Bird and Garden Diary - late summer

I saw my first chickadee visitor at the birdfeeder this morning. I've been hearing them in the yard for several weeks now, but this is the first time I've seen one. Like the white-breasted nuthatch last fall, he swooped in, grabbed something, and flew off with it. I hope I will be seeing them through the winter!

On August 24 I had a rare and out-of-season visit : two red-breasted nuthatches hung around the finch feeders for 15 or 20 minutes. They seemed delighted to be here! According to the Birds of Minnesota field guide they are winter residents in this part of the state, and year-round residents farther north. On the mnbird newsgroup list, there have been numerous sightings around the Twin Cities in the last several weeks. Speculation is that the drought up north might be the reason they are foraging farther south this early. They were darling, and I would love to see them around in the winter! Much "tamer" than the white-breasted nuthatches and a joy to watch. Will keep my fingers crossed!

I have lots of goldfinches and lots of house sparrows right now. Haven't seen my woodpeckers for a couple of months, but they will be back. Haven't seen my house finches for a while either.

Nothing much has been blooming in the garden this month. It seems that most of my plants are May-June bloomers like the iris, rosebush, daisies, lambsears, columbine, campanulas, foxglove, and lilies. Or they are yet to bloom like the sedum, mums, aster, and white swan coneflower. The butterfly bush is going strong. The beebalm is still blooming. I have alyssum along the front walk, and zinnias up by the vegetable garden. And the osteospermum is blooming, but is not as prolific as last summers. The coreopsis is blooming. I need to get more of that and plant it along the front walk. I should run over to Chaska Farm and Garden and see what they have in their "rummage sale." The pansies are blooming too, especially with the cooler weather, but there are only a few here and there in the garden.

Oh, there is a volunteer growing among the lambsears which is blooming. It has big, bright yellow flowers with a smooth brown center on a tall stalk. I can't quite identify it. It seems to be in the aster/sunflower family, but it has hairy leaves. I just went through the perennial book and for midsummer to fall blooms, looks like I would do well with monkshood (shade), obedient plant, rose mallow, turtlehead, and penstemon. I should walk up to Muoi's house and see what she has blooming now.

I went and bought more birdfeeders this weekend. Will put some up on the other side of the yard where I can see them from the porch.