July 24, 2009 - 2
Cool sighting of the week:The butterfly bush was humming last Friday evening when I got home. About ten feet tall and of the purple variety. This butterfly bush is located just next to the back garage door and is a constant source of pleasure through the summertime and even into the fall. With long tubular blooms, the butterfly bush, though sometimes considered to be an invasive species, is also an excellent provider for our avian backyard friends. The chickadee uses the bush to keep himself camouflaged as he enters and exits his clandestine home deep inside the old well pump. Many of the other backyard birds also use the bush for cover as they make their way through it, moving from branch to branch, to end up at the small birdbath that is placed on the ground below. Well, last Friday evening, I saw a small house finch fly to a branch on the butterfly bush and could see out of the corner of my eye that something seemed to be following him. I looked more closely and saw that the ruby-throated hummingbird had returned to the backyard for the summer and it was flitting about the butterfly bush from flower to flower feeding happily. So joyous was my excitement, that I nearly missed seeing the very cool little hummingbird moth that was feeding on the bush at the same time. Either way, catching a glimpse of the hummingbird moth and the ruby-throated hummingbird at the butterfly bush last week was very cool!
Heard on WDVR FM every Friday at 3PM during Anything Goes!