BIRDS, ETC.

I am at my computer desk in front of the south window next to the door. I am watching an awful lot of birdies out in the lawn and front drive.
I am watching the robins do an aerobatic fly-up off the ground with each other and when they got tired of that, a super-sonic fly-by that equals the Air Force's Thunderbird's speed. I guess it is just the season. Winter coldness giving way to springier temperatures. They feel it in the air and are rejoicing in it.
I also have a 'flock' of dark-eyed juncos on our lawn area. They are funny little birds. It is hard to describe the dance they do while hunting for seeds and such to eat off in the grass. It is sort of a little hop up with a back and forth scratch motion with the one foot which makes their little bodies move back and forth and up.
As much as I like watching them, I do wish they would go away. for if you still have dark-eyed juncos in the yard, it is still the weather for snow. Evidently they like cool temps and the cooler the better.
Fly away little birds.
I haven't seen the Northern Cardinals yet.
The poor female just about knocked herself out last year. They nest about 6' off the ground and are very territorial. I finally had to cover the mirrors on my little chick pick-up Ford Ranger last year because she would perch on the door by the side windows and launch herself at the mirror to try and get that other female northern cardinal out of her territory. I had female bird snot all over both rear view side mirrors like you wouldn't believe! She also started to attack the west windows of the house and even traveled to the north bedroom window while perching on top of the air conditioner.
That action drove our male cat, Silver, absolutely bonkers.
Now this is a 13.5# cat.
You DO NOT want a 13.5# cat hurling himself at an air conditioner off the bed in a humongous leap. Wonder what the impact of a cat that large over three feet of space and with 'velocity' would be. Thirty miles an hour? Close?
Every spring we get my favourite bird, the Red Winged Blackbird, in our trees. They stay just briefly in the scheme of things. We are the highest point around, being on top of the highest hill in the area. So after the male scouts have been here for a week or two, the females and the rest of the flock arrive.
Our trees, being the highest point around, gets the whole flock that nest in our area, to stop and reconnoiter for an hour or two. Then the whole flock disperses to their nesting areas in the surrounding areas.
This year it was April 1st. I happened to walk out to the truck to leave and they were doing their thing in the trees. Chattering, chittering, warbling, whoopin' and a hollerin'.
There are two days in the year when I am smiling like an idiot with a grin and tears flowing down my face as fast as they can go. The first is the day they arrive and the second is the day they all congregate in the trees before their arduous task of flying to their southern homes for the winter.
Most years I get to see both times, and both times I cry, laugh, grin for hours. Some years I miss them. Either I am in the house and don't hear them or I am gone already in my chick pick-up.
I love their song. It is like 'Kong-a-rrhheee' with a lower tone on the kong and a higher tone on the rrheee. I frequently stop at the four corners, south of us by a half mile, and just open the windows and listen. I have had people stop and ask if I need help and am all right, much to my embarrassment. How do you answer? "No, I am all right, but thanks for asking, I just stopped to listen to my favourite birds sing their songs."
I mean I am already pegged for a loony, and that observed action would just about bring the men in white jackets to me. I have since learned to check the roads all four ways to make sure that there are no cars approaching.
Our son Peter and his lovely wife Beth, have no such problem. All they have to do is open their windows and patio door. They are fortunate to have them in the cat tails around the catch basin pond the builders planned in the community.
Daughter Margaret and husband Jack also have them in their trees, but I don't know where the cat tails and water source are in their area, but they have them. I am not so sure Tracy and Tad have them in their area.
It is a joy for me to visit the two homes in the summer so I can get my fill of bird song.
Wild life is abounding in the yard this morning. Along with the birds, I have noticed a squirrel, and a feral cat. So far no fox nor the woodchuck that makes its home in the woods. I have seen an opossum south of our buildings on the road-side, so I imagine there are one or two roosting around somewhere. So far no raccoons. I am grateful for not having those around. They make me nervous. I had enough with a pride (?) (just looked it up and the term is 'gaze' of raccoons) of them living in the granary for years. They got mad at me for locking down the cat food bin in a metal garbage can and took it out on my clean laundry getting an overnight sun-bleach out on the clothes line. I had muddy paw prints all over the sheets and towels, just to let me know that they were not happy at not getting their dinner in the middle of the night.
Well, time to check email and addresses. I finished a counted cross stitched gift last night, bathed it, hung it to dry and pressed it this morning, and need to photograph it before I send it on to Donna, (Hi Donna M!) so finding where I stashed the camera is also in order.
Enjoy your day where ever you are. Warmer weather is almost here in the northern climes of the United States. It will get better.