The last couple of weeks we have a plague of gnats.  They swarm and bite not just the dogs but us too.  When I ran the trimmer around the pond, the gardens, and along the fence those nasty bugs were biting the heck out of my ears.  They drew blood and were worse than the mosquitoes.  It’s a darned shame the bull frogs consider them too small to be an appetizer.

     No, our frogs want to eat birds and nightcrawlers.  One of the frogs, probably Goliath, has the mourning doves on heightened patrol at the waterfall.  The birds have begun to use a lookout when they come in to drink.  I haven’t seen any starlings stop by for quite a while.  

     When I sit on the little bench by the back door, I can see a dozen or so gold finches feasting on my coneflowers’ seeds.  They arrive every afternoon around five and aren’t as skittish now as they were this summer.  The cat bird joins them.  From the far side of the cemetery I can hear the red tailed hawk yelling at the mowers.  I can’t stay outside and enjoy the birds for long because the gnats discover me again.