Nature Note:Summer Concert

A free summer concert was heard this morning.Performing were mourning doves,field crickets,tree crickets and a Carolina chickadee.The summer seemed more complete with this avian music.The Mid-Atlantic region was being itself through its hot weather and melodious wildlife.Growers could feel themselves to be at home.

Nature Note:Surprising Dove

As I go about maintaining the property,mourning doves often explode out of a tree or shrub,startling me-no matter how many times I have experienced this.The doves want to stay on their perches,but fear overwhelms them until,at the last moment,they are forced into the air with a great rustle and whistle.They would have been perfectly safe,as I've never noticed one who subsequently blew past me.On the ground,this placid and portly-looking bird gives no hint of its extraordinary agility and speed in the air,which make it a test for hunters in the late summer.

Nature Note:Young of the Year

They are already appearing,the young of the year.Mourning doves were the first sighted,with three squabs eating under the feeder with their parents.Then a male northern cardinal was seen feeding his young in a leyland cypress.This morning,a tiny cottontail was observed nestled against a picket fence.The rabbits can be pesky,occasionally nibbling on landscape plants,but are generally a welcome member of the urban forest.Yesterday,a light frost occurred-probably the final one of the year-but the tomato plants were unscathed,along with the tiny rabbit.