Chez Moi--Blue Birds Everywhere I Look

Hot weather can make me cranky, especially when temps near ninety strike in May, before I've managed to get acclimated to summer heat. I've been forcing myself to be outdoors before 7am for my daily woods and fields ramble. Sophie and I don't take the same route everyday, but we like to explore at least 90 minutes every morning and we always make a sweep of our back meadows, especially where the stream rushes through a thicket of young saplings--birch, beech, black cherry, maple, poplar, and ash.

Indigo Bunting
While walking there this morning, I saw my first indigo bunting of the season, in the same general area where I spotted one last spring. He made a racket as we walked by and flew back and forth. Aahh, nesting behavior, I whispered to Sophie. (At least it is for other birds--I'm not sure about indigo buntings.) It would be wonderful if he and his mate raised their young at our place, especially since another site on our mountain road, where I spotted a nesting pair last year, was destroyed last fall and winter by logging.

And, to top off the week, we still have a pair of eastern bluebirds hanging out on our fence in the meadow. They've now been around for a week. Does this mean they're considering staying here for the summer? I hope so! Yesterday I saw two bluebird females. A menage a trois? No, bluebirds are pretty strait-laced about their sexual relationships. However, they often produce two broods and sometimes three in a single season. After thinking we'd have to wait until next year to post a bluebird box, I now know there is time for Ken to build one after all. I'll bring it up when I tell him I bought his favorite kind of hamburger for dinner tonight. (I broke down and bought 85% lean instead of the usual 90%. It's Memorial Day Weekend, after all.)

Enjoy your weekend! May it find you outdoors surrounded by nature.