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September 1, 1999 |
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mellow chloe |
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September 1, 1999 4 greater yellowlegs 3 dark birds on a rock in the ocean, with black tail stripe (squarish tail), white rump, dark heads and backs, black wing tips, light underbelly but dark chest - I have no idea what these were. I couldn't even tell if they were gulls or shorebirds. Mammals: 1 coyote in the road Today's Starting Pitcher: Kent Mercker Today's Reading: Up and Down the Merrimac by Pliny Steele Boyd, White Pine from A Natural History of Trees of Eastern and Central North America by Donald Culross Peattie
Copyright © 1999, Janet I. Egan |
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There are still a lot of cats in the sick room with URI. Plenty in the main room ready for adoption though. Bob points out to me that somebody has applied for Oscar. He's such a cutie I don't know why he was here longer than a day. Hooray for Oscar. I think he'll like having his own person. Molly, the new Persian I met last week, won't be here very long I'll bet. She tries to head butt me through the door of the cage. She's got the biggest eyes I've ever seen, even for a Persian.
Roy decided to have a heart to heart talk with Whiskers, explaining to her that she's missing out on a lot in life by never coming out of the corner of the laundry room. He was talking to her just like she was a person, his grandkid or something. It was very funny. Whether it had any effect in convincing Whiskers that she might get adopted if she ever showed herself to humans outside the laundry room it's too soon to tell. I know we started late, but Roy and I were still doing dishes and litter boxes when Bob and Larry had left and the staff was in their staff meeting. Just me and Roy and a whole lot of cats ignoring the phone and trying to get the big community litter boxes clean (well clean in the case of me and Roy - the cats were trying to make them dirty). Once everything was finally clean, I spent a loooooong time petting Jaguar. He was even purring a wheezy kind of purr for me. He lifted his head back so I would stroke his chin, which he seemed to find ecstatically pleasurable. I must have petted him for a solid 15 minutes and he showed no signs of wanting to stop. Usually he sets firm limits much quicker. He's mellowing even more nowadays though. Last week he actually let Kendra brush his long white fur - well half of it anyway before he engaged in limit setting. By the time I got done dispensing affection and photographing new cats, I was starving. It was lunchtime - duh! Off to the new Angelina's, across the street from the old Angelina's. The phragmites are still encroaching, but they're further away and will take longer to engulf the building. The new place is larger, brighter (no vegetation covering the windows), nicely decorated in blue, and has the same good food. My huge veggie sub was a good as it always was and nothing fell on my head. The rose bushes that had been stacked on tables in green plastic containers were now stacked outside on the loading dock in green plastic containers. I can only assume they intend to plant them eventually - maybe when they feel they need to be engulfed by vines again. The only thing missing is the Addams Family video game. I kind of miss the Addams Family theme periodically drifting out from the vines. Oh, and the Coke machine works. What will they think of next? Fortified with veggies and ice tea from the vending machine, I headed off for an hour of drive-by birding. Two hours or so later, I emerged from another world. I don't know how much time passed while I stood at the North Pool overlook staring up at thousands upon thousands of tree swallows swooping in every direction. I felt like I was inside a cloud of them. They were above me, beside me on all sides, and their shadows flickered across the ground beneath me. tiny ripples would appear on the surface of the pool where they just grazed it in their search for bugs. Sometimes, two swallows would go after the same bug and collide. They'd drop an in inch or two before recovering and flying off in separate directions. One attacked a monarch butterfly - not a good idea, whatever it is in milkweed that nourishes monarchs makes them distinctly unpalatable to birds - but let go of it really quickly. The butterfly appeared unharmed. The cloud of swallows continued over the pool for some time. A guy on a bicycle stopped when he came upon them and asked me what they were. He too stood transfixed, as did everybody who happened to be nearby. Swallows mass like this just prior to migration. I "counted" about 3000 but that was a crude estimate; there could easily have been up to 5000. An unforgettable sight. There were also an unusual number of snowy egrets around but not nearly as huge a crowd and all they were doing was standing around. I imagine they gather into flocks before migration too. I only saw one of the three coyotes today, but that one was in the middle of the road. I had to stop for it. They have no fear of humans whatsoever. One of the state park employees actually got out of her truck and photographed it from a couple feet away and it didn't budge. I'm still trying to figure out what the three birds at Emerson Rocks were. Four other birders were on the platform at lot 6 and they couldn't identify them either. If I had to guess I'd say possibly immature laughing gulls, but something about them just didn't fit. It was impossible to get a really good look at them so it will have to remain a mystery. |
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Chloe
is really mellow today. Normally she only likes to be petted
on her head and then only a little . Today she is begging
for affection, actually rubbing up against me and head
butting me. She wants a sip of my coffee too - she keeps
sniffing the Dunkin Donuts cup like it has catnip in it. I
wish Fowle's had a drive-thru. Dunkies is just not the same.
Doesn't matter to Chloe though. She keeps hanging around the
sink begging for coffee and affection. I give her plenty of
affection but no coffee.
I
started drying and putting away dishes when the drainer got
full because I didn't realize Roy was coming today since he
wasn't here last week. But there was still plenty for him to
do when he arrived and I went right back to washing the
dirtiest nastiest litter boxes we've had in a long time. I
could really use an abrasive sponge - better remind myself
to bring one next time.