It’s been cloudy with intermittent rain for the past week. But the sun returned this morning and sex was in the air! Mama and Daddy romped in the shallow water of my beach like a couple of horny teenagers. These two have me so confused. They’ve been inseparable for the past month and NOW they’re getting it on?! I assume foreplay was when they both dove under the water. Next thing I knew, Daddy was rising up out of the water – on Mama’s back! After a few quacks and lots of tail flipping and wing flapping, they came onto the grass for something to eat. Daddy seemed to walk with his head a little higher though.

And Mama had quite the appetite.

Several tree swallows have made my little cove their feeding ground. In keeping with the theme of the day, a pair of swallows did the wild thing. They started with a little courtship dance of flapping wings and lots of chattering. The actual “act” was over as soon as it began. Then off they flew, in search of a cigarette perhaps.

Chris and I watched our pair of Baltimore Orioles mate. Once again, it couldn’t have taken more than a second. “There you go Chris, now you can tell your friends you watched two birds have sex.” He was as enthused as most young men would be. Not!

At the beginning of the week, Mama2 came by with her ducklings. It was good to see she still had seven chicks.

To celebrate the return of the sun I worked outside. Weeding, weeding, weeding, and planting. While planting my herb garden, the hummingbirds kept buzzing my head. I’m not sure what got them into a tizzy, unless their nest was nearby. If it is, I hope they like lemon balm, chocolate mint (yum!), bee balm, rosemary, lavender, and orange mint.

After planting the herb garden I worked cleaning out another garden along the front deck. My little piece of paradise keeps surprising  me. I found a trumpet vine and clematis growing among the weeds. Maybe that’s what the hummingbirds were trying to tell me, “Leave this garden and get working on that trumpet vine. It needs sun so it’ll produce nectar.”

Now it’ll get sun and produce nectar. Everyone happy? I know I am. Blessed be :]