Hi, Tweeters,

I had a very birdy day today, of a completely different sort.
This morning, before the mist burned off, I was out in my garden and heard the
calls of a nestling bird. There in my radishes gone to flower was a fully
fledged but not quite competent HY Common Yellowthroat. He was calling and
calling, and mom or dad were no where around. The Yellowthroats come and bathe
in my birdbath, I am supposing that's why he was there.
The HY hopped towards me, still calling. I crouched down, extended my hand and
bingo, he half flew, half hopped to me. When he was close enough, I put my
finger to his chest and he stepped aboard with a bit of difficulty..probably
the first human he'd ever seen, after all............
This baby was all over me for the next twenty minutes. If I put him down, he'd
fly right back to me. He checked my fingers for food, hopped up my arm,
stepped from finger to finger, and kept asking for food the entire time. I
began to worry...had this mite imprinted on me? I doubted that, but he was
plainly hungry, and my insect catching skills are very, very
poor.....................besides, I don't relish mushing bugs up in my mouth
before stuffing them down some beaked mouth.......

At this time, an adult female Northern Harrier flew over my head, closely
followed by it's own begging HY. The HY Northern Harrier plopped down onto a
pile of cut broom and mom left to find something for his breakfast. The baby
NOHA stopped calling but watched me and my "pet" COYE walk around the yard. I
was stuck... I wanted to take the COYE over to the broom, as that's where the
adults have been nesting, but here's this wonderful HY NOHA sitting
there............so I continued holding onto the COYE, who never shut up. The
HY NOHA could hear it, but seemed to ignore it.
Soon mom NOHA flew overhead, with a something with a long rodent tail dangling
from her talons. She flew over her HY and he followed, hollering how hungry he
was.
As soon as they were gone, I walked to the broom, COYE still jauntily perched
on my hand. The minute he could hear adult COYE's calling, he started
'pidging"...that's what the calls of a COYE sound to me..pidge, pidge. I told
my little friend to come back any time he liked. He flew off, pidging loudly.

About an hour later, as I was still outdoors, an osprey flew over my head,
with a fish properly aligned in his talons.
What a day!!!!

Michelle