Strangers In The Morning

In the early morning, like around 5:00 before anyone else is stirring, I sit on my patio and drink my coffee.  I like soaking up all the cool ... especially the cool ... and the quiet, only interrupted by the scream of a peacock and two roosters.

Lately I've been hearing what I instantly recognized as baby birds wanting to be fed.  I raised cockatiels, parrots and cockatoos long enough to become very familiar with the squawking language. FOOD .... FEED ME!!!

I've seen them flying about in the pine trees at the edge of my property, but couldn't really tell what they were.  We actually do have lots of seagulls around here, even though we are far from the ocean.  That squawking though .... that was just too familiar.

I finally got out my camera with the long lens and began shooting in that direction.  Wasn't I surprised when I discovered what the strangers actually were.  These are baby White Tailed Kites.  They usually congregate in grasslands and marshes, neither of which exist in my back yard.

The male, good guy that he is, brings food to Mom and the babies while she sits in the nest.  Once fledged, both parents continue to bring breakfast every day, even though the babies can fly from tree to tree.  They mostly live in Mexico, with a few hanging out in the San Joaquin Valley in California.  Funny, I've never seen them before.

Here's the perfect picture of Mom (or Dad) bringing baby some breakfast.  I watched them for over an hour as they made trip after trip.

Even a mockingbird got in the act.  I don't know if he was looking for scraps or just checking out the baby.  They eat lots of scraps like leftover french fries from my neighbors garbage.  I know that because I find pieces all over my yard, along with the bags they tear apart.  Big time scavengers those Mockingbirds.

Just to be sure I had the identification right, this is a picture from the internet.  They have two very distinctive "eyes" on their wings.  What a cool find in my very own back yard!!  I've seen the babies flapping their wings a lot, so I imagine they won't be around long.  I sure hope they come back next year.  Isn't nature cool??

My sole project for today is to check out my internet provider ... this little Verizon JetPack.  To be honest, I'm not sure if it is that or my computer.  This Mac is over five years old and probably needs an upgrade.  

If you've been around for awhile, you know my last and only copy of Photoshop for my photography is on this computer.  It cannot be transferred to any other machine.  A new computer means I have to subscribe to the Cloud (I hate the cloud) for all my photography needs.  They don't make Photoshop on a disk any more.  It's more lucrative to demand a payment every month, not to mention the hit my wallet will take on a comparative computer of around $4,000.  I draggeth my feet!!!

Worse case, I try to upgrade my computer and it crashes, causing the big expense of a new one.  Best case, when I reinstall everything, Photoshop will magically reappear, having been in a coma, and not remember she was supposed to die a horrible death upon reinstallation.

Either way, it's going to be stressful.  If I disappear for a couple of days, you'll know why!!