Yardbirds

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Our yards continue to be fairly busy. We have several families of House Finches and there are constantly ten or more of the birds on our feeders. A lot of them are youngsters, like this little male who is just starting to get his red plumage.


Young Blue Jays and a juvenile Red-bellied Woodpeckers are frequent visitors, too, and our family of Carolina Wrens pops up now and then to visit the feeders and to root around in our hanging baskets and flower pots.




White-winged Doves are always in one yard or the other - or both.


Unfortunately, they aren't our smartest birds and they haven't noticed that a stray black cat has moved into our backyard and hides under a wisteria.


So today there is one fewer White-winged Dove in the world than there was yesterday. Gray and Fox Squirrels are now back in numbers and they're looking very spiffy.

The Fox Squirrels' tails are absolutely gorgeous.

The Grays' tails aren't looking bad either.


Incidentally, the squirrels are totally unconcerned by the stray. Yesterday I watched anxiously as one wandered within 3 feet of the cat. I rapped on the window to warn it. I needn't have bothered. The squirrel kept wandering, then ran over right to where the cat was crouched. "One less squirrel," I thought. But no. It scampered up up into the branches of the wisteria - using the cat's head as a staging point along the way! The cat was so humiliated that it slunk away and hid behind the shed for a while.

Another Trip
I'm off to Cuernavaca, Mexico today and will be there until Sunday. (I'll prepare another blog posting and will schedule it to appear on Saturday, while I'm still away.) I'm hoping to fit in a day of birding around Cuernavaca and in the nearby mountains. If I'm successful, I should have some interesting photos to post when I return. Wish me luck!
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