If you don't talk to your cats about catnip, who will?

This morning, I was in the right place at the right time. While at my favorite spot at Lake Isabella, I was listening to a Northern Parula and not seeing it...for like 30 minutes. I was listening so hard, my ears started to hurt, and I actually got mad at the little bugger.
While I was scanning the rapidly leafed-out trees, I noticed a few blue-gray gnatcatchers.



I also noticed that they kept landing in the same tree, on the same branch.


Nest building! I guess that qualifies as a confirmed breeding pair, huh?

I got the cats a few "cat tents"; basically vinyl cubes with windows. To sweeten the deal, I sprinkled a little cat nip inside...and let the games begin.

"Oh, wow. This is some goooooood sh*t."



"Mom? (in a panicky voice) Mom? Am I the only one seeing the giant bugs on the ceiling?"


"Hooper. Hooper, dude. Help me, man. You're upside down. IT'S FREAKING ME OUT!"




Oh, Hooper. Did you get into the cat nip, too?
"S'okay, Ma. I can quit whenever I want."

In other news, the FOS hummingbird showed up yesterday:


Thank goodness. Now where the Hell have YOU been?

I have been watching this particular house finch for about 2 weeks. (I would call this guy a "marker bird", since he is the only male house finch who looks like a prize fighter.)

He's eating well, he can fly...let's hope that he can get a girlfriend and pass on that immunity.

This is for Rachel, my soon-to-be sister-in-law (Geoff's brother Kevin FINALLY popped the question).
Rachel gave Isabelle sea monkeys for her birthday, and while I was leery (remember how short-lived sea monkeys used to be? They would live for like 24 hours and then go belly-up), we gave it a shot. I guess the sea monkey scientists have improved the formula.
They have grown really fast, and they are at that tender age when they feel that urge....you know that urge.....to knock some boots!

Sea monkey porn. In all its watery glory.
If you look at the two "stuck together", you will see a dark spot between them. That's an egg sack.
I gotta say, though....it must suck to be a female sea monkey. These gals have been carrying these slacker males around for days.

Wordless Wednesday. NOT.

Just when I am down in the mouth, and not feeling like doing a program...
I get this:

This greeted me at the entrance of my program this morning. I have presented here before and they really dug it. And today, bless their hearts, they had a sign waiting for me. What a fantastic mood 360!

My own version of "The Dog". We are watching my Mom's dog while she goes to Alabama...

Wait for it...



"With a banjo on her kneeeeeee!"

"Ebony... and ivory... live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh lord, why don't we? "

(That pillow between the sleepy-heads is one I made while I was pregnant with Isabelle, like a million years ago. And it's still in one piece! A testament to my quality workmanship, surely.)

Nap...Interrupted.
"Huh?"

RAPTOR has so many butterflies around. This guy sat and waited for me to pass through the mew gate today. I wanted to thank all of your warm words and encouragement regarding Elvis' death. I can't say that Liam and I have the same view of Nature, but I was enraged about all this. The mink was doing what minks do. But this was OUR bird, dammit. And to refresh everyone's memory...remember the post about our baby robins? A red-shouldered hawk parent taking baby robins is way easier to swallow (excuse the bad pun there) than a mink working his way in to kill a bird that is supposed to be protected.
The birds are being ferried back and forth from protected mews or the basement during the night, and back to their usual mews in the day. Poor Marilyn...she is working her toochis off.
*****
Typing "toochis" reminded me of my favorite Yiddish saying:

"Eyb di bobe volt gehat eyer, volt zi gevezn a zeyde."
(If my grandmother had had *testicles*, she would have been my grandfather.)

Use THAT sentence sometime this week, and make me proud.

Sunday at the dog park

Kathi and I met up today at the dog park for a BIG DOG play date.
Isabelle and Lorelei could hardly sit still on the way, because they adore Kathi and her two big dogs, Holly and Gracie. It was also Hooper's first visit to a dog park, and he did wonderfully. We really didn't see too much of him, because once he realized that he had this huge perimeter to run, he was gone...



Nose to the ground, stopping every once in a while to meet a new dog or person.



Gracie...a big bundle of goofy sweetness. If Gracie was a food, she would be a Cinnabon.

We met a Boston...



His name is George. Tiny. About half a Chet.



I never said that Nellie was a lady, but gee whiz!
Nellie, remember: "A lady reveals nothing."


On the way out of the park, I swung the car over to the retaining pond, and saw a stinker:



This one's just for Mary, because I love her.

And finally...



A male downy got very up-close and personal this evening, checking out the suet dough, hanging right outside the window. Woodpeckers amaze me, the way they hold themselves vertically with a few stiff tail feathers.

Operation *Super - Duper Hooper*

Hi. My name is Hooper.
My Mom couldn't keep me, so her best friend took me in. And while my new family would love to keep me, they are wondering if anyone could fall in love with me.

I have very pretty blue eyes...

...I guess that's because I have some Malamute and/or Husky in me. We don't know much about me and my history except for this: A friend of my Mom's saw me over her fence, in the neighbor's yard, with no food, water or shelter, and I don't even know how old I am. It was Winter, and I was not being taken care of. The two of them snuck in during the night and dog-napped me, but I didn't mind. Finally I was fed, warm and loved.

I have a big booty...

...but I am still a gorgeous dog, if I do say so myself.

Since I am a "Northern" dog, I have a lot of hair, so brushing me is a must.
I don't like my nails being trimmed, but I love baths. In fact, the first thing I did when I got here was to jump into the kiddie pool. And since I was bred for work, like pulling sleds, I need my daily exercise.


I enjoy hanging out with kids. My old family had a BOY that I loved. I miss him.
But the little people who live here really love me and I think they are sweet.

I am very, very gentle and calm...

...even though I am bigger than most kids I meet.

I am so calm, I heard my new Mom ask my old Mom if she gave me Qualludes, whatever they are. But even though I am a very relaxed dog, I can still play with the best of 'em.

I get along with other dogs, like my new buddy Nellie...


...and I think cats are neat, too. I've only met one of the cats in this house, because scary things happened to the others, with a dog that used to live here. I hear that he didn't like cats at all.

So, do you like me?

Babies, babies everywhere

Okay. That picture from the last post was a pug nose.
I was hoping for some hilarity, but either all of you are smarter than I thought, or not as funny as I thought.
:)


One of the pugs at the dog park yesterday had only three legs.. a neighbor's dog got hold of it through a fence and shredded the leg, necessitating an amputation.
Call me weird, but I love dogs and cats who are missing a limb. They aren't missing it, and go on with their life and adapt to their new stride by taking it all in stride.


Lorelei and I spent some time at Lake Isabella, tossing rocks and looking for birds.
I like that particular park for its quiet atmosphere...I take my RAPTOR scheduling book and can sit and make calls without any disruption.

I seriously can't wait until I go to Magee Marsh. There, the warblers come to you.
Last year, I had a black and white warbler try to step onto my camera, after I had been standing still for a few minutes, trying to get a good picture. It's one of the Top Ten birding destinations in the country.
Stoked!

Here's a bad picture of an osprey, hunting up and down the Little Miami:

I could hardly understand what I was looking at, until I saw the wings. Osprey hold their wings in an "M", looking like a red tailed hawk with crooked wings.

And speaking of red tailed hawks, I visited the RT nest on I-275 at the Loveland exit. I couldn't see any babies, but one of the parents was keeping an eye out.

My Mom called today to rub in the fact that she got her first hummingbird of 2007.
Later, I was able to trump that:

This was Isabelle's find. We were sitting at the dinner table, and she said, "Mommy. I just saw a starling or tree swallow go into the gourd and then come back out."
I looked, and saw a dark bird with a notched tail skimming above the yard. When it landed, I caught a glimpse of a beautiful, almost-black purple glimmer.
Hot Damn! A male purple martin!
Things are going to get interesting around here. I have seen just a few tree swallows around the past few days, but no one has "claimed" the gourd yet. I have been eagerly awaiting the TRES staking their claim on this pricey real estate, so that I can stop worrying about the damn house sparrows taking over. TRES are very territorial and will fight off any bird who is dumb enough to try and steal a nesting site. I loved to watch the TRES last year dive bomb the starlings and HOSP.
So...If the martins start setting up housekeeping, I will open up the compartments on the martin house. If the TRES claim it, I will keep the compartments closed. I wish TRES would nest communally. Wouldn't that be fantastic?


Isabelle also made another find today. She was down here in my office, talking to the Dove, and she asked if she could feed the fish.
A few minutes later, I looked over and she had her cute little face pressed against the glass, and she said, "Mommy! I see baby guppies!"
Huh. I didn't even notice that one was pregnant!
So we have RT babies down on the interstate, baby guppies, baby wrens, and also some surprise babies that I will tell you about when they arrive.


And hows this for adorable and sweet:
After discovering the guppies, she said, and I quote:
"Thank you for getting me glasses, Mommy. I can see so much!"
You're welcome. And thank you, Isabelle, for being such a great kid.

A post heavy on the sublime...go get a sandwich, dial-up peeps

There were so many times today that I was overcome with emotion.
The beginning of the day was spent with Lorelei at a local park that I have been to countless times...but only part of it. We walked down a path where someone told me a great horned owl nest had been for years.
As we crossed the bridge and started down the first hill, it was as if we left modern America and had been transported to a quiet dell in some forgotten corner of the world.

And it just got better with every turn of the path:

The path followed a stream that was clear and cold and perfect. No trash, hardly any leaf debris, and with a sound that was soft and powerful at once.
I was moved to tears at every turn. Maybe I need to stop calling myself a hard ass, if a babbling brook can turn me into a babbling idiot.





There were lots of places where the path dipped just to the edge of the water, making it easy to step down and touch the stones and the ripples.

Lorelei thoroughly dug every minute.



I'm sure that on another day without wind and chill, the woods are full of birds. But today, lots of robins, one titmouse and this cute white breasted nuthatch looking skyward.
***
Later, after Isabelle got back from school, we took Nellie back to the dog park.
Someone called out, "Hey, Nellie!" I turned and saw Melanie, a tech at our vet's office. I just love it that she recognized Nellie before she recognized us.
I talked to her for quite a while, but some dogs in the "small dog" area caught my eye. The girls looked over and said, "Mommy! BOSTONS!!!!"


Two of them.
Maggie and Daisy, four year old sisters.
And the only way to describe there size is this:
Teacup Bostons.
Tiny.
Maggie was 10 lbs, Daisy 11.2 lbs.


And as sweet as the day is long.
I fell in love instantly.

Maggie liked to stay near "Mom", while Daisy played Keep Away with a tennis ball.

The wind was brutal again today, even with the sunshine. "Mom" bundled Maggie up in her coat. Know of any Bostons that will fit comfortably in your coat????

I tried to get a photo that showed just how tiny they were, but they are Bostons. Not likely to stand still for more than 0.5 seconds.
But look at Daisy with a standard sized tennis ball in her mouth. Her head was almost the size of the ball.

I want another Boston. One that is young and malleable so that we can teach it to love our cats.

Ironically, Nellie did better in the "small dog" area than the regular run. She has a few neuroses that keep her close to me, and is not good with more dominant dogs. The puppies and the mini-Bostons ruled over her. It was hilarious.