For a change in 2003, it has been quite dry here lately. Almost
no rain for a month.

As a result when my automatic watering system snaps into action
at 4 p.m. every day, I've been having a bird-watching treat among
my bonsai tables and the adjacent gardens.

Today for example, in the space of a few minutes, several tufted
titmouses, 4-5 chickadees, 2-3 blue-gray gnatcatchers, several
yellow-rumped (AKA myrtle) warblers, a couple of ruby-crowned
kinglets and perhaps a dozen of those unidentifiable "little gray
birds" (other warblers, vireos, etc.) descended on the watering
area en mass.

The twittering and chirping (and arguing for a spot under one of
the sprayheads or in the bird bath) is low-decibel deafening.

I often catch my breath as a titmouse -- at 6 inches, larger than
the tree it sits in -- perches and flutters its wings in a mame
trident or privet, hoping that the tree won't collapse. But the
birds -- even wet -- are lighter than the trees and pots, and all
is well.

Occasionally, a cardinal or even a blue jay will swoop in,
scattering everyone, and land hard on one of my larger trees.
The little birds fly back as soon as the big boys have had
enough.

The waterer is on for 30 minutes every afternoon (it will go to
an every-other-day schedule in late November) and I make a point
to be outside on a bench to watch the show.

It's about the only bird show around this time of year. It's
fall, and everything has gone to seed, so they don't flock to
feeders that much.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - The phrase
'sustainable growth' is an oxymoron. - Stephen Viederman

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