I cannot express the beauty of the summer. The lush green, the color of the flowers, the music of the birds singing as they go about their day. A few minor stories have played out in the last week or so.
A fledgling Nuthatch came to me for help. It landed on the sill by the window where I was reading. It was in trouble. Barely able to fly, completely exhausted. I gave it some sunflower seed. It quickly grabbed a seed but did not quite know how to break it up into manageable bits. It managed to eat. I don’t know what happened to the bird. I know the family of fledgling Nuthatches is no longer chasing around the yard. I don’t worry. I just do what I can at the time but do not dwell on the fate of individuals. That would be too trying
The Bluebirds have started a second brood. This time in one of the boxes in the front yard. They have moved out of the hole in the siding. I think 4 babies fledged from the earlier brood. They still hang around the yard, Watching their parents go about go about building a second nest.
The woodpeckers have been successful as well. As I write a fledgling Downey follows its Dad to the feeder by the window, It is awkward. Not a good flier yet. I am not paying attention, concentrating on writing. It squeaks and hits the window. Sure enough the feeder is empty. I wonder if that was the lesson being taught, because the parent did not do this. No it was the fledgling. The Red-bellieds have three babies. The Chickadees and Titmice have countless fledglings. It is good they have so much energy to keep up with all those hungry little birds.
A fledgling Rose-breasted Grosbeak visits. More skittish than the adults. It is uncertain about the feeder
Yesterday I had a Stebbin’s gulch walk. It was a lovely hike. The gulch was very dry, but cool lush and beautiful. We found several Black-throated Green Warblers, but no Canadas, or Blackburnians. The group was a bit too noisy to find Louisiana Waterthush. We were serenaded by a Winter Wren. Blue-headed Vireos were numerous. We found several Gray Petaltail Dragonflies. In May the gulch was dangerously and comically slippery. Yesterday it was not. In the field on the east end of the property we found an Orange Sulfur Butterfly. Yellow, orange green and aqua blue. Just beautiful. A nice walk.
In the afternoon I had the front door open. It was interesting because several birds gathered on the front porch. They were just hanging around there by the open door as I sat in the room and read.
Today I worked around the yard. Saw my first fledgling Junco of the season. A brilliant male Scarlet Tanager outside the window. Additional lilies are starting to bloom. Several colors. During the coming week they will be in full bloom.
June 30, 2007 Gray Petaltail
Not the best specimen or image. This Gray Petaltail in Stebbins Gulch was posed in a typical hanging posture. Gray Petatail is found in shaded ravines and is very tame. This one readily landed on several people.Dunking bugs in cool water slows them down so they can be photographed and does them no harm.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
