In a message dated 96-12-29 16:18:29 EST, you write:

> Not all Tweeters hate cats and are going to cheer
> your actions, although I'm sure some would.

I have a cat---I care very much for her but I cheer Kelly's actions. We
don't let our cat out during the day unless we're in the yard and watching
her. This action has been taken after she has shown her prowess in catching
and killing two beautiful hummingbirds. In our yard the kestrels, Cooper's
hawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and merlins are the ones who are killing the
birds. We shoo off the hawks if they stay on the fence very long so that the
birds can get back to eat.

We have in our yard:

House Finch
House Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
European Starling
American Goldfinch
Dark-eyed Junco
California Quail
Ring-necked Pheasant
American Kestrel
Cooper's Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Merlin
Red-tailed Hawk
Mountain Chickadee
Northern (Red-shafted) Flicker

Our neighbors are running out of birdseed so we're feeding most of the
neighborhood birds right now. This weather is so horrific! We spent two
nights in North Bend waiting for Snoqualmie to re-open and got home from Oak
Harbor (and North Bend) yesterday. While at Whidbey, we went birding at Ault
Field and on the Seaplane Base where we saw a lot of great birds (Bill, I
think we found Forbes Point---we walked down to the beach on a very
dilapidated walkway made out of railroad ties...). There were three bald
eagles on the Seaway Walk on Ault Field. They flew just over our heads on
their way from a grove of trees to another grove of trees. I've never been
so close to bald eagles before. They were a male, a female and an immature.
We also saw hundreds of snow geese flying toward us from the west. This was
on Christmas Day which was beautiful (sunny and clear but COLD). We also saw
Golden-crowned Kinglets on the Seaway Walk and they were totally unafraid of
us---eating whatever they were finding in the dirt at our feet! Lots of
shorebirds, etc. Our list is in the car which is somewhere I don't want to
go right now (outside in the freezing rain). Thanks to everyone who answered
my query about where to bird on Whidbey but especially to Bill Applegate!

Maia Kelly
Selah, WA