Happy Summer Solstice! (+ Bird Pictures)

The summer solstice is our longest day and shortest night of the year. It's not just a date, but a specific point in time: specifically, in the Northern hemisphere, this year, 7:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time.

One source says the word comes from combining the Latin words sol and stice, which mean sun and to stand still.  TimeandDate.com says it comes from the Latin solstitium, meaning sun-stopping. Both origins would make sense because, on this day, the point at which the sun appears to rise and set peaks and reverses direction.

I hope you enjoyed every moment of your sunniest day of the year! I know my family did.

Bird Pictures

I mentioned my new family of bird bottle Bluebird babies in a previous post and promised a picture. If you look closely you can see the one on the left with his yellow beak open on the left, the middle brother is laying low (you can see his right eye), and the on on the right is trying to hide. I'm just happy I was able to get any kind of picture at all!

I also posted previously about our sleepy front porch bird. I said it was hard to get a good image of her because she always had her nose stuck in the corner. Guess what? She wasn't so shy tonight...and she arrived a bit before dark so I could photograph her.

So tomorrow's just a teeny-weeny bit shorter than today- don't waste a minute! Get out there and enjoy yourself.

More Bird Bottle Babies!

I wrote back in April about my bird bottles and the families that live in them. Early this month, I told you I was hoping for a second batch of baby bluebirds, since the same bluebird couple (read more about Eastern Bluebirds here) had nested in another of our bottles. This weekend we discovered three baby birdies in the new nest! I'm hopeful that I can get you a picture, but they don't stay in the nest very long- just a few days.  I was able to get a shot of their former nest, though, when we cleaned out the bottle. Most small birds won't refurbish old nests. So if you want a new bird, or even the same bird, to nest in it again, you have to clean it out. Too bad they don't reuse the nests after all that hard work! The intricacy of their nest-building always takes my breath away! I can't help wondering how they get it started- with just one beak and two tiny feet to work with... I mean, look at that delicate weaving!  

Also, cardinals are nesting in a burning bush next to my sewing cottage. They lay the most beuatiful tan eggs with brown speckles! Last year a series of rainstorms destroyed their nest, so I'm crossing my fingers for baby cardinal this year!

Bird Bottle Babies!

Our baby Bluebirds have hatched!

This little birdy family is living at my sewing cottage in a Colonial Williamsburg bird bottle. Another bird couple (small brown birds, possibly wrens) is nesting in the one at our carriage house, but no baby-chirping coming from that one just yet. No one ever seems to want to nest in our third bottle- I think it's too near our back entrance. The mom and dad share feeding responsibilities and made a million trips in and out today. The sad news is that we saw a Bluejay leaving the nest on Friday with something in its mouth. Did you know that those meanies snatch other species' hatchlings?  

The Redeemed Gardener posted pictures last week of the wrens and finches his four bird bottles in West Virginia attracted. I hope he didn't have to hide in the bushes as long as I did to get his shots!