August 21, 2009 - 1
Carolina chickadees and tufted titmice are being seen at the peanut feeder more often these days. Perhaps their opportunities have increased along with the fledging of this summer's crop of blue jays. Or, perhaps I'm just catching more of the quiet times between the usual breakfast, lunch and dinner frenzy at the feeders.Meanwhile, a bunch of bats were seen taking flight from the neighbor's abandoned chimney at twilight this week reminding me of a scene from a Hitchcock movie. Bats are a beneficial part of the ecosystem with each one eating over a thousand mosquitos a night. Somehow, though, their presence lends an erie feeling to a backyard evening like reading a scary Stephen King novel.
Backyard Tip of the week:
Take a few moments to check out the nightlife in your backyard this summer. You might enjoy looking for bats gleaning insects in the evening sky. Maybe you'll catch a glimpse of a beautiful luna moth on an overhang under an outside light. Maybe you'll find the white-lined sphinx, a very large and interesting moth which can be seen moving about like a hummingbird as it feeds on nectar producing plants after dark. Either way, try to take an evening or a midnight stroll through your yard sometime this summer, you're sure to love it!
Backyard sightings for last week:
Including blue-jays, northern cardinals, brown creepers, rose-breasted grosbeaks, song sparrows, tree sparrows, American robins, Carolina wrens, Carolina chickadees. Catbirds, bluebirds, mockingbirds, ruby-throated hummingbirds, house finches, goldfinches. Red-bellied and downy woodpeckers. Northern flickers, white-breasted nuthatches, tufted titmice, mourning doves, crows, starlings, grackles, red-winged blackbirds, grey squirrels, red squirrels, chipmunks, skunks, bunnies, a ground-hog, a bull-frog and a toad. Some deer, a few hummingbird moths, still a bunch of fireflies and plenty of butterflies.
Continued on next page...
August 21, 2009 Part 2 - Cool Sightings
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