I noticed more butterflies today when mowing like the Morning Cloak, the Red-spotted Purple and a Monarch (even though the milkweeds plants I just beginning to sprout up).
May Monarch
Last evening during the rain, three hummingbirds were peacefully sharing the feeder for several minutes until a fourth one showed up and chased two away. One remained behind for a few more drinks while the others continued in the chase. Today I had one guarding a feeder and would chase any approaching hummingbird, even though she wasn’t drinking herself. She perched about ten feet away and kept a constant watchful eye for any other hummingbirds encroaching her feeder.
On Guard
While there were a few quiet moments today, Mother Nature was generally not very peaceful today. The birds were complaining loudly this morning and I discovered the reason. The bear made a return visit and managed to destroy both of my seed feeders and it took a while to patch them enough so the birds could have their seeds again. And then the afternoon storms rolled in and the first one knocked the power out for a couple of hours and the power was just restored in time for the next wave of rain and thunder.
Before the Rain Storm
This Memorial Day had a very different feel to it as many of the normal events honoring those veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country were cancelled or modified for social distancing, but hopefully people still remembered the reason for this holiday and the fallen heroes like Private Steve S. Curry, who was killed in action October 26, 1918, north of Verdun in France.
Fallen Soldier
The birds feathers might have been ruffled a bit this morning when their bird feeder was missing from it normal spot. Although it was near the same area, the feeder was closer to the ground after the bear snapped the pole last night. I made enough noise so the bear left, but I waited until morning before patching the pole back in place and refilled the feeder with seed.
Missing Feeder