Very Quiet...

Aquilegia (Columbine)

The temperature was a little cool this morning at 57 degrees, but it wasn't raining, so I decided to head to the park for a nice walk.

It's fairly quiet over there as the birds attend to their parental duties. Saw most of our summer regulars including, of course, the tree swallows, a few barn swallows, robins, titmice, mourning doves, song sparrows, cow birds, blackbirds, grackles, yellow warblers, cat birds etc. Saw two cedar waxwings sitting in a tree looking very elegant. Their coloring is one of those miracles of nature.

The house wren family, in the bird box on the golf course side of the lower gardens, have babies that are quite vocal now. It made me laugh to hear them. Mom or Dad came back with some goodies and they were so excited.

I've been checking the meadow out each week to see if more wildflowers are coming back and today I saw purple dames rocket, fleabane and yellow coreopsis blooming. Not a lot, but it's something.

Canadian geese family

It seems like the upper gardens have been extraordinarily quiet compared to other years. I could hear a warbling vireo, but never caught a glimpse. Some goldfinches were hanging out, the tree swallows were in abundance and I could hear a flicker, some chickadees and more house wrens. Two cormorants flew overhead.

Down by the river, the phoebe still sits on her second nest while Canadian geese families glide down the river for a Sunday outing. I saw two families together today - one with two babies and one with three.