Heat Doesn't Slow the Birds

It's been crazy hot in Piedmont North Carolina this year. Today we notched our 60th day of 90 degrees or higher and we're on track to beat the 2007 record. As usual here the high humidity (66% average humidity since 7/1) makes for a purely nasty heat index. But as unpleasant as it is for most humans, the weather just doesn't slow down the backyard songbirds. Ours have plenty of ways to beat the heat. We have respectable tree cover combined with uneven back yard terrain allowing birds to escape the sun and even drop into gullies and ruts where the ground provides cooling. We have two bird baths that allow for a refreshing splash or two. And, well, these characters have evolved to handle the realities of the "Tropical Maritime" air mass that gives us a big, wet, nasty buss half the year. So they'll do just fine. And I'll be watching them from the coolest vantage point I can find!