September 13, 2004

There’s still a lot of hummingbird action, but I haven’t seen the Rufous or broadbills for many days. I think I have at least a couple of broad-tails, and Anna’s, and probably still some black-chins. The trouble is that the feeders are not as close as they were at the other house, and they are all in the shade, so it’s hard to get a good look at coloration.

Also among the missing seem to be white-wing doves. I haven’t seen one or heard one for a while. I wish I’d been paying close enough attention to determine exactly when they took off. Apparently they all do it around the same time.

I also hadn’t and haven’t seen many cardinals, but I did see a female using the feeder the other day, and briefly saw a male this morning, though not using the feeder. Pyrrhuloxias continue to visit the pond, but I don’t see them hanging out by the seed feeder. Maybe they aren’t as smart as cardinals?

Still no mockingbirds, not even a glimpse since the last one a few weeks ago.

I’ve given up and decided to make friends with the algae in the pond. Everything I have read says it is basically good for the pond. I put in a small pot of papyrus, which may help a little. The water itself is clear, it’s just that everything is covered with green muck. The birds don’t seem to mind a bit. This morning I saw around a dozen (they were moving too much to count accurately) little sparrows bathing. It’s still hot out, but the pond is cool, and they all seemed to be having a wonderful time, submerging then fluttering, submerging again, flying off to groom, then repeating the whole sequence.