What's New in the Nest

Here in Montana, June has been, well, June. Springtime in the Rockies (aka mud season) is over, but the transition to summer is never smooth. The incredible snowpack this year melted all at once in the middle few weeks of June and floods and high water were a concern everywhere. The Yellowstone flooded Interstate 90 between here and Billings,(this photo is from the blog rodeotalesgypsytrails.blogspot.com)

and only piles of sandbags kept the town of Livingston from washing away. Here is a picture from the Bozeman newspaper of golfers on Livingston's golf course, protected by a sandbag levee
Rain, thunderstorms and cold weather (yes, some of those rainstorms had snow mixed in here in the mountains) were the rule until June 20. Just like last year, the solstice was the magic date. Summer arrived suddenly and gloriously and now we are basking in sunshine with temperatures in the 70s and only an occasional afternoon thunderstorm to give us rainbows.
The first task I undertook when I arrived back from the coast was fixing a leak in the indoor plumbing supply. The shutoff ball valve under the house had cracked, so digging out the pipes around it and replacing it with a gate valve, which doesn't have the round corners to trap water that a ball valve has, was the first task. The indoor plumbing was all back to functioning normally by the time Tom arrived for a two-week visit.
The other thing I found upon my return was that someone else had decided to share my nest. The first floor of our cabin is logs, but the second floor is under the eaves and the gables are stick-framed with cedar board-and-batten siding. Last year, a pesky woodpecker pounded a hole in the top of the gable end over the guest room. I chased him away, but never got around to patching the hole.

This year, when I came home, I heard knocking on the wall there and pounded on the wall from the inside to scare the bird away. Out flew not a woodpecker, but a female Red-shafted Flicker. (This photo is from the website FireflyForest.net)

I thought I would have to close up the hole to keep her out, but then I heard a bunch of tiny chirps from inside the wall. I was too late! Eggs had hatched. Baby chicks were crying "Feed me! Feed me! Mom!" Well, I'm just not mean enough to clear out a nest full of baby chicks and I really do like flickers, so now we are sharing the nest. Here she is poking her head out of the hole Once the chicks fledge and fly away, I'll open the hole a little and take out the nest, and replace the insulation and siding and seal up the hole. Meanwhile, I have trained the mother not to pound on the wall from the inside (either that or the hole is now large enough for her taste and she has no more need to pound) but her flying in and shifting around in the nest makes a lot of noise anyway. And as the chicks get bigger, their voices are getting louder as well. Fortunately, they all sleep at night.
The wildflowers are absolutely glorious this year. The balsamroot display has been going on for weeks. There is more arnica this year than I've ever seen. Chckweed, lupine, bluebells, larkspur, waterleaf, sticky geranium, they are all blooming beautifully. Wild clematis vines are everywhere. The forest is lush and green with new growth. It is a beautiful start to the summer.

Tom has guests coming any day now. They were supposed to arrive last Sunday, but they haven't gotten here yet. Perhaps tomorrow. They are in vacation mode and keep losing track of time and finding their driving plans over-ambitious, so they are completely off schedule. We have put projects on hold until they have come and gone so the place won't be a construction zone. That has given us an excuse to just hang out in our wonderful nest and enjoy watching summer come. Next weekend, we expect another couple of visitors. Then both Tom and I will leave: he to return to work in Richland, and I to finish clearing out Mom and Dad's house for the closing of the sale. So this time of transition to summer is precious, and we are trying to enjoy every minute of it.