Wednesday, April 22, 2015

It's been a week...

This virus just does not want to go away. I'm still on antibiotics, still coughing up stuff, still tired. But overall, I do think I'm a bit better. Just not up to anything more than going to work and doing minimum maintenance.

I did take time last night to listen to some bird calls. I'm sure I've mentioned here that there is a particularly obnoxious bird that's lived in my area ever since I moved in. It calls early in the morning, and again in the late afternoon, especially in spring, but off and on all summer. It only took a couple of minutes of research, and I need to hear the actual bird again to be sure (it's rained most of the last week, and the birds have been hiding), but....

It's a cardinal.

Apparently, they like to nest in tangled bushes closer to the ground. We certainly have a wealth of them along the pathway out front. I've seen one a number of times, flying up to the neighbor across the way's gutters. From what I've read, they are easy to spot at the bird feeders because of their coloring, but surprisingly hard to spot in the bush, as it were.

The final four notes of the calls I've been hearing are pretty unmistakable as the "chipping" noise the cardinal will make.

Glad that is cleared up.

I think there may be hawk's nest in the area. There's a very tall evergreen about a hundred yards from our building, in a rather open space between our complex's property and the homes across a bordering street. I've seen one land up there more than once, but have yet to get out the binoculars. At least one has been flying overhead every so often.

Add to that the relative absence of small animals (chipmunks, squirrels, voles, snakes) lately, and a raptor of some sort is a definite possibility.

There's a hook on the patio dividing fence in a kind of strange spot. It may be just the spot for a small bird feeder. It can be seen easily through the living room patio doors, and is accessible enough that refilling it won't be a bother. Squirrels might be an issue, as I'm sure they can walk the edge of the fence and slide their rat-bodies down to reach it. But if there is a pair of nesting hawks around, the tree climbing rodent population should be dropping steadily.

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