Fall Comes in August

The calendar might say that autumn falls during the third week of September, but I believe it comes earlier than that.

Somewhere around the middle of August, everything in nature begins to change. The mockingbirds stop singing, The air takes on a hazy look, additional hummingbirds show up at the feeder, and the bluebird families stop being territorial and flock together. Today was the day.

I had the water sprinklers on all afternoon, and the front yard was a playground for the bluebird families. At times, there were twenty-plus young and old birds taking a bath and playing in the sprinkler. Even a Red-bellied woodpecker joined the avian frivolity for a while. I tried getting pictures, but none turned out clear enough to post.

Just in time for the increase in sugar prices, our visiting hummingbirds are showing up at the feeders. There have been up to four birds feeding regularly, but today there were at least six, and the air-to-air battles have begun. I'll soon have to put up more feeders to cut down on the number of fights. Though it was a lot of work, I hope we see the numbers of hummers we had two years ago. That year I had five feeders up and some of the smaller ones had to be filled two or three times a day.

BTW, happy birthday, Rita. The card is late...as usual.