Thanks for sharing your sightings. The migrants are on their way south. As far as the cat goes, I don't think that a bell on the collar will help much. My next door neighbor had a bell on her cat's collar and it was still catching birds and mammals constantly. I think they figure out a way to stalk without ringing the bell. As far as I know the only true way to keep a cat from catching birds is to not let it venture outdoors. Jason Caddy, Minneapolis j.ca...@hotmail.com
Sent from my Samsung Transform™ Ultra Frank Gosiak <fgos...@gmail.com> wrote: I woke to a nice day Saturday and sat down outside, on my patio, with my ipad and was writing a friend about the birds I saw and heard. I had Chickadee, Tennessee Warbler, Red Start, White and Red Breasted Nuthatch, Red Bellied-Downy-Hairy Woodpecker, Goldfinch, House Finch, Robin, House Sparrow, Crow, Blue Jay, Red Shouldered Hawk, Bald Eagle, Canada Geese, Mallard, Starling, Chipping Sparrow, Blue Jay, Blue Bird, Catbird, Ruby Throated Hummingbird, Cedar Waxwing, and a few unidentified Warblers. I was kinda romanticizing, telling my friend how so few of us notice all that goes on around us and how we get caught up in other things. I wrote about the insects, trees, and even the grass and the weeds and how they all interact. About the time I was getting lost in the moment I heard a nasty screech sound. I looked down and there was the Catbird in my cat Molly's mouth. The bird was struggling, to no avail, and the cat was trying to set its claws in for a better hold. I jumped up, yelled at the cat and stepped on its tail. The cat let out a scream, thus, releasing the bird which flew to a near by bush and chattered. I watched the cat move to a spot on the patio then laid down swishing its tail showing anger. The cat had a few feathers in its mouth and a couple fell to the ground. I ended my letter to my friend saying the bird probably doesn't realize I helped it and that ungrateful, well fed, fur bearing cat will be getting a bell on its collar. I like my cat but I need to take every precaution to keep it from killing the birds. ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html