As always, the end of summer and the very beginning of fall is a very uneventful time for bird-watching: many of our summer visitors have abandoned the Green Mountains for warmer climates and even the old faithfuls seem to be scarce. The blue jays and cardinals are losing their bright plumage, which they will soon trade in for their fall feathers and the hummingbirds are still scrambling to get on that sugar high in a desperate last hurrah. In many ways, this lack of activity is probably good now that school has resumed; but, I must say that I miss my no-longer-omnipresent feathered friends.
In spite of the rather dull circumstances, I did have a few slightly interesting sightings this week. The first was that of a small flock of mourning doves. This may not seem particularly exciting, but they almost never come to my yard in numbers greater than two. What was also funny was that these habitually skittish birds mustered up their courage and actually endeavored perching on the tube feeder—a truly humorous attempt, I might add. In addition to my inundation of mourning doves, there was also a spike in activity for the eastern phoebes. I had never seen them in my yard before this year, and they seem to be rapidly increasing in number. Later on that day, a female wild turkey was meandering around on a lawn near the Dorset Quarry, pecking lazily.
Lastly, to my surprise and delight, a female hummingbird was hovering just inches from my face and neck when I went outside. Luckily, I had randomly chosen to put on a red shirt that morning. The flying jewel lunched at the bee-balm patch for a few minutes before continuing on its path. Little did it know, but when it flew away it had a bright red bee-balm petal stuck to the top of its head!
Though this time of year can certainly be disappointing for a birder, keep your binoculars in hand and keep your eyes wide open—you never know what may fly into your yard unexpectedly. And, if you do see anything unusual, make sure to e-mail me at chickadee@att.net.
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