Yard visitors

An early morning visitor to our yard (garden) is pictured here. Although we often get these delightful creatures passing through,they don't usually hang about long enough for me to get my camera. This little "dear" obliged today.

We are lucky to be visited by much more wildlife that we ever were when living in England (and that was in a country village). In the early eighties, when we moved from the city we were visited by many garden, farmland and hedgerow birds, but by the time we left for Spain in 2001, we no longer saw wrens, chaffinches or hardly a robin.

Here we are visited by a great many colorful varieties, including the wonderful NC State bird, the Cardinal. Summers see humming birds hovering over flowers and the nectar feeding bottle we hang up. We usually have a pair of morning doves picking up seeds dropped on our porch by the fussy finches and chickadees. One morning this summer I heard a crash against our study window and was amazed to see a red-tailed hawk carry off one the doves among a flurry of feathers! I really felt sorry for the dove's mate. American robins are at least twice the size of an English robin (I can almost hear my English friends saying "well, they would be!) and are not solitary but flock onto our grass to feed on the insects and grubs.

Squirrels are plentiful and we usually have a few chipmunks and rabbits scurrying about. There has been evidence of the cheeky raccoon but unfortunately we only have seen these as corpses on the highway, victims of the automobile.

Reptiles are more prevalent than we have been used to. Salamanders, toads and several varieties of snakes are often seen. The Black Racer snake is well named - they are fast!

Now, as we really get into the Fall (autumn), visitors arrive in their thousands. What are they? . . . . . . . . LEAVES! My better half enjoys raking leaves . . . . . I thank Heaven she does!