I was watering one of the peach trees tonight and standing maybe three feet from the Meyer lemon when movement right at the near edge of it caught my eye.
The only time I’ve ever seen a California Gnatcatcher up close before was when one was fleeing crows and struck the window, falling onto the sidewalk. Joe Lerma saw it happen, the guy working that day installing our new furnace and ductwork, and the little thing’s recovery awhile later meant the world to him. Good guy.
Right there three feet away, then another, then another, a trio flitting through my dwarf lemon with more dancing just over the fence.
It felt like having that Disney Snow White thing down just so.
They were apparently eating the mosquitos that had been trying to home in on me. Hey! Cool! Help yourselves! An ant on that leaf? Dessert.
The lemon tree must have been the perfect spot for them: lots of dense thorny cover to zip in and out of.
I had my iPhone in my pocket for the timer function re my hose and when I pulled it slowly out and aimed it at them they allowed it. I snapped away, trying hard to get them and that hummingbird that zoomed into the almost spent flower I had nearly cut down not five minutes earlier but had left for that very reason.
I know there’s one and I think there were two gnatcatchers in this photo. Tiny little birds. All cheer, no fear.
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