in the yard now. I fill the hummingbird feeders and water the
flowers in the cooler morning hours, and add sunflower seed to my
cedar feeders when needed. My gladiolas and four o'clocks are so
colorful. I do sit out on the porch when it is cool enough in the
evening and enjoy them. It has always interested me the way four
o'clocks "know" to bloom in the evening.
Those horrible Japanese beetles are making a mess of my roses and
crape myrtles. We used traps last year, but they draw the things by
the thousands. My husband wants to start spraying for them every year
instead. I don't like spraying because of the bees and butterflies.
I have seen so many bees, butterflies, and fireflies this year!!! I
love to see the butterflies. It seemed for several years that we
were seeing so few of them. As for the fireflies, I guess the kid in
me will always love those!
My two dozen or so goldfinches are evidently here for the duration.
I kept expecting them to leave because they are supposed to breed in
midsummer, but they are still here, so must be settled in to stay. I
guess I'd better get more thistle seeds! (Although I have really been
enjoying watching the goldfinches harvesting the seeds from the
sunflowers growing near my little bench near the feeders. It is so
amazing to step out on my porch and see a dozen or so birds perched
on the sunflower heads picking the seeds!!! The sudden scattering of
yellow birds flying up into the sweetgums in all directions is
something I wish I could catch on film, but they are sooo fast! )
I also have a large number of house finches which seem to have taken
up residence in the yard. About the same number of those as the
goldfinches appear throughout the day, but they are much more vocal!
I hear them from early morning until....? They are the main birds
visiting the cedar feeders for the sunflower seeds, along with a half
dozen or more cardinals.
I still see lots of other birds in the wooded area beside my house,
but they don't visit the feeders because they have plenty to eat
elsewhere. I see woodpeckers, mockingbirds, brown thrashers, etc.
and hear all kinds of birds. I need to make a better effort at
learning to identify birdsongs!!!
By the way, the heat started getting to the suet and I had already
noticed the woodpeckers didn't seem to find it as attractive anymore,
so I decided to let that go until cooler weather.
For the last three weeks or so I have had lots and lots of
hummingbirds! I am really enjoying watching them through my kitchen
window. I have seen as many as four females and two males
simultaneously, but there may actually be more of them. I am
changing the nectar more frequently because of the heat. I would
love to put a hose out with a mist attachment they could fly through,
but our local water board recently raised the water rates by 80 %
(OUTRAGEOUS! ) and so I don't think that would be the best thing to do
right now with the water bill so high.
The heron is at the pond below my son's house every day now. It
seems to have made this little pond it's own private spot. It always
flies away if I get too near the fence, so I just admire it from a
distance so I don't disturb it.
This morning the red-tailed hawk across the road kept circling and
screeching. I don't know what it was hunting--or if maybe something
was encroaching on it's territory--but it was making its presence
known most of the morning. A hawk flying overhead is a beautiful
thing to see!
