn't mean there isn't anything out there running or flying around that can't be taken care of and enjoyed!

You wonder how a squirrel made it to my 4th floor balcony? This is not the first time, but an explanation is there - the tree only a few yards from my balcony, separating our building from the neighboring one. It's a weeping willow type tree, not too tall to block the sun but tall (and dense) enough to provide a natural curtain in the summer from the neighbor's curiosities. The tree is also inviting as stopping point for birds on the go around the neighborhood, as well as squirrels, so they also jump/hop/flutter over to my balcony for a bite to eat as well. This squirrel even stayed still long enough for me to get close enough for this photo, wow!

Last Winter was better for them since I left more plants to go to seed on my balcony than I did last year, providing the birds and squirrels with lots of food and shelter. Not only did I receive visits from a few red  squirrels (the variety they have over here, also less abundant and smaller than in the USA), but also a variety of colorful birds! Yellow, red, brown, they came in many colors. I think they were finches (possibly a Greenfinch) and different types of swallows and warblers, but I also get some bigger birds like the black-billed magpie, also common to the area.

I saw that one of my neighbors hung a little suet bag on their balcony, maybe I will do the same! My little wildlife nature preserve! :) Come birdies, come! And come Spring, come!