Summer Drama

I thank an unknown former gardener
for planting dozens of these fragrant happy daylilies.

A raw swiss chard salad with decorative edible nasturtiums.
Young chard is not that bitter and raw greens
are said to be more nutritious.

An indescribable pink lily

Titmouse fledglings splashed in the bird bath.
This one then basked in the sun on the roof of the shed.

The surprise of new life after months in which this sword fern,
left outside all winter, appeared dead. 

First sungold cherry tomato of the season

Hydrangea after rain. I am developing a preference
for the varied shades of pinkish purplish blue flowers
that emerge in the absence of acid fertilizer. 

A hibiscus with blooms bigger than my hand drapes over the driveway.

We've been having frequent late afternoon thunderstorms,
and I'm rarely having to water the garden. 

I came home from work to find this top-heavy heirloom tomato plant
collapsed, breaking the stake. Miraculously, its stems were not broken
and my husband was able to prop it up and restake it. 

Southern Beauties - with a Maine Interlude

Imagine being a honeybee crawling on a fragrant gardenia. 

Gardenia fireworks - the shrub exploded into bloom almost overnight. 

Here we have a dramatic transition of subject, from the closeup views of a quarter-acre suburban garden to ....

the wild beauty of a rural Maine island in Casco Bay. 

 I slightly expanded the definition of backyard photos while in Maine. The bay with its changes in tides and winds and weather and sun draws me to it inexorably. It teaches me things 

that I cannot articulate. 

I try with the camera to evoke the mysterious beauty. I fail, of course, but I do not care. Life is happening according to rhythms that we cannot fathom or capture. Somehow that is a relief, a prayer.

But I am drawn to share the beautiful, and here's a bit of what I saw. 

A view from the walk to the stairs leading down to the beach.
This is one of the oldest cottages on the East End of the island.

The evening sun lights up the bay, seen from the porch of our cottage. 

High tide breaks on the ledge at the point.
How many hours (days) have I spent on this point I cannot say.  

Sunset at the wharf as seen through a lobster trap.
Lobstermen were just beginning to put in their traps for the summer. 

Twilight and eider ducks with their babies on the bay near the point. 

The beach at low tide. The rockweed has a beauty of its own,
and is home to all sorts of sea life. 

Eastern phoebes nested on the rafter of the front porch.
This phoebe alit in a lilac bush not long after fledging. 

In the miracle of modern airplane travel, I was transported reluctantly back to North Carolina. The lilies (not eaten by deer) and beginning to peak were a consolation. 

This post is the fourth in a series of "10 Days" posts featuring daily photographs from my backyard.

Bluebirds Fledge

At breakfast this morning, my husband said, "I miss the bluebirds." I knew they were getting ready to fledge, but it still was hard to see them go. This weekend, we noticed that they had grown big enough to peek out of the hole in the box.

The baby bluebirds kept their parents busy. Every few minutes, one of the parents landed on the box with a new insect to feed the young. Since the box is attached to a pine tree a few feet from the dining room window, this was our morning's entertainment. 

The babies fledged yesterday, sometime between 10:30 a.m. when I last checked on them and 12:15 p.m., when I saw a juvenile bluebird on the roof outside the upstairs office window. I hurried downstairs, grabbed the camera and tripod and was setting it up on the porch in the hope of photographing the new fledglings, when I heard an angry squawking. The male and then the female parent flew directly at my head, veering upward at the last second. It was surprising how fast they came at me - I never thought I would be intimidated by a 6-inch bird.

Clearly something major was going on. The bluebirds never had attacked me before, though I'd been observing and photographing them daily for a month. I retreated into the house and then sneaked back onto the porch and sat in a chair, hoping that would seem less threatening than standing.

My husband saw the fledgling first. It was clinging onto a pine tree about 40 feet from the box, and was so well camouflaged that it took me a couple of minutes to see it, even when he pointed it out to me. The baby bluebird didn't seem to know how to use its wings. It would stay still for a minute or two, then make an awkward fluttering motion that moved it a foot or two up on the trunk.

The father bluebird flew over to check on the baby and perhaps to give it food. It is sweet to see how protective the father appears in the photo below.

The baby moved around to the other side of the trunk. I didn't want to risk another dive-bombing, so I let the bluebirds have some privacy. This was the last sighting I had of a fledgling. 

I worried about how helpless the baby seemed, but on occasion I saw the parents flying around the garden and heard peeping that I hoped was coming from the fledglings. As I worked in the office, I also saw both bluebirds dive at a squirrel, driving him from a maple tree. And later, the male bluebird boldly chased a red-shouldered hawk out of the yard.

Sweet fledglings, I wish you well. You've got great parents!

P.S. Since I've been accumulating bluebird photos, I might as well share them. Here's a few more bluebird photos from the last month.

A refreshing midday dip.

Female bluebird, wet from the bath.

Male bluebird sits on a favorite perch.

"A man's interest in a single bluebird is worth more than a complete but dry list of the flora and fauna of a town." ~ Henry David Thoreau

Bluebirds Are Back!

On April 16, the bluebirds disappeared from the box. The day before their disappearance, the babies had become loud and lively. I heard scuffling sounds inside the box and saw little heads peeking out. Then, nothing. When I mentioned the missing bluebirds, a gardening friend said, "Do you think something got them?" I chose to believe they had fledged. Now, one month later, they're back. The box is once again a hub of bluebird activity.

Male bluebird brings an insect, while juvenile bluebird hangs out. 

The female seems to be spending more time in the box - I think she's sitting on a second set of eggs.

Bird's eye view (Female bluebird)

A young bluebird frequently accompanies one of the parents and sits on the box while they are busy inside. Young bluebirds from the first brood help the parents feed nestlings from the second brood, according to "Birds of the Carolinas." Perhaps mama and papa should cut down on junior's ration of insects. He appears to be larger than either of his parents. 

Junior: "Feed me!"  Mama: "Are you crazy? You're bigger than I am!"

Note to self: Remember to remove the window screen before photographing bluebirds!