The Usual Bird Stuff, the Bayou Is Flooding, and Other News

Yesterday I saw a female/imm. male Selasphorus hummingbird along the side of our house, same place where one spent the last winter. Could it be the same bird, I wonder? Its behavior was definitely defensive, returning repeatedly to the same commanding perch and jealously guarding its airspace. Another hummingbird has staked out a territory around the feeder on the other side of the house. It appears to be a female Ruby-throated (female-type hummingbirds can be very hard to ID!). Most of our other neotropical migrants have departed, but there are still stragglers. While walking around the yard yesterday I heard White-eyed Vireo and Summer Tanager.

Last night we received several hours of torrential rain, complete with dramatic sound and lighting effects. Another series of rainstorms recently caused some flooding along Pine Island Bayou, which is very close - and getting ominously closer - to our home. The rising waters covered feeder roads along the highway and flooded neighborhoods on lower ground just down the street from us.

When last night's storm arrived the earlier flooding still hadn't fully subsided, and the bayou was already overflowing. Fortunately our house is on high ground - also we recently bought flood insurance, which went into effect just a few days ago (good timing!). Just went outside to have a look around. No storm, no rain. Sky is blue with scarcely a cloud. House Wren was seen again, this time on a stump in the backyard. I expected water to pool and cover the lower end of our property, but I guess our drainage is better than that. A neighbor's yard is half flooded, and the pond has risen considerably. Hopefully we'll get a few dry days before the next round of storms hits us.

In other news, our bathroom remodeling should be finished in just a few days, and it appears that Michelle and I are going to have a baby! Thought I'd just sneak that in at the end.