There’s lots to like these days if you’re a birdwatcher. Here’s an American goldfinch that stopped by the bachelor buttons in my garden the other day. It’s one of the most colorful of a nice array of summer visitors.
Category: My Yard
Kitchen window quail
Our house is blessed with a view of the Olympic Mountains that rarely fails to lift my heart. But starting in April we also have an ever changing array of birds that parade or flit by our windows. Nothing very exotic, mind you, though the occasional bald eagle is always exciting. The other day this quail decided to hang out near our kitchen window. These days they often peck around in small groups in the early evenings, calling to each other and taking turns standing watch.
Garden surprise
The little daffodils were blooming but they were crowded out by last year’s dead ornamental grass and summer flowers. As I cut away the grass a mass of little white shells caught my eye. Eggs!
Last year’s grass had sheltered a batch of bird eggs, each about an inch in size. I suppose you could call it a “nest,” though it doesn’t appear to have the typical bits and pieces a bird might call home. I don’t know what sort of birds they might have been. They’re long gone now.
Theme Day: Details
Today is Theme Day for City Daily Photo bloggers and today’s theme is “details.”
Looking for ripe apples on our little tree I discovered this apple had become a hub for wasps looking for a quick meal.
It was fascinating to watch how many wasps could fit into the cavity inside the apple. Then I noticed that wasps were coming and going from apples all over the tree. Did they take advantage of openings pecked by birds, or did they manage to work their way through apple skins on their own? Once I noticed all the activity I was struck with how the tree was filled with the sound of wasps carving their way through apples.
One of my favorite quotes, from Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, is “God is in the details.”
Click here to see how other City Daily Photo bloggers have interpreted today’s theme.
Green thumb
This is the second year I’ve grown leeks. As with garlic, I’m hooked.
I do like gardening, growing things. But I love planning a meal, then trotting out to the garden to dig up and harvest something that will be on the dinner menu that evening. And it seems I love it more with every meal. These leeks became a big batch of potato leek soup. The next ones joined a seafood chowder. In all modesty, they were delicious.
Our living lawn ornaments
We’ve seen more deer in our yard this year than we have since we’ve been here. There has always been at least a mother and one or two fawns that have been regulars. This year the gang has expanded. This mom and her spotted little “Bambi” started coming around last week. (Okay, a disclosure is in order here. We’ve had some fallen apples that we’ve tossed out of our garden enclosure. That’s why Mom’s mouth is open here. She’s eating a small apple.)
For some reason this pose made me think of Robert DeNiro in the movie “Taxi Driver” years ago. “You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to ME?”
This was the best I could do to capture Bambi. I was surprised to see one this young so late in summer. By now most of the fawns are almost as big as Mom.
A is for apple
Here’s another sure sign that autumn is moving in: apples. Branches on local trees are sagging enticingly and the orbs are taking on color.
I harvested the top right apple Sunday from our two year-old tree. The tree has four types of apples grafted onto its trunk. This red gravenstein was the first apple so far that hasn’t caused a cheek-sucking pucker.