Hummingbird activity
has continued the trend from previous years, being very slow. I do not know the reason, we have flowers growing, lots of habitat, water, no pesticides, you name it. I used to see them regularly for several years, and now I don’t. They have been absent all season, and now in August I get glimpses. This may be the only photo I get this year. I miss them. I used to see them from May until September. I know others have similar experiences, and I hope they somehow can recover, this is not normal. Good thing is, it looks like this one got plenty of flower juice, judging by the pollen on the beak.
Kentucky Flood donation effort
We all have seen the images of the recent flood in Kentucky, and I feel like this would be a good time to get some donations going again. The statebird of Kentucky is the Northern Cardinal, so the King of the Yard will be the symbol for this one. I created some more Cardi designs in my shop, you can find them here: https://tinyurl.com/mjz3s4km All other proceeds will be donated as well. I hope you have a pleasant evening.
Yesterday,
we finally got a good amount of rain. It cooled the premature summer heat down and made the garden happy. The birds looked a bit pitiful and drenched but you know I love a good wet birb because the textures are so interesting. And interesting things are welcome right now because this is a very boring season so far. And I don’t seem to be alone in my observations, the local birdwatching groups are full of people stating that they don’t see as much activity as in previous years. This is concerning, and one can only hope that populations will bounce back. If you are inclined, this article from the Smithsonian Magazine is shedding some light on things. It is from last December but seems to be appropriate now.
Wet birbs* pictured: my current favorite House Finch with the orange patch, a Blue Jay, an American Robin, Dr. Clara the Bluebird, a Starling and a MoDo.
(*I use this spelling on purpose and as a term of endearment, it is not a typo. Audubon is in agreement 🤓)
