Nature Notes

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Early morning in the hot tub at the BreMillers. Some of the brightest constellations, Orion, Taurus, the Pleiades, Perseus and Cassiopeia, can be seen, trees and clouds permitting. Toward the end of our dip we often hear the two neighborhood owls, sometimes a great distance apart. If we are lazy and get up at breaking dawn we first hear jays, and sometimes crows, followed by the songbirds. We take it as our duty to try to identify these. Our small percentage of success is slowly rising. [Ruth BreMiller]

Our cliff swallows and their second batch of young left well after the other swallows on Sept 10. We saw the last one of "our " vultures soaring over the valley on Sept.29. During September I frequently saw small bright green HYLA, future "spring peepers", on the rose bushes, eating aphids, I hope. Tiny garter snakes, about 5 inches long and much swifter than their parents, are scuttling around on the lawn. I make safe places for garter snakes in the vegetable garden. They love to hang out under boards and [especially] black plastic, as do their [and my] favorite prey, slugs. We have many snakes and very few slugs in our garden. The long dry fall, so like last year, makes me cross. Does it mean another dry year? The rain year, October 1, 1999 to October 1, 2000 was nearly 10 inches below normal accumulation. The low water table and the dry warm winds are very hard on the trees and perennial shrubs. The springs that feed our pond are still active, but up the hill the spring which provided water for this homestead for decades dried up completely in September. [Reida Kimmel]

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