Late Summer Gifts

August 24. 2026Late summer. On the surface, it seems like a rather slow time of year when not much is happening. Yet, when I look closer, there is so much life happening before my eyes.Baby cardinal finally popped out of the leaves for a moment!Young birds are EVERYWHERE in large packs. Flickers are playing in mud, in the sand, and in the grass. Exploring what they can and gently harassing their classmates at random.Young flicker in the grass, with the tell-tale mud on his beak.Not quite sure how he doesn’t get sand in his eyes, but it does look like something any kid would do.Young bluebirds chase each other, catch bugs, and sometimes stop to watch the other birds with curiosity.Sometimes they look at me with curiosity too! And sometimes the light hits that blue just right.The eastern kingbird kindergarten is overflowing, and they are learning both bug-catching skills and their signature “how to run off competitors” skills at the same time. They aren’t called kingbirds for…