Marina wrote:
I'm convinced that, at some point, Caliban will take another swim in the
ocean. He waltzes out on the jetty and hangs over the edge, just like he
did last summer. He doesn't seem to have learned anything.

The swallows have their nest under the jetty again, and this year, they
are very aggressive. They dive within inches of anyone, cat or human,
who ventures too close to their nest.

That sounds like California mockingbirds! I had some nesting in the
bushes by my front porch (next to my neighbor's driveway). Because they
had a gated backyard, he'd pull his car into the drive to unload
groceries, load the kids for school, etc. It got so his kids were
afraid to get in and out of the car, because those birds would attack
anyone venturing into the driveway. I didn't think about them, one day
when I walked across to my neighbor's front door, until I felt a rap on
the top of my head, caused by a mockingbird's beak! (It HURT, too -
even if it didn't quite draw blood!)