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.

Thank goodness someone is teaching the girls how to be ladies:

Nellie is more interested in holding down the Princess couch. My bank account of affection is wearing a bit thin, because every one wants me to pay attention to them simultaneously. I say hi to Nellie, Hooper pushes in. I am reading to Lorelei, Isabelle wants help with the computer. I am petting one of the cats, someone either spills something or needs a band-aid or the phone rings. I always said that a house full of kids and animals would be the happiest place for me. But it makes me tired, nonetheless. And I have been known to be cranky from time to time.

This pic reminds me of how small and harmless Nellie looked when she was a puppy. Oh, that sweet face. The best dog in the world.

Look what I found in the fountain this morning...a real frog, sitting on my fake water lily. You know, Laura made fun of me when I got that fake plant. Humph. I can't get any respect.

Our young downies make me smile daily. The only way I can tell the young ones from the adults is the young males have red a bit farther up on their head than the grown-ups. This one is so tame that I can stand right by the window and take pics when she is at the suet feeder, which is right outside.
When I first started making Zick dough, I worried that it would go rancid in warm weather, but it turns out that I didn't have to worry. It's gone so fast, it doesn't have time to melt hardly.

I have an early morning program, but I have been oh-so-bad about visiting all the blogs I love. So I will prop my eyes open with toothpicks and go read.

Randomosity and a Coop lesson

A few babies are starting to learn the ropes, out on our feeders:
For the first time, I saw young downy woodpeckers following their parents to the suet and peanuts. The reason I noticed they were young was because they were begging and flapping.
Didn't get a photo.
But I did get one of a juvenile house finch, sampling the grapes:

(I know it's a juvenile by the extra bold streaking, different from the adult females)

Someone clear this up for me. This guy was at the feeders today, and while he has the "downy" coloring all over his body, his head has a whole lot of red on the top instead of the nape. It looks like a yellow-bellied sapsucker head on a downy body. Anyone want to chime in? The belly was all white, like a downy.

Here's something you don't see everyday.
One of our guppies born last year was a conjoined twin. I assume two eggs stuck together, and one developed and one didn't. This one was a male, and he had an eye and dorsal fin growing from his abdomen. Well, he died yesterday, and I took the opportunity to finally get a good picture of him. I guess the "twin" grew up into his belly so much that it inhibited digestion or respiration.
Rest in peace, little mutant.

And now, a study of Cooper's hawks:
Our darling Mary posted a picture of a hawk she wasn't sure of, and I made a vow to keep her from "giving up" on raptors. I know how she feels...when I first became a birder, sparrows and raptors were a mystery. They are all differing shades of brown, and my untrained eyes glazed over whenever I saw one. Now, the sparrows are still tough sometimes (as they are to many) but I think I have a fairly good grasp on birds of prey. I better, since I am teaching the next generation about them.
(And this is for anyone who reads my blog and wants to know more about IDs. Most of my regulars don't need this, but hey.)

I've posted these before, but I don't have any new ones yet this year.

As soon as you see a bird of prey, immediately look for three things:
1. Head
2. Tail
3. Belly
99% of the time, those three parts will tell you what you are looking at.
Sometimes, you only get a quick look at two of them: The head and tail, as the bird flies away from you. But a perched bird can show you all of them.
Cooper's hawk (and I am using this one because if you feed birds, you are also feeding Coops, and their population is on the rise):
1. Dark cap on head
2. Banded white/black or gray/black tail
3. Pale belly with orange horizontal streaking

Here you can see belly and head...

Here, head and tail...

Here, belly and head.

Accipiters (Coops, sharp-shinned, etc.) have a long, slim profile. Remember: Short wings, long tail. Form and function: Bird eaters have to be fast and maneuverable, so their wings are for speed instead of soaring, and their tails act as rudders to make fast turns.

Juvenile Coop...no dark cap yet, and brown, vertical streaking (but their tails are pretty much like an adults).
Since there are plenty of juveniles beginning their lives outside the nest right now, we all will be getting lots of opportunities to divine what we are looking at.
Everyone say it with me:
"Head, belly, tail. Head, belly, tail..."