Yesterday afternoon, passing the open front door, flashes of blue caught my eye. On the birdbath beneath the now huge fig tree, our family of Eastern bluebirds was cooling off. There were all four, one parent sitting above on the feeder, preening and on the lookout for unwelcome visitors perhaps, the other watching the two youngsters as they splashed about. These pics are not very good, I only had a second to grab the nearest camera and take them through the glass storm door.
Notice my now second crop of figs (Celeste) coming
along - hoping enough ripen to make more jam
before cool weather arrives!
Seeing the bluebirds, who nest and raise young in our birdhouse each Spring, still in the garden and enjoying a bath on a hot late Summer afternoon, raised my hopes that they continue to proliferate. After many years of concern here in North Carolina as their numbers plummeted and they were considered endangered, the building of nesting boxes has been a huge statewide endeavor to entice these beautiful birds back........and thankfully it's working. Lovely handmade wooden bluebird boxes are always for sale at a very reasonable price at our local credit union office.
Note the small oak tree on the right. This has grown from an acorn - probably planted by a dastardly squirrel of course - during the past couple of years and is now about 10 feet tall. We've decided to let it grow to see just how it does, and the birds seem to enjoy it as an additional perching place as they fly by!
What's going on in your late Summer garden? Do you
have many birds visiting, and do you put up feeders
and/or nesting boxes to encourage wildlife?
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