Mark the day...

Every spring I plant lots of flowers that provide nectar, and that I know hummingbirds like. And every spring, they faithfully ignore all the flowers in favor of the nectar feeders. The summer continues and the ignoring continues ... until sometime in late July, they start visiting the flowers...you can almost set your calendar by it. Not sure why this happens, but I've been watching the hummers enough years to recognize the pattern.

So today I marked the day ... the first day this summer I've seen a hummer repeatedly visiting the garden...for flowers.

So this begins the phase of hummie photography that I love the best. Brace yourselves, people...

Other things to remember today...

Our neighbor's half-feral cat almost caught one of the chipmunks and I chased the cat, yelling at the top of my lungs, heart in my throat. Scar vanished down his burrow and I hope that he is okay - there was quite a scrabble and a loud squeal in the hostas where the cat was apparently waiting.

I walked for nearly two hours, starting at 6:30 this morning - along lakes, through fields - before the temps started to climb.

I saw my third Scarlet Tanager of the year - it perched right in front of me. Too bad my settings were off. Still, quite a thrill.

I saw my first Wood Thrush ... in our yard! It looked like a juvenile, and it may explain the bird call I've been hearing for the last month from the woods - the one I couldn't recognize.

Baby blue jays in the trees, making a ruckus and being totally entertaining.

Hubs had a great day racing and will be home in time for dinner.

Great long talk with my parents this morning (love you guys!)

Sylvia the squirrel is even MORE pregnant. Like a bowling ball with four little legs sticking out the sides.

Bunnies seen on the morning walk - yay!

Ten of the best shots of the day posted on Flickr, starting HERE

Wishing you all a good week ahead and happy blipping!

xxoo
Debbi

Oh, and I nearly forgot! The house wrens second nest of the summer has babies! I was quite concerned that their eggs might not have survived the recent high temps as wren eggs are very susceptible to heat. However, this morning both mom and dad are carrying worms and bugs into the nest box, a sure sign that they have hatchlings!