The Raven's Roost

A few days ago, I spotted one of the Red-Shouldered Hawks in the yard. It had caught a snake, and what got my attention was the snake's thrashing tail. I don't know what kind it was, just something dark in color that seemed slender, rather than thick like a cottonmouth. Perhaps it was the black racer - I liked that snake but raptors have to eat.

I've also seen two different ribbon snakes around, one of which has a stubby tail. It's a fairly large adult, but it's obviously had a run-in with something, because its tail doesn't taper out to a nice point, and though it's healed, it has some obvious scarring. The other snake has a whole tail. I prefer to leave non-venomous snakes alone and allow them to live around the house, since they act as rodent control. Occasionally we do get a venomous one that wants to live close to the house, but they get relocated. So far it's only been pygmy rattlers that want to hang out around the front deck. Maybe because the raised deck is a good place to hide from hawks?

Anyway, I also decided to add a second hummingbird feeder to the rear deck. I think I already wrote about it and it's odd design flaw, but that's been fixed. Now we have at least six, possibly more birds coming around back there, and they're drinking the feeders down every other day. They also don't care too much about us. We come outside and they zip off, but quickly return and continue feeding as long as we don't move around too much. They're even curious enough to check us out - Fox was wearing a red t-shirt yesterday and was closely examined by a female hummingbird, and I have a pair of red ear tunnels that sometimes attract them. So I'm probably going to be buying us a handheld feeder, because I think Fox would really enjoy getting to be that up-close with the birds. I think a ring-style feeder might work well, since that would have them perching on our hands to drink. Anything where we can rest our hands on something, honestly.

In completely different news, I started playing Shovel Knight and it's a hoot. I love it, I'm having a lot of fun with this game. The only frustration so far is that I'm not good at the "bounce bushes" in one section. I can do them almost accidentally but I feel like I should put some effort into actually knowing what I'm doing.

I was lying awake last night and heard Screech Owls calling. It sounded like one was pretty close by, and I could barely hear another responding. This was around 1 a.m. Besides a bat house, I think it would be a good idea to build a nesting box, since this seems to indicate there are owls living locally. This is the third confirmed owl species out here - I've seen Great Horned Owls, Barred Owls, and now these guys. Voice ID only so far, but when I'm up early I'll try to look for them, though Screech Owls can hide really well.

I am probably going to acquire a weighted blanket. The last week or so I've been using my electric blanket at night, and it attracts cats. So I spend the night "pinned" under about 20 pounds total cat weight. But according to Fitbit my sleep has seriously improved. Since I have both anxiety and a tendency to insomnia, I think it's a good investment.

Today is going to be so busy. :P I have an eight mile training run that I need to do before I go to the doctor. I won't do it if I wait until this afternoon. I have a bunch of other small errands and things to do and I don't exactly want to do any of them. I also know I shouldn't reward myself with food, but I am going to stop by a new bubble tea place that opened, as a treat for getting it done.

There's a hummingbird feeder on the back deck that one particular pair seems to have claimed as their own. There does seem to be a difference in traffic between it and the two feeders in the front yard. Fox can watch this feeder while he's working in the rec room and while he was on a call, two males started fighting in midair and one slammed into the sliding glass door.


This little goober knocked himself out. Once he could stand up he started getting his wits back and I took a few pictures before he flew off - which he did, having fully recovered.



"Helllllloooooo ladies, check out my SHINY red neck feathers! Aren't you impressed with how pretty I am? Yeeahhhhh boy."
Last time this happened it was a sparrow hitting the front door, but I can't find the picture of that one. 

Rolled out of bed this morning, ran on the treadmill, did my strength training, and did all my morning chores! Which means it's time to catch up here. I've paid for my upgraded account, downloaded all my old LJ userpics and transferred the ones I still wish to use. Like Sebby here, for example. I think I've added everyone who commented on my add-me post.

I need to head out of here around four to pick Fox up at the airport. I'm leaning towards leaving early because the local LGBT+ youth shelter is having a ... dine for charity I guess you'd call it? Anyway, if you eat at Chipotle they get 50% of what you spend. I'm almost willing to risk food poisoning to do this, plus I love burritos. None of the Chipotles in my area had to shut down, but it's hard not to be shy of them after all the problems they had.

Treadmills can be pretty dull. I'm using the time to listen to podcasts, and I'm considering getting an Audible account, so while I'm getting my miles in I can beef up my brain. But this morning I was treated to cute birds. I can see out the front windows, and I have a couple of bird feeders set up in the yard. We also have a pair of Carolina wrens who're nesting nearby. For the last few years they nested inside the water softener, but we had to replace the unit, so they moved to the eaves of the garage. I watched one of the pair gathering nest materials while the other would go to the feeder, pick out a peanut (I have a dried fruit and nut mix on one of them), and carry it to the truck, which is parked right outside where I can see it. Then she (she?? no clue which one this is) would carefully put the peanut into the tire tread so that she could pick off bits while safely out of view of overhead predators. I also get to watch the younger male Cardinal try to fight with his reflection in the truck's side mirrors. And the garage windows. And any other reflective surface. Because Cardinals.

I'm actually feeling pretty upbeat about things today. It helps that I don't feel as sick as I did. Last night I slept propped up for a while because I felt like I might vomit even though I'd been unable to eat. But today I feel physically normal. Breakfast didn't upset me and I'm even thinking about making another cup of coffee. But now I'm curious if I had mild food poisoning, picked up a bug while I was out Tuesday, or what the heck happened there. Or perhaps I'll just be glad that I feel better.