Gray feathers on a very gray day

Gray Catbirds, Dumetella Carolinensis are secretive and social at the same time. Their pair bond is strong and they are often close to each other in the garden. Catbirds are monogamous and monomorphic, meaning that males and females look alike. I love everything about them and look forward to them each spring.

Gray catbirds communicate visually, by how they hold their head or how their feathers are positioned. They also communicate by way of calls and songs. Gray catbirds are known for their "mew"-like song, which is reminiscent of the "mew" made by a cat. However, these skilled vocalists can make more than 100 different types of sounds, including whistles, harsh chatters and squeaks. They can even mimic other birds, tree frogs and other mechanical sounds that they hear. Part of this ability comes form the unusual structure of their syrinx, which allows both sides of the syrinx to operate independently. This means that gray catbirds can sing with two voices at once. Gray catbirds are also known to sing in duet. (Cimprich and Moore, 1995)

The garden was filled with birds collecting nesting materials , Fyra doing her morning tail tidy up and a wren posing . Mr. Sparrow seemed to be directing the Mrs. to the nest.

The weather is dreadful and it looks like this dank wet in the verge of rain condition will continue and ruin outdoor plans for the long Memorial Day weekend. We might see some sun on Monday the holiday.

I slipped on the last of the two stairs off the front piazza deck yesterday and went down backwards. My back is okay, but I'm stiff all over. I had to unfortunately skip painting today. My neck and right shoulder are stiff along with many other parts and a dull headache. The wooden stairs were slick from the overnight rain and I slipped so quickly that I really don't know how it happened. I have a sensitive stomach and the lovely pills I have for aches and pains caused that to hurt all last night, but seems to have settled down this morning. Blip photographs taken, the rest of the day is a rest day.

I just had an email from the rest of the painting gang, it's cancelled because two others feel sickly today as well. A rest day for sure.



I just read about this...A child's gift

For the Record,
This day came in wet, humid and gray. The humidity is supposed to leave with a change to cooler air, but no sun today.