09-24-03

Not really seeing any new birds yet. There were two blue jays playing in the trees yesterday having so much fun, I had to stop and watch. They've been coming up to the water pans early in the mornings but they keep a low profile. They are becoming more active as the weather gets cooler but this is the first year I've seen them all summer.

When I took the pictures of the Snowy Egrets, the Swallows and the Scissor Tails that was the last I saw of them and that's been weeks now. I thought I heard geese one day but didn't see any. They usually don't start showing up until it gets really cold and then, like the others, they can be seen circling the area in the evenings. I went all of last winter and only saw them once; heard them a lot but only one sighting.

I had thought we might have to put a bell on the outside kitty but I don't think he is catching the birds. He can have all the squirrels he wants to catch and eat. I would rather he leave the lizards alone but they can usually get away.

Yesterday afternoon, I glanced out the kitchen window in time to see 6 young turkeys making their way up toward the pampas grass (probably). They didn't realize they were about 20 foot from Max and moving closer by the step. All I had to do was to open the door and say of few words of warning. The don't get terribly alarmed, they just move on away. Max was not too happy with me, he was watching them intently, waiting to make his move.

One evening about a week ago, I was outside at night. I noticed the hoot of several owls but there was also another noise. It was like the answer to the hooting call but it was completely different in sounds. There were probably 4 or 5 birds calling. Two were hooting and the others were making the unusual call, a warbling low noise.