Beloved of Birds

Tom's surgery is tentatively scheduled for the end of the month. Should know soon if that's firm (dates on things keep changing with these guys.) Its hard to be encouraged about yet another round of surgery but I remind myself (& others) that the last ones didn't actually fail. Tom had complications from the other repairs because of the stricturing area they didnt know about before. So now they know all about that too & it can be treated. Despite appearances, we ARE making progress and he IS getting better. The whole business has been very wearing however.



Seems like the birds are determined to make us feel better about things. Blue Jays and Cardinals are staying in the yard, and the remaining crows (there's been another avian flu epidemic) and a big blue crane are regular visitors again.

The crane seems to have heard about previous events. We saw him hanging in closer and closer ditches and finally he simply moved back onto the 'moats' that line our driveway. He introduced himself by walking over to my mom, fussing, and waving a wing at her. At first he moved fairly quickly whenever we were leaving in the car, now he barely bothers to get out of the way. That'll work fine, as long as no emergencies come up or someone forgets to look for him while leaving in a hurry. hehe I gotta remember to take my camara with me more often so I can get a good picture of him (or her).

Kids and I went to the park one glorious afternoon this week and fed the ducks, geese, and swans. Beaverdam Park has completely recovered from hurricane Isabel now. It is as beautiful as ever. The flock there is much nicer than before. They asked nicely instead of trying to mug us. Oh those swans were lovely too. I loved how they bowed to us when we were out of corn. We bowed back a bit, and they bowed again. We all felt very Japanese. :-)

Mom & I regaled Rebecca & William with the same stories of how birds wanted to feed them as babies, and how they tried to feed me when I was an infant. William attracted larger flocks with his preemie baby lamb cries, but Becka always had her admirers too when she was very little. Mom says they were giving me worms as late as 8-10 months. She took me to a garden and every time she looked around I had worms to wave at her. She finally realized I was the recipient of a robin's loving care. She *thinks* she kept me from fully enjoying my presents. lol

Then there were the crows who thanked us for leaving food on cold days by 'tapdancing.' That's what it looked like anyway. Then they would laugh back at our laughter. The local crows have always been good neighbors. They let us know when they see someone in the woods near us & even have a special call if that person is armed. (actually sounds like "gun! gun!")

I've gotten along especially well with hawks at times. Known several that would come down and comment on life (not that I really understood all that much.) I still remember the bald eagle at the Washington Zoo fussed very much when I had to leave with my group (which resulted in my being teased about it for months! That was okay, however, because the monkeys had got the best of the rowdier boys before we ever left. All I had to do was tease them back. ^_^ ) The male bald eagle male at the living museum doesnt respond to us as much, but the female is reasonably friendly when she has the time. Their owls are nice.

Owls like me but they like my Mom & Rebecca even better. A great horned owl lighted on our clothesline a few times to talk things over with her (and Tom and whoever else was around.)

Mr Hitchcock would not have had much inspiration from the birds around here.