Right at high noon on 4/22 I was greeted by loud hooting as I walked out the back door of my house - a nice big Band-tailed Pigeon on the peak of my roof, the first one I've seen here - it's not exactly great habitat for them here as I'm not by a 'greenbelt'.

Anyway, there it was, booming away like a cross between an owl and a cuckoo clock. Those birds are loud! In the past I've only heard them at a distance- this one was 25 ft away. Whether it was there to announce the time or not I never found out, because as I was trying sneak over to my nearby truck to get my binocs it flew off before 12 hoots. I really wanted to get a look a look at those feet. I normally dont have a foot fetish, but I love those big bright yellow feet Band-tails have. Overall ,they are incredibly beautiful birds. A very nice Earth Day gift.

Jeff Gibson
Everett Wa