Outside, fresh water in the ceramic “saucers” and stone bird bath is a summons to all kinds of birds to drink and bathe. Among the drinkers are bluejays, woodpeckers, flickers, even a raucous grackle. Bathers seem to line up: cardinals and sparrows. A polite rufous-winged sparrow perches nearby, preferring to wait out the crowd.
Inside there have been wayward insects — thirsty, too, perhaps. The other day an irritable hornet had come into the house attached to clothes on the line. It flew straight to a window where with angry buzzing it insisted on getting out. It was uneventful business to coax the hornet onto a thick rag, quickly (but gently) cover it with another rag, and then escort the hornet out of the house. It flew away in a huff. A few days before it had been a rather large and noisy bumblebee and yesterday a simple beetle. (Beetles are easy.) But none of these insects wanted to be indoors anymore than we wanted them to be. An amicable solution prevailed in each case.