By NANCY JANE KERN
AFTER THIS WEEK, there should be no one complaining about dry gardens. Between the showers and thunderstorms water is running everywhere. There were a few rays of sunshine today and it seemed a good time to tour the “farm” and see what was happening.
Fortunately, the steep part of the driveway was not washed out, and the plants flourished. There are cottontail rabbits of all sizes everywhere along the paths. The raspberry and blackberry bushes are loaded with berries about to ripen. The catbirds inspect them several times a day, for the berries are a favorite part of their diet. The catbirds nest nearby and scold passersby who might be eyeing their particular patch of berries. Small wild roses covered with buds had flat flowers of pretty pink. Wild roses send out underground roots to form new plants, so there are more small bushes than last year. Probably some nice bird dropped digested rose hips to start the first one.
The field behind the house is filled with high grasses, clover blossoms, wildflowers and daisies in bloom. The milkweed plants are covered with buds waiting for monarch butterflies to arrive. Following the edge of the field are multiflora roses with most of the flowers rain battered and beginning to form tiny green rose hips. The ground in the path is covered with pink and white petals. Many newly fledged birds are fluttering around, and some are still begging parents for food, including white-breasted nuthatches and downy woodpeckers. A drive into the woods produced a pair of young woodcock enjoying the good soft earth to probe for worms. It is so nice to find these birds in the wet areas of the woods. Because of their excellent camouflage, they are rarely seen on the ground and wait until almost stepped on before suddenly flying up for a short flight, then down into the ferns. They are comical friends who have been observed here for many generations. My grandfather hunted them, and the meat is very dark and tasted like liver. They are so small that one bird hardly makes an appetizer. They are still legally hunted game birds in this area. At this stage of my life, it is nice just to see them prosper and shoot with a camera instead. Our ferns are magnificent, greener and more luxurious than usual, and hummingbirds and butterflies are everywhere there are flowers.
Grab a poncho, don a pair of boots or old sneakers, and get outside and explore. July will probably soon dry up the rain and now there is much in the outdoors that shouldn’t be missed. For help identifying your finds, go to the internet and purchase some field guide apps for your smartphone, or search the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation website. For bird questions, contact the Alan Devoe Bird Club at alandevoebirdclub.org
