The Fall Update

It's getting colder, leaves are falling and food sources are disappearing. I'm going to miss spring and summer in some ways. It went by way too quick, in my opinion. The spring nesting season went by so fast... I wish every season was spring. I loved watching all of the birds building nests in my yard and going back and forth for nesting material. And then, obviously, the little feathered muffins that are produced in the nest is a great thing. Baby birds are so cute. Hopefully next year I'll have even more birds nesting around my yard.

One thing I've realized is that feeders are a really good thing for injured or sick birds. Most have a harder time than other healthy birds getting food, and it's easier on them. I've had a few, mostly grackles with injured/infected talons or a missing leg, and house finches with house finch disease. Last winter I had one blue jay with an injured talon that I wrote about quite a bit. After a while I never saw him again. I'd hate it if he died. Maybe he just left the area...

I've had my fair share of deaths. I saw a butterfly go into convulsions and about an hour later it was being eaten by ants, which had obviously died. It was sad. Soon there was no indication that this little butterfly had even existed. It was completely gone, and presumably eaten.

Last summer I saw two butterflies, one chasing the other, that I wrote about. They are probably both dead now, too. The only thing that remains of both of them is my memory of that sweet, innocent experience. I did recently see two butterflies of the same color (yellow-green) doing similar things, like chasing each other, etc. It made me think of the two butterflies last summer.

Life is such a delicate thing.

I also saw a bumble bee dying or in convulsions, a dead honey bee, a few other already-dead insects. The biggest death I saw was a young male cardinal that hit a window about a month ago. So young and full of life, but in a second came to an end. It broke it's neck and had blood coming out of his beak. I was sad to see it. The first cardinal I've ever seen dead in-person and have picked up. It was heavier than I thought it'd be. He had many years ahead of him, probably would have even had a few families himself, then one day it's over before his life even really begins.