My weekend

Yesterday's program was out at Chilo Lock #34 Park, way way down the Ohio River. Turns out that the park I was at was actually a place that we have gone birding at. There's an estuary adjacent to the park, and I have a long list of life birds I have found there.

Halfway through my presentation, it began to rain and we retreated into the yurt.

Don't know what a yurt is? My blog-nemesis, Yak Herder, would probably be glad to explain, but in essence, it's a big round tent. My FIL was proud that I was in my first yurt yesterday.

Junior, RAPTOR's resident great horned owl, was there to greet me when I returned the birds.

He has the most beautiful hoot...what a catch, owl ladies!

Lucy's meal was waiting for her as I put her back. A nice, fat, juicy quail!

A bag was on the barn door, with a note saying that there was a mouse inside. I guess someone nearby knows about us and caught a mouse in her house. What a nice gesture. But when I thought about it, I realized that Sundays are fast days for the birds and this mouse would lay around until Monday. So I got Junior's attention and threw the mouse down for him. He wasted no time at all swooping down to take it. He treated it like a live mouse, snapping at its neck to break it, and then swallowed it whole. Atta boy!

We are watching Mom's dog this week, and Boomer came along for the ride to pick her up.

He found a nice toy that Bailey doesn't really like. He actually played today.

My niece Heather, on her way to cheer leading practice, stopped by and met Boomer. I think it's love.

Looks a bit like W. C. Fields, don't he?

Boomer's fans will be pleased with this newest pic. Taken tonight, it shows how much he has filled out. Still bony in the hips, he has nonetheless plumped up enough to sort of resemble a real dog.