Fall Nature Report

Several FrontBurnervian Birders have asked why I’ve stopped posting about birds. Well, here is why: there aren’t any. I mean, nothing too interesting outside the cardinal, blue jay, mockingbird, and grackle stuff. It’s the calm before the storm. And it was a “slow” summer. So instead of focusing on birds this summer, I paid attention to the abundance of bugs we had due to the rains. It has been a stellar season for grasshoppers, wasps, cool spiders (height of spider season is now), bees, dragonflies, and caterpillars. Last weekend I noticed my stable of anoles, those sleek green lizards that pump up a watermelon-colored sack under there chin when they get excited, have multiplied and divided to crevices all over my yard. My alpha female, Vera, lives by my front door. She loves the bees that swarm my hummingbird feeder. I thought you’d like this picture I took of Vera. She’s a feisty anole. Tra la. Goldfinch season is rapidly approaching. List your sightings below.