Ode to Mockingbirds

I just love mockingbirds so much. Our local specimen lives across the street in the neighbor's bottlebrush tree and he starts chirping at about 4:30 each morning. It's like having 8 different birds all rolled into one - he can mimic a cardinal, robin, red-winged blackbird, starling and other bird sounds I don't recognize. How talented!

In other bird news, sadly the Sand Hill Cranes have lost one of their babies to some predator, I guess, although an I'm-Old-Therefore-I-Know-EVERYTHING gentleman told me the bird-parents sometimes kill the weaker fledgling themselves. I don't believe him. We have to remove the feeder when these guys are in the area because they clean it right out in one sitting, or standing I mean. --cds