Kim Hershey
Short observations from the garden and beyond. What showed up, what it did, and what I made of it.
Saw her at 6:40am, moving along the back fence with the particular unhurried confidence of an animal that has decided this garden belongs to her. She stopped at the compost bin, considered it, and moved on. I've been watching her for two years. She has never once looked surprised to see me.
The male has now been evicted from the nest cavity three times. He keeps returning. The female keeps evicting him. I don't know what he did but she has not forgiven it. I have started keeping notes. I have opinions about who is right.
Still seeing bumblebees on the lavender at 4pm, which is later than I expected this far into September. Three species in one afternoon: buff-tailed, white-tailed, and one I couldn't identify confidently. The lavender is past its best but they don't seem to care.
The inoculated apple log I set up in March has finally fruited. A full flush of oyster mushrooms, which is satisfying in a way that feels disproportionate to the effort involved. The effort was: drilling holes, hammering in plugs, waiting six months. The reward is: a lot of mushrooms and the feeling of having understood something.
Found one in the corner of the garden where I've been leaving the autumn leaves. This is exactly why I leave the autumn leaves. It's a juvenile — smaller than I expected, moving with the slightly frantic energy of an animal that knows winter is coming and has a lot of eating to do. I left it alone.
I've had the feeder up since February. The blue tits have been watching it from the hedge for seven months. Today one of them decided the risk was acceptable. It was there for about four seconds, took one sunflower seed, and left. Progress.