Cats, birds and coyotes

I finally got photos of the stray cat that's been hanging around, I can't get close to her but snapped a couple pics through the window today.

So far I've been able to restrain my self and not leave food out for her in the hopes she'll decide this is not a good place to live. Mr. K showed up here about 7 years ago, and I managed to not 'feed the cat' for almost 3 weeks before breaking down and buying a small bag of cat food. He was very friendly though, approaching me for tummy rubs whenever I went outside, and had been neutered so I figured he belonged to someone and had just wandered a long way from home. I kept telling myself "Don't feed the cat, he'll go home if you don't feed him." Needless to say he never went home. lol This girl is another story completely. I've seen her several times at the edge of the grove, but when I call to her or try and walk toward her she fades away into the brush. today was the first time I've seen her up closer to the truck and trailer. I DO NOT need another cat! Although she would fit in well with the fat boys, my daughter's 3 cats, they're all orange.  lol

The barn swallows will be leaving soon, in fact it seems many of them are already gone, having left in small batches over the past week or so. Normally it's one mass exodus... one day there are hundreds perched on the wires over the yard, and the next there are none to be found anywhere. They are one of my favorite birds, I've always said I want to come back as a barn swallow in my next life. They are so fast, acrobatic and graceful, unlike the sparrows that remind me of stodgy old folks tromping about, swallows look like they're loving life .

It's rare that I get a decent photo of them, I not quick enough to focus before they dart in a different direction. Even using auto-focus doesn't help much since they're so small and quick and change course in the blink of an eye.

  As I was finishing up this blog entry the coyotes were singing outside. Here's a brief soundtrack. Coyotes