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What can be good about the end of summer for a birder? The birds are hiding out in this heat. But as I glanced out my window recently, I spotted a small family of quail on the low wall in my backyard. The babies were all f luffy and clambering to stay right up against mom. Eventually they hopped down from the wall and wandered around the yard as the parents stood sentinel over them. A delight to the eye. The bushes were mobbed by a f lock of lively Bushtits, hanging upside down and making the bushes dance. Then last night my attention was drawn to the bird bath. A medium bird was in the middle, splashing around with unbridled enthusiasm. Up he popped onto the rim and went back for seconds and thirds. What could it be? I crept over to my binoculars to get the answer. A Spotted Towhee! But what a one. He had two long straggly tail feathers at the sides with a short tail coming out the middle and his feathers were right but what a mess — half f luffy and all awry like a gawky teenager. And that's exactly what he was, with the promise of becoming a gorgeous male soon. And joining the menagerie was a young rabbit who just wanted to munch the grass and fallen f lowers from the bush in the corner. What a wonderful time it is to spot the juveniles as they are becoming adults. Keep an eye out for those "funny" juveniles to entertain and delight. How blessed we are to live in this wonderful place. ~ Jane Slamer Please join us for our monthly bird walk. We usually meet the first Saturday of the month at 8 am at Trail A by The Lodge parking lot. For more information, please contact our leader, Gerrie Karczynski, at gerrie202516@gmail.com if you are a new member and in case the time or date has changed. ~ Kathy Hull Our Book Club selection for Oct. 8 is e Crossing Places: e First Ruth Galloway Mystery by Elly Griffiths. Here is a brief description from Amazon.com: "Forensic archeologist Dr. Ruth Galloway is in her late thirties. She lives happily alone with her two cats in a bleak, remote area near Norfolk, land that was sacred to its Iron Age inhabitants — not quite earth, not quite sea. But her routine days of digging up bones and other ancient objects are harshly upended when a child's bones are found on a desolate beach. Detective Chief Inspector Nelson calls Galloway for help, believing they are the remains of Lucy Downey, a little girl who went missing a decade ago and whose abductor continues to taunt him with bizarre letters containing references to ritual sacrifice, Shakespeare, and the Bible. Then a second girl goes missing and Nelson receives a new letter — exactly like the ones about Lucy. Is it the same killer? Or a copycat murderer, linked in some way to the site near Ruth's remote home." Our meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 9:30 am in the RCN, Room #3. All of our book selections are recommended by Book Club members. Someone volunteers to lead the discussion about the book we have chosen for the month. For more information about the Four Seasons Book Club or to put your name on our mailing list, please contact me at michelesrosen@ gmail.com. ~ Micki Rosen FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | OCTOBER 2024 37 Birding CLUB Book Club Bushtit California Quail Spotted Towhee Photos taken in Four Seasons by Gerrie Karczynski