After nearly two and a half months of “vacation,” I was more than ready to return to the comforts of “home.” It was especially nice to reap the rewards of last summer’s hard work and just rest in our newly-landscaped backyard.
The bees, butterflies, and birds seem to enjoy our new garden almost as much as we did. Though the bees seemed to enjoy the new plantings more than our other visitors, we were rewarded by sightings of several birds we haven’t seen in our yard for years.
Small flocks of American Goldfinches frequented our plum tree.
A rarely seen female Black-Headed Grosbeak
joined flocks of Purple Finches, Tree Swallows, Song Sparrows, Stellar Jays, etc.
Nevertheless, the Anna
and Rufous Hummingbirds
continued as headliners of our backyard show.
Frequent backyard visitors, supplemented by weekly walks at Theler Wetlands, repressed the urge to hit the road to distant birding sites. Luckily, Fall Migration has begun at the beach just as our backyard visitors have seemed to thin out.