Amazing Nature - Birds!

             A fascinating thing happened in our backyard last week. We live in a house slightly in the hills that overlooks the San Fernando Valley and we often get some good views. We also sometimes see some interesting wildlife, including, unfortunately, coyotes—which I like, but not too close to our dogs. We also have parrots flying over and talking, squirrels in the yard, large murders of crows flying overhead, hawks hanging out on a tall tree beyond our backyard, doves cooing and other smaller birds chirping around us—not to mention the many hummingbirds that visit the feeders we have on the back porch. Always fun.

            But I was astounded last week when I looked toward the tree where hawks sometimes visit and saw, instead, a blue heron perched on top—tall, thin, and lovely! I told my husband and he managed to take a picture before it flew away. We’re not near any lakes or waterways, and it’s pretty dry here in L.A. anyway, so why a heron would be here I’ve no idea. I was thrilled to have seen it, though.

            An idea for a story? I hope so. I’m already considering something with more animals than the dogs I most often write about, so we’ll see.

            And then, the next day, a small bird whose type I can’t tell you was flying through our house! We often leave the front door open these days for air in the house, and because our dogs like to watch the world outside through the locked mesh fence. We get occasional flies—but a bird? Yes! It fortunately flew to our back window through which we’d seen the heron, and I managed to gently convince it to stay there till my husband removed the screen and we scooted it out. The dogs were fascinated and I had to keep them away from the scared bird.

            More story material? Again, I hope so!