well, we finally got a chance to do some birding. We went to Muskegon Wastewater and were pleasantly surprised. The first bird we saw was a Mature Bald Eagle. Next we saw a group of Junco's, and very shortly after that we saw a very large flock of Tree Sparrows. There were Cardinals and Blue Jays mixed in with the Tree Sparrows. We saw huge numbers of Ring-billed Gulls and Mallards, and we then saw a fair amount of Common Mergansers. We almost always see Crows, which we did yesterday. Our most pleasant experience was watching 2 Northern Harriers floating over a stand of trees looking for something to eat. We saw a Rough-legged hawk across from the Harriers in a field-probably looking for something to eat also. We turned around to leave and the Harriers were flying together almost play-like. We are not sure, but they possibly were mating. The last bird we saw on our tour was a Mute Swan. We felt fortunate to have seen such a variety of birds here, as it was windy. For some reason we don't see the birds as much when it is windy. We haven't been out birding in such a long time, it just seemed good!!

We went to Crash's Landing and had a really hard time trying to decide which kitty out of over 100 we would bring back with us. We spent about an hour there and decided to bring Kendall back with us. She is about 7 months old and a real gentle little girl. She is still getting used to us and our space, but seems to be doing fine. It usually takes 5-7 days before they feel secure, so we haven't taken any pictures of her yet. But, we will in the next couple of days and we'll post it then. She was found hiding under a porch north of our store, and she is quite thin-but she really likes to eat so we think she'll fatten up nicely here. We're looking forward to finding her a home of her own.

Well, that adorable Mr. Newman got himself a new home. A very nice family adopted him yesterday- 2/18/05. We are always excited, but sad, when one of our foster kitties gets a new home. Excited that they get to have their own home and family, but sad because we will miss their cute antics. He is featured in my previous blog lying in the front window of our store in the sun. I thought of him this afternoon as the sun shone in the windows onto the spot that picture was taken and hope he has found a special place to bask in the sun at his new home. Now the fun begins as we choose another kitty to foster. It's always amazing to see their little personalities emerge as they start to feel comfortable at our place. We'll be venturing out to Crash's Landing on Monday to see who our next kitty will be.

The sun has been out for a couple of days. Newman, a kitty from Crash's Landing-a local cat rescue shelter - has discovered how nice it is to lay in the sun in one of our front windows. We snapped a picture of him as he was napping in the afternoon sun. He was very tired as he had been watching the birds on the sidewalk for several hours. "How much is that kitty in the window?"

We are experiencing a little reprieve from the sub-zero temperatures of last week. The activity at our feeders is still going fairly strong. We have had an occasional visit from our resident hawk, but the birds eventually get used to his presence and return. I have heard the Cardinals singing, and the males seem intent on chasing each other around the yard. I noticed on a few of our goldfinches a bit of bright yellow showing up in the head area-that means spring is on its way. Today a group of Blue Jays showed up-oops, I didn't have any in-shell peanuts out for them. I will do that tomorrow for sure! I am anticipating the Red-Winged Blackbirds arrival. The earliest I have personally ever seen them was Valentine's day several years ago. They are truly harbingers of spring!! We have decided we need to get a Nyjer feeder that has a reserve at the top-I am filling the ones we have right now every day. They fight over the feeding ports too much on the ones we are using now. We have one attached to our kitchen window with a suction cup hanger and we see them up very close. We had a visit from a Downy, a Hairy, a Flicker, and a Red-Bellied woodpecker 2 days ago. One right after the other. What a treat!!!