A Very Rainy Start to the Season Makes For a Lush Garden
It’s been raining non-stop here for a month. I think some flowers are late blooming, yet the garden has a moody and lush beauty.
During the precious moments when the sun does make an appearance, the vibrant colors are a joy for both humans and pollinators. In the photos below, Small Milkweed Bugs mated on our just blooming, bright orange Butterfly Milkweed, and an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and a Western Honeybee pollinate the Common Milkweed.
In spite of the rain, breeding birds are busy foraging and nesting in the garden and surrounding area. An American Goldfinch male (below, right) fed on the catkins of our native birch, while the female (below, middle) gathered nesting material from last year’s dried plants. These late breeders eat mainly seeds and nest when they are most plentiful in late summer. An American Robin (below, left) sits on her nest right outside our front door. I’ve also seen Chipping Sparrows gathering nesting material but I haven’t been fast enough to get a picture.
A family group of five Black-capped Chickadees in the garden brought a smile to my face, since it meant they recently fledged young in a nearby tree cavity. Chickadees are curious, social birds and their complex calls warn of predators and communicate information to the flock. These conspicuous year-round residents go quiet during the breeding season. It’s a pleasure to hear them calling and singing once again.
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, one of the Valley’s most visible breeders, are common at hummingbird feeders around here. Since bears like the feeders too, I prefer to see the hummingbirds draw nectar from plants – here they are on our native Red Columbine.
This week we were thrilled to watch a female hummingbird perch on the edge of one of our deck chairs watching a male perform his U-shaped breeding display flight next to his fiercely-defended regular feeder. She turned her head from side to side as he loop-de-looped, looking like a spectator at a tennis match.
Male Indigo Buntings, Red-eyed Vireos, Chestnut-sided Warblers, American Redstarts, Purple Finches, Least Flycatchers and Scarlet Tanagers sing every morning, letting us know they have breeding territories here. They are experts at hiding their nests and eluding the camera. Below is the male Scarlet Tanager flying around and foraging for berries on the edge of our yard. The female and nest are likely nearby, but I haven’t seen her. One of these days I will get and share pictures of some of the other breeders – perhaps it will be easier when the fledglings arrive!
We have a Critter Catcher in our pool for the creatures that inevitably find themselves drawn into the water. This Pickerel Frog hung out for awhile and seemed to enjoy the large, blue “lily pad”, but in the end we decided he would be better off in a natural wetland, so we relocated him.