April 30, 2023

Daily Diary, April 20, 2023 Day 971: Yesterday and today were definitely the days for wild life. First, the squirrel was very persistent yesterday, so I got some good shots below. First one is of him sitting eating seeds, which he did at least 3 times where I caught him in the act. When I get close he runs up along the fence, then hides in the bougainvillea, then goes down and eats off the ground unless I get too close to the window. Then he runs out through a hole in the fence. One of the times he arrived I knocked on the window, and that got Leeza's attention, and she stared down at him until he left, then she went to the back door, ran out to the side of the house, looking for him. He's come back once this morning. The bids fly away when he arrives, but not very far, and come back quickly. There are seldom fewer than 3 or 4 at any one time, some times taking turns, other times doing some mid air fussing at each other. The house finches and lesser Gold finches, and the song sparrows and the white crowned sparrow also seem pretty relaxed around each other. But when the larger California Towhee comes, they pretty much leave them alone.

Meanwhile, this morning when I came down into the kitchen, I found Leeza staring intently out at the back yard. At first I thought she was staring at the squirrel sitting up in the middle of the lawn, but then my husband turned off the kitchen light so we could see better. It was a hawk! Just sitting there, see photos. I was wondering if juvenile? Seemed such odd behavior. We wanted to make sure it could fly, so my husband opened the back door, keeping hold of Leeza, and it flew up to neighboring tree. Haven't seen it since. Would it be attracted to the small birds or the squirrel coming to the feeder?!! Felt like a mini version of the wild kingdom out there.

I must say, however, all the activity is a very nice diversion when I am working.

Today, I put in almost 2 hours of cleaning, but in 3 segments. I wanted to be thorough, since I will postpone my weekly cleaning next weekend, until after Monday and Tuesday when the new ducts and heat pump are put in, figuring no matter how good a job they do with clean up, there will be dust on things like books, etc. I also did my PT.

I am done with Jamie Hewitt's mini biography, almost done with Ian Hennessey's, and I will start on Emmaline's biography after doing this post. I also started on a blurb for the short story.

Still no word from the proof reader, although it is possible she won't start until tomorrow, which is when I had her booked for. Enjoy the photos.