Despite the chilly weather we have had for a few days, some of the residents who were away during the winter have arrived to enjoy spending the summer months here.
Mr. and Mrs Dean Fitzgerald have arrived from their home in Millinocket to spend the summer at their cottage on Pleasant Pond and also to enjoy the fishing, swimming and boating and meeting up with their many friends. Malcolm Palmer arrived about a week ago after spending the winter months in his home in sunny Florida.
The blackflies are not so bad now so any outdoor activity will not be hampered by them.
Another summertime visitor, Alan Chamberlain, arrived from Virginia to spend the summer at his cottage on lower Mattawamkeag Lake, along with his cat “Squeaky,” who always enjoys his stay in Maine and is a great mouser and keeps the cottage free of the little rodents while he is in residence.
I have had the good fortune lately to see the male cardinal at the feeder. I haven’t been putting out as many sunflower seeds lately, but did dash out and fill a couple of the feeders to keep the cardinal happy. I still have a few chickadees, swallows and nuthatches, too, who arrive every day and I keep a few seeds for them all.
The little red squirrel sometimes arrives and quickly eats what he can before I dash out and shoo him off. I haven’t had any blue jays in a while, but did get a glimpse the other day of the red-breasted grosbeak at one of the feeders. I have put out my hummingbird feeder and have seen both male and female having their fill — maybe when it gets warmer I will see more of them.
The bee balm I planted is growing fast and the hummingbirds will have a ball then eating the nectar from the red bee balm flowers.
There is still no sign of any deer and I wonder if they have forgotten my big back lawn where they have grazed so often and brought their fawns to run and leap and play . I keep an eye out for them, anyway, and hope springs eternal!
