It's for the birds

Bird feeder with daylilies

One of my morning pleasures is to sit at the dining room table and watch the birds at the feeder outside my window. This morning has been a busy one with the appearances of gold finches, tit mice, downy woodpecker, nuthatches, and chickadees to name a few. This year I moved the feeder from its previous location to in front of the window.  There is a forsythia bush close by  to provide cover for the little song birds. Behind the bush are some trees which provide a perch for the tree clinging species that come for a visit. Perhaps the choice of feeder location was simply serendipity. The placement seems to work for both the birds and me.

Not only do the birds come for a visit, the darn squirrels and chipmunks make themselves at home at the feeder. In fact if you zoom in on my photo I believe you will spot a chipmunk happily filling his cheeks with the sunflower seeds that I have provided. It's amusing to watch the birds waiting, in the bush or on the top of the Shepard's crook from which the feeder is suspended, for their turn whether it be for other birds or for the furry guys to leave. It's a queue of some kind. I'm not sure if there is a priority list as to who gets to go first or if the bossiest bird just goes when he or she wants to. It's not like the rules of the road where drivers must yield the right of way to the driver who possess it.

August Morning

Geraniums on the
front door steps

This morning the quality and angle of the sunlight reminds me more of September than early August. There are those days that sneak in and remind me that fall is on its way and so to the return to school. There's plenty of summer still to go and more often than not there are some very summer-like days in September.

Over night there was a rain shower and the soil is still moist. When I first looked out the window, I could catch the sparkle of a left over raindrop hanging here and there on a leaf. Plus there was a chill in the air brought by a breeze. Not a gentle breeze but a blustery one that comes with a change in the weather fronts. The air is drier and cooler as it comes sweeping down to us from Canada. I even had to put on a long sleeve shirt before stepping out for my morning walk.

I soon warmed up as I worked at the endless task of doing battle with the weeds in my garden. Time to cut back the yellowing spiderwort and iris leaves. Soon it will be clearing, composting, and bedding down for winter. But long before that there is still sun to be soaked up, vacation to enjoy, and a ton more weeds to pull.