The Atlanta area has been receiving a lot of rain lately, a wonderful respite from the drought that has plagued Georgia in the last few years. And this week we're experiencing rather cool weather for May, with highs in the 70s and lows in the low 50s. (Acccording to Weather.com, the average high for our area at this time of the year is in the low 80s and the average low in the low 60s.) The garden is thriving with this rainfall. I have frequently harvested the leaf lettuces, mesclun mixes, and arugula for salads--very good with just a simple dressing.
Experiencing such hot, dry weather in the past two years since we moved to metro-Atlanta makes me appreciate all the more the recent rainy and cool weather. Even several gray days in a row last week could not dampen my thankfulness for the rain. Today the weather is very cool (in the low 60s between 11 a.m. and noon) yet sunny. Just a few minutes ago I walked outside to gather up all of my dirty gardening gloves which I usually throw on a metal shelf on our patio after gardening. As I was returning from the garage to the house, I heard the call of a rufous-sided towhee (Eastern towhee), a familiar sound in the leafy woods and bushy backyards of this neighborhood. What is less familiar, however, is a sighting of the towhee, which likes to hide in shrubbery. But there he was, right on our fence. He sat there and called over and over while I stood silently and still and Persephone our cat indifferently licked her fur. What a lovely bird, all the lovelier for the clear sighting, unimpeded by underbrush.
4 comments:
Beautiful! We need to work on identifying our birds out here better. . . Lots of unfamiliar song out there. . .
When we first moved to Georgia, I encountered birds I hadn't known in Texas, such as the Eastern towhee. A pair nested every year where the underbrush of our woods met the backyard of our place in Waverly Hall, Georgia. Part of the enjoyment of moving to a new place is learning about the wildlife--even in an urban setting like metro-Atlanta!
Spring is trying to make it to Billings. My tulips have bloomed and the Dutchman's pipe is budding out. Yesterday I spotted a house wren busily building a nest for the second year in a row to attract his lady friend. it's an old gourd birdhouse that my brother gave me many years ago. Last year was the first time I'd seen a wren in my yard, and the first time a bird has attempted to use the gourd.
Also, for the second year in a row, we have a Blue Jay in our neighborhood. Not a rare sight for the south, but a most unusual one for Montana -and in town. I've got the peanut feeder cleaned and ready to stock come this weekend.
A familiar bird is more appreciated when it appears unexpectedly in a new place! I've been watching the blue jays here in our yard with a jaded eye because that flash of blue is so prevalent. However, a week ago, I watched a pair chasing one another in the branches of the black locust in our front yard and realized that the bird's familiarity--and cussedness--had blinded me to its beauty.
Post a Comment