"Dog Days" of Summer 2008

[Mimi]

Remember running through the sprinkler as a kid? Out in west Texas all that would create is a mud puddle and a happy kid! Today I have happy magpies. The soaker hose has been on all morning around the bed of iris down by the creek. I turned around twice and saw magpies taking a bath!  A few of the holes in the soaker hoses allow a tiny stream of water to sprout out occasionally and they were happy, happy fighting over who got that little stream!

Those birds are amazing. I love watching them. The other day there was a ruckus out there and what I found was an old dog loping through the field with about five magpies after him. Poor thing - he was just passing through but they didn't like it. It was the first time I ever saw a magpie dive bomb something!  Oh, the Lord's creatures can be such characters! 

[JimB]

Wow... that takes me back to when I was about 10 years old maybe. We had a Siamese cat and she was out walking near our neighbor's barn when all the sudden the Barn Swallows started to dive bomb her. I don't know if they ever actually touch her but she flipped over on her back a couple of times.  Thanks for the good memories!

[Mimi]

Notice how quiet the forum gets in the summer months? Are each of you enjoying the warmth we longed for while in the grips of winter? It is difficult to believe one entire month of summer is already gone.

[Richard Myers]

Quite different from the beautiful mild days of spring!!  While we don't have the fresh blooms, we do have peaches, apricots, cherries, tomatoes without salmonella, and lots of squash!!  And, yes in California many fires.

[Mimi]

Magnificent crop, Richard!

We do pray for all of you in California. What devastation. With the huge Canadian water scooping airplane, can you see that it has helped? Is there any relief with air quality anywhere? I am so sorry the incredibly anticipated summer has turned to this. 

[Lewis]

tomatoes without salmonella

Now that had a tiny bit of humor in it   . That would be great to be able to grow apricots and squash. I love to eat them.

What garden we had, the fox had this morning. He was very skinny.

We have had about 3 days of hot weather here where it has reached about 78 degrees. And the sun was quite intense. Temperatures that warm at this altitude can be dangerous. The air is thin, and it only takes about 15 minutes to get a severe sunburn. At night we still get into the 30's which is quite nice.

[Mimi]

At night we still get into the 30's which is quite nice.

Whoa, Lewis! So you are still burning firewood! That is amazing!

[Wally]

Notice how quiet the forum gets in the summer months? Are each of you enjoying the warmth we longed for while in the grips of winter? It is difficult to believe one entire month of summer is already gone.

We're still waiting for summer here in Maine.  9" of rain in June (2nd rainiest June in the 22 years we have been here) made it seem more like May, with not too many sunny days, and not much hot weather.  I'm waiting to see if the moss will grow on the north side of the roof, like out in Washington State.   In spite of all that the garden is looking good.  I picked my first broccoli on Friday, and I may have Swiss Chard big enough to eat by next week.

As for your Magpies, I do miss those.  I've only lived in a couple of places where they were common.  Here it's just Blue Jays and more Blue Jays.  Of course, having Rose-breasted Grosbeaks at my feeders all summer isn't too bad.

[Richard Myers]

Speaking of birds in the summer......

<A HREF="http://remnant-online.com/Audio/Kookaburra.wav"><Listen to the Kookaburra></A> 

[Wally]

Thanks, brother Richard, I have always liked that call.  But where are my tickets to Australia, so I can enjoy them for real?

[Mimi]

What a joy to hear that call! Thanks, Richard!

As for your Magpies, I do miss those.

They have nests in most of the trees down by the creek and are all over!  Occasionally I will give them food (grains, etc.) out on a large rock outside the kitchen windows. The mothers bring their young to teach them to eat on their own. By now, the babies are the same size as the mothers ... yet they stand, big and gawky, with their mouths open for the mother to feed them. It is absolutely hysterical! If too many hound her for food, she will fly off to a nearby tree and they stand around wondering where she is! They are such entertainment! Such large birds and these babies are such a group of gawky, awkward things!

The magpie songs? Absolutely horrible!  Nothing like our sweet kookaburra! 

[Wally]

The magpie songs? Absolutely horrible!  Nothing like our sweet kookaburra! 

Corvids are not known for their singing ability, but they are good mimics (not as good as Mockingbirds, of course).  The Blue Jays do such a good job of imitating Red-shouldered Hawk (which nests about a mile down the road from my house), that I usually can't tell which one I'm hearing.

[Richard Myers]

Hot summer days are interesting, but when thinking of birds and summer, my minds drifts back to the hot summer nights when trying to fall asleep. The heat is bad enough, but there is another disturbance, the incessant bird just outside my open window. For years I did not realize who he was, but now I do. The ever singing Mockingbird. All night long he continues. Now that I know who he is, I find it interesting to hear the many different birds that he mimics. I even begin to answer his call with birds that he is not copying. Some have then repeated my call. 

Although many species of bird imitate other birds, the Northern Mockingbird is the best known in North America for doing so. It imitates not only birds but also other animals and mechanical sounds such as car alarms. As convincing as these imitations may be to humans, they often fail to fool other birds.

The Northern Mockingbird's mimicry is likely to serve as a tool for increasing the size of its repertoire and thus its ability to attract females. The mockingbird is limited to imitating short units of sound, which it repeats several times before moving on to a new sound. As a result, the mockingbird sounds much better (to a human ear) imitating some species than others.

The Northern Mockingbird, in addition to being a good mimic, is also one of the loudest and most constantly vocal of birds. It often sings through the night, especially unmated males, or when the moon is full. It sings year-round except sometimes for the late-summer moulting season. Individual males have repertoires of 50 to 200 songs; females sing as well, but more quietly and less often than males. Mockingbirds usually sing the loudest in the twilight of the early morning when the sun is on the horizon.

Yes, I can testify that "he" does indeed sing "loudly", especially in the still of the night. 

[Wally]

I have fond memories of Mockingbirds singing out may window all night long when I was a teenager in the Napa Valley.  That's one thing I miss here.  We have them, but they're few and far between, and usually in towns or near farms--not out in the woods where I live.

[Sister Dee]

Hot summer days are interesting, but when thinking of birds and summer, my minds drifts back to the hot summer nights when trying to fall asleep. The heat is bad enough, but there is another disturbance, the incessant bird just outside my open window. For years I did not realize who he was, but now I do. The ever singing Mockingbird. All night long he continues. Now that I know who he is, I find it interesting to hear the many different birds that he mimics. I even begin to answer his call with birds that he is not copying. Some have then repeated my call. 

We have at least one mockingbird by us this year and are enjoying him immensely!  Doesn't keep us awake at night, though.  Must be all the fans we have going.  (Good for blocking out barking dogs, too!) 

I'll have to tell my dh about your getting some to repeat your call.  He'd love that!  Whenever we go to the zoo, he's always trying to get birds to "talk" to him. 

[Lewis]

We finally have some color now besides the green, brown and grey. The columbine are out. Different blues, purples, white and yellow.

Oh, by the way, we have not even hit 80 degrees. I think 75 has been are high a couple of times, and that is it.

Just think... in 2 months our leaves will be yellow.

[Mimi]

No! You shouldn't have said that!  Two months! We need more!

[Wally]

Just think... in 2 months our leaves will be yellow.

Now there's a man with a positive outlook!   We've got about 2 1/2 months before the leaf peepers arrive for the fall colors here.  Not something to dwell on--I'm still waiting for my first ripe tomatoes.

[Lewis]

There are many flowers that grow around my home and in the county where I live here in the mountains. The valley floor between mountain ranges is 9,300 - 10,000 ft. elevation. Everywhere else is from 10,000 - over 14,000 ft. in elevation. The flowers are: Marsh Marigolds, Avalanche Lilies, Bluebells, King's Crown, Bistort, Indian Paintbrush, Globeflower, Sky Pilots, Wild Poppy, Shooting Stars, Water Lillies and Columbine. The picture (avatar) that I have currently has some of these flowers.

[Lewis]

Well, summer is coming to an end where I live. They had an event here this past weekend called Boom Days which has activities similar to that of the old mining days. This event also signifies the end to our summer up here at this elevation. Typically, colder weather and the turning of the leaves starts around this time. Fall is here for us!

Today, I went out and ran for 10 miles behind our house at about 10,600 to 11,100 feet. I saw the aspen leaves starting to turn the typical lime color just before becoming yellow. Our first real good freeze also hits about 6 weeks after the Indian Paint Brush come out. Our temperatures will probably be in the 20's around August 15th. Our first snow usually is September 15th, and we usually have 1 or 2 10-18 inch snow falls by the end of September.