A Season for Giving
This fall, the garden has been giving many gifts that add meaning to my daily routine and to my overall well-being. The fall migration brought surprise sightings of new “friends” stopping by during their fly-through: A pair of Gilded Flickers spent a week visiting, and seemed particularly fond of sips & dips in the clay saucer birdbath under the Ash Tree, and several Blue Grosbeaks spent a few days enjoying the seed mix we’ve started spreading each morning on the stone metates that are scattered through the garden. A covey of 10 Gambel’s Quail have also been enjoying the new “snack walk” as they go from one metate to another to scoop up breakfast, then stay around the garden to scratch though the wood chip mulch for ants. I love their distinctive call and the whirring sound of their wing-beats as they take off into the wash below the garden. They’re the only birds I’ve seen so far who can boss around the Eurasian Collared Doves too! Daily magic Fo...