House wrens are dueling outside the window this morning. I can hear their trilly, buzzy song from all sides of the house. I can also hear the first wood thrush of the year working out its double syrinx in the woods right now. Last night, the woods on either side of the house were noisy with wrens, of both the house and Carolina varieties. The evening also heralded the arrival of the first gray catbird of summer. It’s that noisy-bird time of spring right now, where the only sound the overpowers the tweety cacophony is the constant barking of a particular neighborhood dog. (Not ours, but I won’t get into that here.)
Our new garden and creek are attracting a tremendous number of butterflies, which enjoy dabbling in the moist areas and checking out the blooming salvia and dianthus. These spicebush swallowtails are appearing in huge numbers. There’s a lot of native stuff blooming in the woods as well, so we’ve got plenty of dining options.
I dug up these irises from Tim and Mel’s garden last fall. They were in two big clumps, which Josh and I divided and planted at the side of the hill. I didn’t think they’d bloom this year, but they’re going like gangbusters and smell like a dream. (That goes for this Iris, too.) Happy likes to sniff around this flower bed. You can see Tito’s head peeking over the side of the creek off to the far left. He looks like a cranky old Bulgarian man sometimes. No offense to my cranky old Bulgarian man readers. I’ve already got the Sam Peabody contingent on my back, I don’t need more trouble.
Josh spotted the first hummingbird moth of the season. They’ve been enjoying the dianthus and this May Night salvia. I confess that when I shot this pic I thought I was shooting a bumblebee (I was quite a distance away). Only this morning, when I uploaded the image, did I see that I lucked out with the hummingbird moth. I love these guys. Have you seen the hummingbird moth video I shot last fall?
Today’s another action-packed day at the GBirds Wildlife Resort & Spa ‘n Stuff. I have a manuscript to edit, my online clients are sending me the usual load of stuff, and I have to get the house in order for the arrival of Josh’s folks and a little get-together on Sunday night. Josh got stressed out this morning during Tito’s walk. Apparently a neighbor’s puppy followed him home. Josh returned it to its house, but the puppy just kept following Josh back to our house. He came in the house with this wild-eyed look and said, “Puppies keep following me!” Seriously, how bad can life be if your big problem is that you’re being trailed by puppies?
Arrgh! You beat me to the catbird by one day! Come over and see what came to my yard today!
Iris, I need to add you to my blogroll. I love visiting here and don’t get here often enough!
I saw my first hummingbird moth a few weeks ago. Stunning! I don’t get very many migrants here but I’m waiting for the grosbeaks that arrived around the same time last year. You have a menagerie of birds that visit. It must be wonderful!
I enjoy Tito and Happy, of course. Like my two, always with their noses to the ground, frightening the birds away when my camera is ready
)
I have not seen a catbird here yet, but I do get a variety of butterflies. And the season is just beginning.
I am guessing you have been getting lots of rain. Here in Charlotte, the water restrictions are slowly being lifted. Life is good. A real soaker today.
Mary
Mary, I’m a little jealous of your hummingbird. The only thing my hbird feeder is attracting is ants. Grosbeaks seem to be passing through, although I haven’t seen any of those yet, either.
It rained buckets yesterday, which was a real test for our new creekbed. Seems to be working like a charm, as the yard is a “normal” wet instead of a marsh. The plants are loving it. So much better than last year!