Our mulberry trees are beginning to bear fruit and, over the past few days, small flocks of robins have turned up to assess the progress. Since the berries are not yet ripe, these inspectors leave after a few samples are tasted and subsequently dropped.
Within a week, the mulberries will have ripened and avian visitors to the trees will increase dramatically. Joining the robins will be cedar waxwings, spotted towhees, house finches and Bullock's orioles, among others. Of course, squirrels will get more than their fair share while raccoons and fox will turn up at night to scour the ground for fallen fruit.
Mulberry trees thrive in this semiarid climate and are welcome magnets for wildlife. I would like to personally thank the inspectors for calling attention to the upcoming feast.
