Sunday afternoon

11 years ago

In spite of my age, I work more than full time. What can be better than a Sunday afternoon in the garden with a day as beautiful as today? I was just outside checking out my pole beans - to be picked first time tomorrow. There is a bicolor sunflower plant next to them (it was a volunteer and beautiful enough that I saved some seeds) that has been picked clean by the flock of gold finches that discovered our garden this year. This plant has had an enormous infection of white aphids - and I mean the worst I have ever seen. I thought about getting rid of that plant, thinking the aphids might migrate to our beans. However, some brilliant red lady bugs had made that their home (usually we have only ornage ones), so I decided to leave it. Well, this evening I was there chedking my beans and a tiny warbler came for dinner. It was not more than three feet away and I watched that baby, I guess, eat aphids off the bottom of the sunflower leaves. After a while, the parents came and chased it away. These warblers have been coming here for a lot of winters. As near as I can tell, they are Pine Warblers - maybe not. Never saw a baby before.
A very satisfying way to end an otherwise so-so week. Who needs Hollywood?

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Comments (3)

kayjones
11 years ago
I agree - a beautiful day to observe nature, which, sadly, most people don't bother to look at.
User
11 years ago
Nice post! I had to work, but enjoyed the fact that you were out there in the garden. Puts a nice finish on my day reading it. I love all the critters and birds that live here. My days off are soon and hopefully I'll encounter the same feelings you had today. Thx........M
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Michael AKA Leekle2ManE
11 years ago
It didn't happen today, but I was working in my yard a couple weeks ago, near the... umm... 'puddle bath' (a bird bath sunken into the ground) I have in the back yard. I was pruning dead growth from my frost burned Meyer Lemon when a Pine Warbler landed at my feet, tilted its head a little to look at me and then hopped it's merry way into the puddle bath, as if I was nothing more than a momentary distraction. Previously I had been visited while I sat quietly in my sling-back until the birds felt comfortable with me, but on this day, I was moving about, doing work, and this little guy just didn't seem to mind. I think on some days, 'nature' just knows that we're trying to help and gives us those little gifts as if to say 'Thank you'.

Now... if I could just get the hawks to visit while I'm out there instead of flying off every time I round the corner...