Love Notes. Scratch That. Dove Notes

I believe after yesterday's poking fun at the mourning doves, they have all been busy early this morning leaving me little "love notes"? No, wait, scratch that, they've been leaving "Dove Notes". Of course!

I wish I was better at bird hieroglyphics. I have a sneaky suspicion they're telling me they're not as dumb as they look! This is the best I could decipher from the little symbols ... let me know if you see something different.

hmmm ... "follow your h.e.a...?!"

"l.o.o.k. o.n. t.h.e. b.r.i.g.h..." I dunno

"W.a.l.k. a. m.i.l.e. i.n. m.y. .s.h.o..."  Whoops! a little mistake there

"b.i.r.d.s. o.f. a. f.e.a.t.h.e.r. f.l....?!"

The only one that was painfully clear to me was this last one ....

"b.i.r.d. f.e.e.d.e.r. e.m.p.t.y."

 Got it.

I have been enjoying watching a link that Quinn of Comptonia put me onto. It's a live cam set up above the nest of a Great Horned Owl in Savannah, Georgia, high up in a pine tree in a golfcourse. The link is through Cornell University. If you're into bird watching, this is so fun to watch. I pop in to see Mrs. GHO early in the morning, and then throughout the day. Owls are most active at night, of course, but you won't miss a thing. There's an infra-red light that picks up all the details all through the night without disturbing the owl. 

I've enjoyed watching Mrs. GHO sit through a rain storm, be visited by a little jay who landed with some surprise on her nest, and watching her roll the eggs. Mr. GHO does not help in the egg incubation, but he can be heard hooting softly to the Mrs. letting her know he's caught a little snack for her. When she hears that, off she goes for just a few minutes to collect her dinner. Then quickly back to the nest where she settles in for several more hours. She is such a good mother. This morning the crows were pestering her out of view of the camera, but very vocal. You could hear her giving little warning screeches to them, but she did not budge from her eggs (there are two eggs). Apparently, the eggs are soon to hatch in the next week or so. 

There are lots of little informative notes that people add on the side bar. If you do go to the live video, you can change the setting to high-def for an excellent, clear image. Just click on the "settings" cog wheel on the bottom tool bar of the video screen, click the tiny arrow, and scroll up to the "hd" option. I just love this viewing. Thank you so much Quinn for sharing this link. There are other bird cams set up too, but I like watching the owl the best. There was a pair of Great Horned Owls living in our woods when I was a kid, and I would often see them high up in the trees. I could usually find out where the owl was by following the racket the crows made trying to get them to leave. 

"t.h.a.n.k.s. f.o.r. s.t.o.p.p.i.n. b.y."

Wendy ;)

Linking up with Eileen's Saturday Critters