Well, I was going to be such a proud homeowner and get my little patch of lawn mowed before the weekend rain, but...
My cardinal flowers are full of hummingbirds!
Okay, I exaggerate, there are only 2 hummingbirds in the cardinalflowers, but I only have 3 of those, & the birds are not fighting or anything. One of those birds or perhaps a friend or family member also checked out the blazing star (Liatris spicata) and my neighbours summer phlox, and one of my many spotted touch-me-not is waving in quite an interesting manner. The Canada goldenrod is also of interest.
In my garden I have hybrid coneflower and hybrid summer phlox in oh-such-pretty colours, and the bees and the hummingbirds ignore them.
Other news: I think I had my annual visit from the olive-sided flycatcher on the morning of Monday the 18th. The time (mid-August), conditions (after north wind), place (near top of dead tree), shape (big beak, big head on medium bird) were all right. But that tree is about 50 feet beyond my usual dead tree, and the bird didn't stick around (and I wouldn't either, if I had to share a tree with hawk chicks).
The hawk chicks really have not made my backyard their backyard this year. There was one day of a perch on the railings, 2 on the fence, one day of one bird pretending to be a robin pecking at the ground (it's a phase they go through), two days of playing in the sprinkler. They are quite vocal at dinner time. I don't usually see them together any more. The babies are growing up.
