Morning Dew

The morning air is still moist and cool. Every single blade of grass is loaded with dew. I am sitting behind the house absorbing the warm morning sun and slowly sipping on a cup of dark arabica coffee.  A black redstart, a small European songbird of the Old World flycatcher family, is nesting in the ivy above me. He greets me with his short warning sounds as to say: “Don’t come any closer”. But then he goes on about his business. He still has repairs to make to the nest before his mate can lay the eggs.

Next to me grow a few English daisies and key flowers which I planted among the chives and parsley of the herb garden. I notice several mason bees buzzing around the flowers feeding on their nectar. Then they fly up and down the side of the house looking for holes in the natural stone structure to lay their eggs. Time has taken its toll on the building and weathered off parts of the chalk mortar exposing bare rock and the clay in between. This is where the mason bees dig their holes. My mason bee logs have not gone unnoticed though. Time will tell if they lure the bees away from the building or if they just add to the population. Several lizards have come out of their hiding places and have crawled up the side of the house to find a sunny spot. Once they are charged up and have reached operating temperature they are faster than your eye can follow them. On the hunt for insects they race up and down the ivy covered walls.