"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote in
message ...


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!)

Our Blue Jays regularly draw blood when attacking the cats. The cats
regularly retaliate by killing any fledgling jays that don't fly on
their first venture from the nest.

You would think the jays would quit nesting in our yard, but no. And
I'm very sure its they same jays year after year.

I think the last persistent set may have died of old age, none are
nesting in the Cyprus trees this year. First time in ages.

Jo