The grass is looking SO good after rain & fungicide;

A cold front came through last night and brought low humidity with a very nice day of 78 degrees.

What a difference a day or two make after nature delivers 2.5 inches of rain. Don and I will be mowing today and tomorrow. For today at least, no watering!

I saw some really pretty wildflowers down by what used to be Mill Pond Creek, and thought I'd go get a picture. I've no idea what they are, but we have them is several different places in the hollow.

Also by the stream, are two dogwood shrubs the builder planted to hide the culvert and to hinder further erosion. They are now in full bloom and once again are taking over the poor PJM Rhodos beside of them. Every year I trim the dogwoods back and every year they grow even bigger.

I would say in this instance the builder did good. The plantings did stop the erosion and the dogwoods do hide the culvert.

We're mortified, and in our neighborhood to boot!

Sunny and nice, high of 85, and the humidity is gone, do the dance!!

Everything looks so nice after the 2.6 inches of rain we received yesterday. Not only do we have water in our pond again, but the frogs were in it croaking . . . can you say pathetic? Poor things. On their behalf, this pond was actually dry by June 1st - a 1st!

With a cold front coming through, the temps were dropping and there was a steady breeze. Because it was so nice out, we decided to sit on the deck for a while after dinner. Of course by now the Bluejays had gone through their allotment of peanuts, so we gave into their screeching and put more out.

Out of 14 Bluejays, some of which are young ones, all have learned to land on the hanging trays. All but one that is, a young jay who cannot overcome it's fear of the four tray wires. So what does it do? It actually chases other birds, (and it doesn't have to be a Bluejay), to steal "their" peanut.

It was then we knew the grizzly truth, we have a mugger, a juvenile delinquent that lives in the "hood".

DO THE DANCE . . . 2.6" OF RAIN, YES!

Cloudy and humid, in fact, by the time we reached our high of 85 degrees, it was down right oppressive!

With temps in the high 80's and with dew points in the 70's, after watering in the AM I did nothing more in the yard. We had a 40% chance of rain which was high for us, so we figured just another Hazy, Hot and Humid day with no precip.

I happened to be blogging when about 3PM it started to rain. I didn't think much of it because we often get a few sprinkles that really don't amount to much. After 10 to 15 minutes it was still raining, and I started to get my hopes up. After half an hour I was getting down right giddy.

Then the clouds opened up and really let loose, and we had us a downpour for about an hour. Afterwards, when the sun was starting to peak out at about 6:30, we went out to check the rain gauge and we'd gotten 2.6 inches of rain!

While the downpour did not help the trees all that much, we did have water in our pond again. So we're hopeful the downpour filled enough low lying areas for the wildlife to find water again.

So, I don't care what kind of dance you do, but you have to do a dance.

5 Birdbaths plus 1 fountain and it's barely enough -

Sunny and hot, high of 93.

Every time I look at one of my birdbaths there's either a bird, squirrel, or chipmunk getting a drink of water. I seem to be the only source of fresh water for miles, or so it seems. This drought is really starting to take it's toll.

I know birds love fresh water, so I clean my birdbaths weekly and fill them daily. Just one more reason why Fodor's lists Mill Pond Hollow as one of the best values for the money as well as a "must see" ;-).

Our imported fountain from France is in FB#7, on the East side of the deck. The fountain is considered the "Evian" of all the drinking facilities and is used exclusively by the Goldfinches. They like to land on the top frog and get a drink straight from the "source".


Birdbath #1 is by the birdfeeders in the woods. This one is really popular with the squirrels, Bluejays, Mourning Doves, Nuthatches, and woodpeckers for quick drinks of water.





Birdbath #2 is in the FFB (Forest Flower Bed). This one is deep, perfect for Bluejay baths.









Birdbath #3 is in FB#3 in front of the living room bay window. This one gets a lot of sun which really heats the water, again I've caught Bluejays bathing in this one.








Birdbath #4 is in FB#5 which is by Don's office windows. This one is really popular with the chipmunks, Goldfinches, Chickadees and Titmice, because of the birch tree that gives it cover.







Birdbath #5 is in FB#1A, and is just big enough for chipmunks that live in the rockwall behind it.

More weeding, pulling, trimming . . . Ugh!

Partly Cloudy but nice with a high of 84.

Since I was in the groove, I decided to just keep going. Remember those Spireas and Stellas I was blogging about earlier? Well, it is now time to pay the pied piper for how beautiful they looked earlier. They are now out of bloom and have to be trimmed and deadheaded. I finally finished the 9th Spirea before lunch, and started in on the Stella's (all 12 of them) right after. Three 55 gallon contractor bags later, I'm done . . . stick a fork in me. I've finished weeding and trimming FB's #1, #2, & #3.

Also, remember those frogs I was blogging about? I was cutting back some Cottoneaster's by the Stella's when a large Leopard Frog jumped onto a Cottoneaster branch and gave me "the" look. If looks could kill, I'd be out cold. It was not at all happy it's home had been ransacked. I must have really disturbed it too, because I keep running into it now by the sidewalk, and I never knew it existed before.

This is the same type of frog that live in, or near, the vernal pond that is now dry.

That's for the birds, hummingbirds that is -

Fog in early am turned to sun by mid morning, nice day with low humidity, high of 82.

After several different attempts to find the perfect hummingbird feeder, we have finally found success with one from the Audubon Society. I never really thought about it before, but with all the wing flapping and fighting that goes on with hummingbirds, they must get tired.

This feeder has 6 stations with perches by each one, and they love it! They will actually sit and drink for up to 5 minutes. That is until the hummingbird wars start. They adore fresh nectar, and will literally fight for two straight days.

We currently have four Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, 2 male and 2 female. What became apparent last night while we sat watching them from the deck, is the fact the females have formed a tag team. While the male chases one female, the other slips in to get a drink of water. We have to wonder if they don't take turns at this game, could they actually be that smart?

You will have to click twice on the picture to see the female hummingbird. It was sheer luck we got this good of a shot.

Those turkeys!!

Another gorgeous day thanks to the cold front that moved through, sunny with a high of 78.

Earlier in my blog I shared a picture of a turkey dusting itself. I have to wonder if this is the same turkey that now visits with two babies in tow. I can't believe how fast they are growing. We started feeding them corn, and they have since become permanent residents.

We have a pile of loam in the woods we use for planting purposes, and because it's been so dry, mom's been teaching the babies how to dust themselves. One baby in particular has really taken to dust baths and scratching. Which is kind of funny to watch, because the dirt doesn't always go where it should, and the scratching usually covers more seed than uncovers.

Something else we didn't know about birds until we moved here, birds love to sun themselves. All of them do this, and I can only guess we see it here because of the natural habitat which makes the birds feel safe. The baby turkey who loves to take dust baths, also likes to sun itself afterwards.

Sometimes I feel like I'm running a resort. Between the food, lodging and spirits (fresh water), what more could a bird ask for.