Bobbleheads to first 10,000 fans

The mourning doves on my patio look and act like the exclusive limited-edition Lou Piniella bobblehead dolls given to the first ten thousand fans at last Sunday afternoon's Cubs vs. Reds game. The bobbling didn't make Lou look very bright, and mourning doves definitely miss the MENSA cutoff. If you look up the expression, "bird brain," there's probably an illustration of a mourning dove.

This particular pair is trying to figure out how to nest on the back door security lightbulbs. I'm not keen on the idea of two white eggs falling off a loosely made nest of sticks and twigs and splatting on the patio, or of being awakened by such close coo-ah coo coo coos.



With apologies to Freddie Eynsford-Hill,
I have often walked down my block before,
but I've never seen a hawk outside my condo door.

Returning from an errand, I was stunned to see a very small greyish hawk standing on skinny yellow legs on the front sidewalk next to a baby bird. The hawk didn't move as I opened my car door, but turned its head slightly when I scurried into the condo to get the camera. When I came back out, the hawk emphatically put its sharp talons on its victim. I took one step closer, and off it flew between the carports and toward the creek with its sacklunch struggling.

You can barely see it in the photo, as it was just slightly taller than the curb, and smaller than a city pigeon. It seemed grey in the shadows. The striking thing, beyond the weirdness of the whole experience, were the bird's long skinny yellow legs. It didn't have the "eye makeup" or rusty look of the kestrals I've seen in the neighborhood. I'm guessing it was a sharp-shinned hawk.