A pair has been around the yard for a few months. Still very shy, they head for the hills the second they see me move toward the door. This afternoon I was distracted by the beef stew simmering on the stove, and headed out for something in the garage. To my amazement, eight or nine doves instantly flew up to the oak trees. Maybe there are some young ones in the flock, but as I look at the five directly in front of me on the patio right now, they all seem to be the same size. Here comes number six.

I haven’t replenished the seed on the table. The towhees scatter anything loose in all directions, and I’m tired of sweeping every day. The doves are eating the dropped nyger seed from the finch sock. There are now eight goldfinches, counting the babies. I saw the juvenile towhee today, almost the same size as its parents, kind of rangy-looking.

Do I turn off the laptop when cleaning the keys? No. Do you?

Sometimes odd things happen on the desktop as I do this, but nothing particularly dramatic. This morning, I seem to have hit a happy combination of keys. The CD that has been stuck for a year or so popped about 1/16th of an inch out. Then it ducked back in. ‘No!’, I yelped. ‘Come back out!’

A son finally bought me an external CD drive since nothing could be installed. But I was determined to get this thing out. The famous orange juice spill may have factored into its stubborn refusal to exit. Seizing the opportunity, I hit the eject button. Then I grasped it firmly as it slid out the fraction of an inch. Sigh. At last. But I hesitate to insert another disk.

Maybe I should clean the keys of the old laptop where another CD is stuck.

A few days ago, there was a new frantic sound, the rapid buzzing of a hungry fledgling on the ground. It was big.

Alongside the parent junco, it looked enormous. My first thought was, this can’t be a junco. Maybe it was a hybrid. A quick check proved me wrong. Till today I had only seen it in the agitated, fluffed out stage. The parents seemed bent on leaving it behind to forage on the millions of nyger seeds dropped by the goldfinches. This it would do, but as soon as it spotted a parent, it turned up the volume on the buzzing, chasing them all over the yard.

This morning, as it fed alone on the seeds, a dove landed. Immediately, it unfluffed itself, and I could see that it had the lean lines of a junco. But I kind of prefer it all poufy.

Those dang squirrels. Those dang crows. Via Zooillogix.

If you look a little more closely at the second photo in the preceding post, you’ll see that the raccoon is a lactating mom. It did not move erratically or otherwise seem sick. Most likely, it is out looking for food at a time when most of its babies’ predators are sleeping.

But I’m sure no one would object if I keep the screen door closed today.

There I was, minding my own business after a fine lunch that included a protein and not one but two veggies. My usual bird friends were fairly calm, and the only discordant note was a bluejay that kept swooping in and stealing their food. Then the raccoon appeared.

Around the corner it came. High up in the oaks, the crows began to screech loudly. The door was open as usual. Quickly I went outside, closing the door behind me, grabbed the camera and tripod and went after the rapidly disappearing creature. It loped across the back patio, and ducked under the shed.

Every bird and squirrel in the surrounding trees set up a huge outcry. I went back to work. No photos. In a few minutes, the alarm sounds went up again as I heard something big crashing through the ivy on top of the fence.

A little blurry, I was nervous.

About a week ago, I found a dove sitting on her nest on the fence. She froze, even though she tended to flee at the slightest human movement near the feeding table. The day after, all that remained was the nest with one broken egg and a lot of feathers scattered on the ground and caught on the vines.

Now I know what happened.

It went along the fence easily, as if it had done this many times before. At the spot where the dove had her nest, it stopped to see if another dinner awaited. Then it climbed down the other side. I didn’t go after it.

But if it comes back along the same route, I’ll be ready.

Earlier, I’d mentioned that Sparky seemed to be in the last stages of a molt. Over the holiday weekend, we noticed what appeared to be a new hummer at the feeder.

Last year at certain times, Sparky would change to what I called his courting colors. His gorget colors extended to his head, and he would sit all puffed out, swaying from side to side to attract the Missus when he wasn’t doing the stunt flying. But then, once back at the feeder, he looked his normal sleek, mostly green and white self.

This newcomer might or might not be Sparky. His head and throat are a deep magenta all the time, it seems. If indeed it is the new, improved Sparky, he must have requested a custom color job on the molt.

But near sunset, something magical happens. When the light is just right, a lot of that magenta turns to gold.

The lingering scent of a man’s deodorant prevails in here as I work, even though I work alone. The UPS man uses this particular kind. Ditto the FedEx guy. Various workmen that make expensive visits to disabled appliances and plumbing. On occasion, a son, despite my pleas for him to desist. And now, apparently, the mailman. To say it’s strong is an understatement. Somehow it gets on the mail and most of the packages.

I don’t know how this happens. But unless I take the mail back outside, this will be the smell of the day. Sometimes, if there is no breeze, it will stay in the air for hours.

But it’s the 4th of July weekend. My next door neighbor will be grilling. There is a nice cool breeze. Soon, the smell of charred meats will fill the air. But I’m moving the family member’s mail to the other room.

And then when I catch him blinking and sticking his tongue out, well that just gets a little strange.

Sorry for the blurry action, he and I still aren’t back on our old routine of sharp close-up footage yet.

When Sparky deploys it, he looks a little spooky. He’s still recovering from his adventures, might be going through the last stages of a molt, judging from the look of some of his feathers.