TALKING OF FUR, FEATHERS & FLYING THINGS

There is something to be said for furry things.  Especially for Squeaky, who likes to be where we human beings are.  She's not a particularly cuddly cat, prefering to sit on the arms of chairs rather than on the sittee's lap.  And although she'd prefer to sit on my lap when I am at the computer, she often condescends to use s her box on my desk next to the computer so she can take a snooze while I peck away.  It's really second choice, but she's easy.  And in her box she gets her warmth from the lamp, which moves around less often than my lap.

She snores when she sleeps, so often there are little rhythmic sound eminating from her furry body as she cat-naps.  She sleeps on my bed at night, and I mean SLEEPS flat out, looking for the world like she's flat-out dead.  Instead of waking her to make sure she's still alive, I just listen for her snore. 

This morning she looks particularly cute in her little box, don't you think?

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Earlier today I was on the couch reading the LA Times when I happened to see THREE male grosbeaks feeding at the sunflower feeder at the same time.  As much as I love the LA Times, I had to put it down because these grosbeaks don't stay long either in the feeder or in the area, so you have to watch them when you can!  This year Archie and Edith (this is Archie Grosbeak above) came mid-March and then pretty much disappeared.  Considering that Jerry bought a 20 pound bag of white-striped black sunflower seeds especially for them, I figured that the bag, now open and used for little more than a week this time, would have to sit in my closet for the next 11 months until they reappeared.  We really do not have any storage space in this apartment, and I wasn't crazy about using what we do have this way. 

However, a few days ago a whole bunch of grosbeaks showed up.  Some were juvenile males, but there certainly were more full-grown males than ever before.

Perhaps the word went out that there was plenty of seeds available, because there truly was a feast going on this morning in our yard.  It is quite amazing to watch those birds pick up the sunflower seed, crack it open, scoop out the tasty morsel inside, and then "blow" the hulls off onto the grass, all done with only a beak and a tongue.  I guess we humans could do the same thing without using our hands -- except it would not be easy to get the seed in our mouth in the first place without a beak!  (Watching birds can cause you to speculate on all kinds of things.)

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The flying thing today comes from a really interesting article in the LA Times called Sex in the Colonies and written by Marlene Zuk, a professor of ecology, evolution and behavior at the University of Minnesota.  The article in the op-ed section is entitled "Sex in the Colonies" and in addition to being very interesting it is awfully funny, not only what she tells about but how she tells it.  You won't be disappointed if you treat yourself to a few minutes and read this delightful article about spring romance and flying things.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-zuk-ant-sex-20120429,0,3123979.story