I’m sorry to report that I’ve had to take down our bird feeder for a week or two. One day I noticed that one of the house finches at the feeder looked like it had been in a fist fight – one eye seemed to be partially closed and the feathers surrounding the eye looked ruffled. Since birds don’t have fist fights I consulted Google and found that house finches are susceptible to a disease called mycoplasmal conjunctivitis. It is highly contagious to other house finches and can result in blindness and death due to starvation. They recommended taking down the feeder, cleaning it thoroughly, and putting it back up – which I did. However, a day or so later I noticed another finch had the same funky looking eyes (the first was female and the second male, which is how I knew it wasn’t the same bird). Again I consulted the online experts and saw that the safest thing to do would be to take the feeder down for a significant amount of time so that the flock could disperse. I’m sad that I can’t watch the birds at the feeder for a while, but I really didn’t want to host a super-spreader event right in my own backyard.
I still find it very meditative to watch the goings-on back there, even without the feeder. The other early evening I noticed some deer passing through, munching at the grass and random fallen branches. I had decided not to try to take any photos of them because the light was fading and photos in the late afternoon, past the golden hour, don’t tend to turn out very well for me. “I’ll just enjoy the deer without getting my camera,” I thought. Of course, a young Coopers Hawk decided right at that moment to land in the little tree closest to our house. I scrambled for my camera, fumbled about trying to turn it on and focus in a rush, and managed to get one blurry shot before the hawk flew off again. Even blurry, she’s (he’s?) a beauty. Moments like that are such a gift. After that I decided that any time I am looking outside, my camera will always be at my side, turned on!
I had a lovely weekend – writing a couple of letters, working my current jigsaw puzzle, reading, keeping up with friends with Zoom and group texts. I dried some organic fruit in my dehydrator – navel oranges, cara cara oranges, pears, and granny smith apples. Chris and I watched a couple episodes of His Dark Materials and the 2020 version of the movie Emma. I recommend both! I feel rested and ready to tackle a new work week.
I hope you have a good week. I’ll see you back here next weekend.
Love,
Michelle xoxo