By Patti Muzny
It was a hot Saturday morning and I was head-down/backside-up in the front flower bed hiding from the sun under our Bradford pear trees. I do love gardening and I sort of drift off into a semi-conscious state and am not always aware of sights and sounds around me. Suddenly I heard the clearly identifiable trill of an Eastern Bluebird. Head came up and eyes went toward our bluebird house at the side of the yard. I was ecstatic at the sight of a male Eastern Bluebird hanging onto the front of the house while the female peeked out from inside! A quick check on the evening June 10 found the female sitting on 4-5 eggs. Yeah! Maybe this year they will be successful.
The Mallard pair that we enjoyed for most of the spring disappeared, but not before the female learned to nibble birdseed from my hand a time or two. I miss our “Ducky-ducks.” On June 9th I was reading a book on the back patio when a pair of House Finches zipped over my head and landed in the asparagus fern I have hanging there. After a bunch of chattering and exploring, they flew off. In the evenings, Common Nighthawks patrol above our yard and the lightning bugs twinkle just above the lawn.
One of the TV stations aired a delightful story of a bird, a motorcycle and a tornado this past week. It seems the Washington storms destroyed a home and moved the homeowner’s motorcycle some thirty feet away. In the process of this devastation, a Lark Sparrow nest had been blown from a tree and wedged into the side of the cycle. The sparrow reclaimed the nest and is now incubating 4 eggs!
On my way to work I pass between the two boathouses along the river downtown. Several times I’ve seen night herons flying over the Byers Avenue Bridge. With traffic, I have not been able to tell where they landed, but I know they are in the area. Scissortails and Western Kingbirds still flit around near the traffic signals.
With the very warm weather upon us, I think I’m gearing up for fall migration.