October 21, 2016
We've had so much rain that one of my artichoke plants wilted as if gophers were eating the roots. It was waterlogged. On the other side of the garden I caught a mole in my gopher trap. If the mole had been under the artichoke it would have had good drainage. Moles can sometimes be beneficial. I don't know why the garden cat didn't get the mole..
She's too busy catching birds and trying to bring them in the house. I guess she doesn't like digging in the mud either. The copious amount of rain also split most of my ripened tomatoes. I had blossom end rot at the beginning of the summer, and stem end split at the end, but had some nice ones in-between..
October 22, 2016
The internet is always more interesting on a rainy day. Any excuse to not get wet. I found out that the exoskeleton clinging to my garden gate is left over from a hatched cicada. The skinny Dragonflies that land on the straw mulch are called damselflys..
The huge white heron like bird that fly's over is called an egret. Now if I could find out why the woodpeckers tuck in their wings and dive while flying between trees I'd be all set until another rainy day..
October 27, 2016
This was another "stay out of the garden" day but I was glad I didn't. The hawk that perches in the cottonwood from time to time landed on a corner post of my garden fence. He was close enough and stayed long enough that I got to memorize how he looked. Then I went up to the house and found him on the internet. It was a sharp shinned hawk, and they help keep the smaller birds from eating my veggies..
It's fun to add a new bird to my list of feathered friends, but I have to have them sit still for awhile in order to identify them. A northern flicker had to sit on the deck rail while I was having coffee in order for me to ID him, and a Cooper hawk sat in the front yard for a minute or so. The red tailed hawk didn't ever have to sit still because his tail shows when he flies..
