Bird Feeder # 1

Yesterday Dee went to Contours and I went to Rotary. The Rotary program was about a local outdoor camp for physically and mentally challenged people called Woodlands Camp. They even have a handicap accessible golf course tht accomodates wheelchairs. They do a lot of good for the community and have volunteers from the pittwburgh Symphony orchestra as well as other notable people. They do arts, sports, music and even aquatic activities. Great program. It's in Wexford, PA.

Later in the day it stopped raining and actually got pretty nice. We went looking for some bird feeders and hook poles that attach to the deck to hold the feeder. We found what we wanted and bought one. I decided to start by feeding the birds split peanuts. They are to attract certain kinds of birds. The salesman said it might take a couple of days for the birds to find the feeder. As it turns out our first bird that came and sat on the top of the feeder (but didn't eat) was an Easter Phoebe. And the first bird to actually dine on the nuts was a White-Breasted Nuthatch. (It seems they like to eat upside down.) Cool. We also had somekind of swallows or swifts in the area. They soared up and down the valley behind our house and would swoop up and the kinda "stall" and then dive-bomb down. I think the were catching insects out of the air and the book said they like dragonflies. I'd seen a couple of them during the day, so that must be what they were after. The back yard looked like a busy airport.

We read on the deck for the early evening and enjoyed the nice breeze. I practiced my music for our two performances tomorrow (Friday at noon and 5 PM at the Cranberry Community Center. (All reading this are welcome to come. The local Rotary will be cooking chickens and so a nice chicken dinner is available as well.) I still don't know all the words, so I need to review them and the notes. I'd like to be an asset to the group. That happens when you get more comfortable with the words and then can get into "selling" the song with facial expressions and bodily movements... It'll come.) Bonz got his usual walk. Here's a picture of him lounging under our picnic table in the shade. (A common site when we're on the deck.)

Then we closed out the evening with a nice time in our hot tub. Just what we needed for a good night's sleep. Ahhhh.