10,000?

At some point in the last few days, my SiteMeter turned over to 10,000. Now, I set it up so that it would NOT count my visits, so these are 10,000 hits from others?
Thanks to everyone to thinks my life is interesting enough to read about.

My blog's anniversary is Oct. 23, so I need to think of something fun to do that day.

I try, really I do

I repeated my "go-work-at-the-lake" thing today, but the weather just sucked. Cold and drizzly. All birders know that this weather isn't the best for finding any birds. Ducks and cardinals, that's all I saw. But I tried, darn it.

The view:

After doing my work, I walked over to the river side of the park (Lake Isabella Park is bordered by the lake on one side and the Little Miami River on the other) and the rain from last night has done a number on the water level.

And I found what will now be my favorite tree. I so love sycamores...they get so ginormous. We have one in the back yard and it's growing so fast, you can almost see it get taller as you watch it.

Natural cavities all over this tree!

While standing under the sycamore, I was straddling a small puddle about a foot from the water's edge.

In the course of 5 minutes, the puddle was three feet across. Time to go, I think.

I am starting to recognize the ducks at the lake by sight. The white/gray one on the left is always there. I wonder who his mama got with to make him that color? Mallards...they are so cheap and easy. They will hybridize with just about anything.

This is usually accessible by foot, but today I would have needed a dinghy.

Back in the spring, I found two dogs along the road. I finally tracked down the owner (who didn't even know they were gone) and took them back. This woman was so lacking in character. And look where she lives! It may not look it, but this house, in this neighborhood, is easily worth $1 million. You'd think they could afford a fence. And they own minivans...ugg.

The dogs were wearing invisible fence collars, but that doesn't seem to be stopping them. A week after I took them back, I saw a flyer dated 3 months prior, asking if anyone had seen the dogs. Escaping is not a new thing for these guys.

I drive by occasionally to see if the dogs are out (they seem to live in doghouses in the back yard). They were sweet little guys...one was a yellow lab and the other was a beagle/shep/mutt. Flip and McGee. Cute names for cute dogs.

I am not one to be prejudiced against anyone, but I find it hard to think nice thoughts about this pampered, wimpy woman. She didn't say thank you, but shook my hand, and I have felt more personality in dead fish.

We live in a nice neighborhood, with VERY nice neighborhoods around us, and I see affluent people all the time around here doing stupid things. I guess it goes to show you that money can't buy smarts.

Okay, enough of my ranting about dumb, insensitive dogs owners.

What a cute car. Too bad they ruined it with that "W" sticker.

When my girls give me flowers, it's touching and sweet. I don't need roses. Lorelei giving me this weed is just as moving as if it were an expensive bouquet. She thinks it's great, so I do too.
I have not-so-secretly been hoping that one of our trees would die so we could get some natural cavities for birds to nest in. (Screech owls, woodpeckers, I'm not picky) And it seems that I won't have to wait long for that dead tree. This pine in our back yard, one of those that subdivision planners put in to block the view of the neighbors, is on its way out. I don't know one pine tree from another, but I bet that the pines around our house aren't native, so it's no big loss, and a really big gain for the birdies. I have noticed over the 6 years we have lived here that pines around the house, ours and across the street, seem to catch whatever it is that is killing them off, they turn yellow or red and die all in the same year. I can't wait!
Fried frogs' legs, anyone?
There ya go, Boomer! That's a smile worth waiting for!
It is so gratifying to see this dog play.

"Come on, Nellie! Don't let the new guy show you up!"

Anyone heard of the Big Sit?

Check out this link to a video by Sharon (aka Birdchick) and Bill Stitler, with Bill Thompson III (aka Mr. Julie Zickefoose) and learn all you never knew about the birding world's most sedentary event!

Coconut 3, Susan 1...and Sonic Boomer

Around this time every year, I give the birds a treat of fresh coconut.

Chickadees, nuthatches and woodpeckers love it and clean it out in about a week.

It's easy for them to get the meat out, but breaking the hull open is another story.

"E-Z Open Coconut". Yeah, right.
It's scored around the middle, for "easy" opening.

I threw it hard against the driveway twice, and Lorelei even drove over it on her bike. Thanks for the good try, Lorelei!

Third time's the charm. It broke open and rolled down the driveway, spewing coconut milk along the way.

Ummm...coconut...


When you have kids, and you have a job, and you're a birder, sometimes you have to get creative. After dropping the girls off at school, I went over to Lake Isabella to return some RAPTOR calls and bird at the same time.

This was the view from my picnic table:

It was quiet, there were practically no people around and NO kids.

And no birds, either. Oh well.
I will have to remember this tree when owl nesting season begins. This is a great natural cavity, just the right size for a screech owl.

Need proof that Boomer is getting better and feeling normal again?

For the first time since we got him, he RAN.

Bailey made a good fast target to go for.

Check him out...all but one leg off the ground! Go, Boomer!

I thought Bailey was fast, but Boomer catches her every time.

"I am only letting you do this to me because you control the food."

Every dog will have her day

Nellie went to the vet today. She caught the same kennel cough that Boomer came with. Our poor girl wasn't eating and her cough brought tears to my eyes. I had to keep wiping her nose because it was SO disgusting.

She got a steroid injection to calm down her lungs and throat, a cough suppressant, and while we were there I asked the vet (Dr. Emily Dudley, the best darn vet I have met) to check Nellie's hips and knees. Nellie has had a limp for a few weeks that comes and goes. After a thorough exam, the doc wanted to get X-rays to rule out hip dysplasia.

Three X-rays later, I was told that Nellie has arthritis in her hips, spine and tail. The vet was surprised at the severity of it, considering Nellie's age (she will be 6 in November).

Nellie now has a pain reliever/anti-inflammatory pill that we can give her as needed.

We don't need to think about surgery or anything major right now, but if it worsens, we will have to have the dreaded "quality of life" talk.

I got all choked up on the way home, as Nellie fell asleep on my arm as I was driving. She's too young for this to be happening to her. She is just about the best dog in the world.

Man...

The cough suppressant makes her drowsy...check out that vacant stare.

At one point, I watched her stand in the middle of the living room, looking at nothing in particular, wagging her tail. She was so stoned!

We had a quick visit from Sydney again this morning, so at one point today there were four dogs in the house.

"Love me, feed me, I'm yours!"

Bailey is our house guest this week as my Mom visits family in North Carolina. What a cutie.

"Could you lean a little closer? My tongue doesn't reach that far."

Nice sunset over Loveland tonight. Green is my favorite "everyday" color, but this pink/gold combination makes my heart feel good.

Okay, y'all...my new favorite shirt. I got this from Birdchick (she also has one that says "Pish Off") and if you want one, go here to order. I've raised a few eyebrows with this one.

I stopped by our local Barnes & Noble to see Julie's new book. Sorry for the fuzzy photo, but I felt really self-conscious taking a picture of a book in the store.

(And I faced it forward.)

Update on the Red-tailed hawk

Remember the hawk I picked up two weeks ago?
I asked Melinda, one of our wonderful rehabbers, to give me some info on the "possible gun-shot" bird:

Hi Susan

Your bird is still with us –RS06-26. If you remember, we couldn’t find a wound on the chest as a source of the blood found on the birds breast, but we could hear congestion in the lungs when it was lying on its back being examined. I started it on baytril antibiotic for aspiration pneumonia which probably would be developing. The bird got stronger and I couldn’t hear the raspy breathing any more. After 7 days on the antibiotic, I took her over to Covered Bridge and put her into a flight cage. Much too my surprise, she flew level, then upward, but missed the perch. It was apparent something was wrong with the right wing. I really felt bad because I thought this bird was good to go as soon as she exercised a bit. Felt the right wing and I couldn’t feel a thing – we’d checked it at Cindy’s too. Took it to Dr. Grossi and his x-ray showed that the wing –upper right humeral bone was shattered and metal shot fragments were also evident. Apparently the bird HAD been shot by the neighbor, and the bullet probably had gone thru the bone and into the lungs – the source of the blood the bird spit up ( not from an impact with something as we thought). The break was way high on the shoulder. Dr. Grossi explained that the reason the wing didn’t droop – normally what happens when that bone is broken - was because the shoulder muscles were so strong they held it up. This bird actually flew with the break! Unusual. Dr. Grossi said that we have had birds with similar injuries that we have kept, thinking they could be placed, but that they had healed so well that they were released. So we are going to keep this one and hope for the best. The wing had probably been healing for the 9 days I’d had the bird before putting her in the flight cage. Marilyn suggested wrapping the wing to the body for a few days to keep it in a stable position. Keep your fingers crossed. Will be 3-4 weeks before we have a better idea about releasability.

Looks like the neighbor will be getting a call from Federal Game and Wildlife officials.
Good. Damn gun-happy fool. (This is a guy who shoots starlings, which is not illegal, but he also shoots cats, according to the woman who called us about the hawk.)

But let's set the record straight: I have nothing against hunting. (Marc, I know you read this, so read on...) My brother is a hunter, and the venison we get from him is wonderful (I was raised on squirrel, rabbit and deer...it's GOOD) The people I have a problem with is the in-bred
red necks who would put a bead on a hawk.
I do wish there were fewer guns out there on the streets. But I am not going to begrudge anyone for having one, as long as they are sensible, decent citizens who don't have a plan to rob a store or shoot a cop.
Okay, I am not going to rant here...
Anyway, hopefully we can get this pretty bird back out to the wild, where it belongs. And maybe not back to the same neighborhood she was shot in.

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.