Baby birds and fat cats
After dinner last night, I kept hearing peeping coming from outside, but sounding really close. My inspection revealed a young bird at the end of our deck. For the most part he had adult feathers, but they weren't fully grown in, as his wings looked clipped and he had no discernible tail. Also, he had that fuzzy look about him that suggested he wasn't very old. Watching the various critters that inhabit our yard is one of my pastimes, so I kept an eye on him for a while. All he did was sit there and peep while other robins looked for worms in the yard. I was confused as to how he got there, since I didn't think he could fly; our yard is pretty bare and there's nothing hanging over that part of the deck. He didn't move for quite some time, only peeped, sort of like he was hoping mama bird would come and rescue him. After a while I brought Kirby down to see the bird, and they did seem to talk to each other, but Kirby as per usual was uninterested. I set him on the floor and he ended up walking back and forth from one door to the other, sometimes diverting himself into the kitchen proper. I ended up watching him for a while and was surprised to look out and see the baby bird on the planter we have on the deck; it seemed too high for him to hop on. However, a short time later he flew away. Ah. Why he didn't do that earlier, I'm not sure. As for Kirby, I finally picked him up after he'd been walking for a while. I swear, his little feetsies were warm to the touch. That was his version of walking in the woods.
Mom missed the bird fun, as she was out running an errand, but after she got back she had a mini-scare. She was coming up the stairs when she looked and saw the neighborhood cat lounging in the dirt by the porch. Not expecting him to be there, she gasped loudly enough to scare him off. One of these days I'll get an updated picture of him. He's big enough that we should dye him orange and call him Garfield, but at least Garfield doesn't go around hunting the critters of the neighborhood.
As for Kirby, right now he's on his favorite little perch, part of the railing for the stairs. On the corners there are rounded toppers for the railings, and earlier he went to fly to his little perch and landed on a topper instead, as they're right next to each other. Amazingly enough, Kirby actually did land on it for a few seconds; the curvature of the topper makes it hard for him to stay on there. And, well, he fell off in short order. Poor thing. But he's fine and enjoying hanging out, and as this gets him away from his crabby ledge, I'm cool with him being there.
Mom missed the bird fun, as she was out running an errand, but after she got back she had a mini-scare. She was coming up the stairs when she looked and saw the neighborhood cat lounging in the dirt by the porch. Not expecting him to be there, she gasped loudly enough to scare him off. One of these days I'll get an updated picture of him. He's big enough that we should dye him orange and call him Garfield, but at least Garfield doesn't go around hunting the critters of the neighborhood.
As for Kirby, right now he's on his favorite little perch, part of the railing for the stairs. On the corners there are rounded toppers for the railings, and earlier he went to fly to his little perch and landed on a topper instead, as they're right next to each other. Amazingly enough, Kirby actually did land on it for a few seconds; the curvature of the topper makes it hard for him to stay on there. And, well, he fell off in short order. Poor thing. But he's fine and enjoying hanging out, and as this gets him away from his crabby ledge, I'm cool with him being there.