Gardening Update

The berries on our serviceberry are now a distant memory, but there are other feasts to look forward to. Our two virburnums (arrowwood) are finally growing some berries. The common milkweed and butterfly weed are blooming now and are very popular with fritillaries, bumblebees, honey bees, and other insects. Our Joe-pye weed is growing taller than last year and I am already looking forward to photograph the butterflies it will surely attract. The blazing stars we bought this year are looking good, especially since we caged them to protect them from the rabbits that are causing havoc in our garden. The rabbits have made a meal out of the zinnias I planted but they are slowly making a comeback now.
Notable bird sightings include: a hawk that perched on our neighbor's tall willow tree, only to be chased away by crows or grackles (in the commotion it was hard for me to tell). We see Baltimore orioles around but they never visited the feeder I put out for them, so I took it down.
For weeks we have been wondering why our front yard bird bath was often muddy. While we were out weeding today we saw a robin taking a full bath and the water got muddy quickly. Apparently, it had not wiped off its feet before getting into the bird bath. Another mystery solved!

Backyard Bird Sightings

In my presentations I am telling people how to garden for the birds. Case in point: Our serviceberry is growing berries right now, and the cedar waxwings are already checking them out. Of course, once I grab my camera they perform a disappearing act. I plan on setting up my blind soon to await their return. Or perhaps I'll wait till the berries are ripe...
Another exciting sighting is a Baltimore oriole. I hung up our oriole feeder and hope to lure them into our yard.
I finally took down our bird feeder today, after it became too big a draw for grackles. Between our shrubs, flowers and the bird baths I hope we will lure them into our yard nonetheless. And I kept a few sunflower seeds to bribe the birds when I want to photograph them.