Several days ago I washed down the vinyl siding of the house. All of the wind blown dust and the cobwebs seemed a bit much. There were also some left over droppings from whatever birds flew over, doing a fly by. It looked as though someone had flicked a splotch of mud on the wall. It is amazing to me how much can accumulate on a house. Then, yesterday, I was at the kitchen table and the humming bird came to the corner where the cobweb had been and hovered, realizing his food source had vanished. How could I have forgotten about this? I think I get a little obsessive/compulsive sometimes about cleaning. I must remember to leave some of the cobwebs for the humming birds.
A few days ago I was outside hanging sheets on the line and I heard a hawk calling from the top of one of the nearby cedar trees. I looked up to see it take flight and come towards where I was standing. Suddenly another hawk flies toward me from a different direction and lands in the cedar tree just next to me. It was carrying a snake dangling from its feet. The first hawk continued to call and landed near the hawk with the snake. It was just like a scene from a nature show, only I was without a camera to catch the action. They stayed about a minute and then both took off in the same direction, with the first hawk still calling.
I suspect the first hawk was young and the other hawk was a parent catching breakfast for the younger one. It was beautiful to see the under side of both of these hawks when they were so close to me. Gave me the shivers. A couple of my neighbors have recently killed four rattlesnakes between them so I think the snake the hawk had may have been a rattlesnake. I have seen other kinds of snakes in my yard, almost stepping on one once. Fortunately I have been successful in avoiding the dangerous ones.
I love watering the lawn because the sprinkler provides a much needed water source for the various birds in the area during the hot summer. The robins are happy to play in a puddle as they take a bath. Then there are these nondescript brown birds that just sit under the water droplets and periodically shake it off. Humming birds will hover in the water spray, either catching a drop of water or getting wet and then flying off. Blue jays, well, they just do the blue jay thing, which sometimes is chasing everyone else away and then leaving themselves. They can be annoying sometimes.
The Dogwood trees have finished blooming and now are in the process of making seed balls. Last year was the first time I ever noticed these seeds. They were blue. Totally surprised me. I had to Google search about this because I thought something might be wrong with the tree. It turns out they are seeds and can be red or white. I just Google searched again and was unable to find the site I found earlier. Typical. User error. Anyway, they are in their process. Maybe I can get a picture of them once they turn color.
Enjoy your summer days!
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