Hummingbird, olives, BellCedar

We had the very friendly and exceedingly competent folks from Renewal by Andersen here today to take care of the last three windows on the house. Over the past half-dozen years, I'd replaced the rest of them myself, 13 in all, but for reasons of location and weight, the remainder of the project was, I judged, beyond my, alas, declining abilities. So the project is done and done beautifully, and as a reward, I of course hit the trail. As I walked through the old field at the Bell Cedar refuge, I heard lots of bird commotion and singing, everything from Barred Owl hoots to the "wheep, wheep, wheep" of Great Crested Flycatchers. I was also bowled over by the powerful scent of Autumn Olive, a horrible invasive threatening to take over the edge of what was, until fairly recently, a corn field. It's hard to find anyone with a positive word to say about this aggressive public enemy, but as I watched, I noticed a Ruby-throated Hummingbird arrive and put the flowers to good use. This doesn't outweigh the considerable negatives but it shows that even an invasive can have its occasional benefits.