After accidentally spilling birdseed on the deck, I saw many more birds coming to eat. One of my favorites is the Eastern Towhee. To me, he is a fancy bird – colorful and with pretty white markings on the black feathers on his back.

We’ve had song sparrows all along, but with easier access to the seed, more came. I enjoyed watching a mother feed her baby. She would eat about four seeds and turn to pop one into the baby’s mouth. It took a while for me to realize the baby was pecking at seeds himself, while crying for her to feed him. I wanted to tell her to make him do the dishes.

The horse chestnut trees had more blooms this year than I’ve seen before. One tree presented a blossom for my inspection on a low branch near the creek. The ones I used to see in New York were much, much larger and whiter than this. Perhaps there are different kinds, or maybe the altitude makes a difference.