And this morning I had tied up the sedum that was knocked flat in the recent huge rains and in less than an hour it's become tufted titmouse central, half a dozen birds doing tricks on the stakes, fighting and arguing and shoving. My camera is not up to the action, so my words have to do.
On the deck, undeterred, a baby rabbit demonstrates why I haven't had any results from the seeds I planted on the edge of the deck, just handy for his mouth.
About now is when the hummingbirds might be seen on the lantana. I notice that between the hummers and the wrens, there's a wonderful shortage of squirrels. Probably no match for the birds, and know better than to challenge them. An irritated wren can see off a squirrel before he knows what's up. Astonishing how active all the wildlife is despite the heat and humidity, higher this year than ever, we are told.
And bang on the nose, at four o clock, even as I typed that, the hummer showed up and is working over the lantanas with great energy. And now she's resting in my cherry tree, but I have no hope of a picture. Three seconds is a long nap for her.
Indoors, lovely late summer lunch of mostly local food, except that the dates are from California, this not being date country. Mesclun dressed with homemade vinegar, with olive oil.
And, totally disregarding the madness outside, Marigold opened her beauty parlor and gave Duncan a great grooming and massage. He's twice her size, so this is quite a job, which he's happy to let her do.
A couple of short stints outside in the garden demonstrated to me that today is just too humid and hot for me to work with, so I reluctantly am staying home. Tomorrow is supposed to be less torrid. But there's no shortage of entertainment anyway.
love it. we've been seeing the same kind of frenetic activity all summer too, in part because of the two dogwood trees in full fruit (but not at the same time) so the birds have been in a frenzy over it all. We sit on the porch every evening and watch them duke it out, including a highly aggressive hummer who apparently thinks he owns the pear tree, and chases off the other birds regularly. I suspect he might be defending a nest, but there's no way to tell.
ReplyDeleteOur main performers are chickadees, goldfinches, and phoebes, who still try to build their nests on our window frames...I get the sense that they are all beginning to gear up for migrations,which keep happening earlier and earlier every year, no idea why