fledged

The mockingbirds fledged today. I'm not even sure where they nested this year (last year was right under my bedroom window, joy!). I know it was somewhere in the back/garden/orchard area, but the adult birds vigorously defended the entire area between the creek and the garage whenever the cats were around. So, hard to narrow it down! Funny thing is even though they dive bomb the cats without mercy, they never fussed at me poking around out there. Even today when I found this baby 2 feet off the ground in a rock rose bush:

Jessie's nose was working overtime snoofling around trying to find it, and I didn't really want to see it turn into a doggie snack, so I picked it up* and moved it into the nectarine tree with it's sibling.**

"If we hold reeeeaaaally still maybe she won't see us."

* It's okay, I know what I'm doing and how to handle little birds, did years of wildlife rehab, etc, and that old tale you heard about how a mother bird won't take back a baby is not true. Birds have a very poor sense of smell, with the exception of turkey vultures, who use their fantastic sense of smell to find suitably rotten things to eat. Sorry, got all bird nerd on you there. The little bird did not fuss and the parents were watchful and aware that I had the baby, but did not dive bomb me at all.

** There may be one more too, but they are darn hard to find when they are quiet and not moving.

Anyway.

I set out to start making the presentation box for the belt buckle today, and needed some fabric for the interior (yes, I am one-stop shopping for all your scrimshaw needs). My frustration at digging through the fabric drawer for random scraps became a full fledged organization-fest (you're laughing if you know me, I'm usually a total pig but sometimes have the overwhelming urge to sort, bag, and label). A few hours later, all the scraps were rolled, sorted by color and print (or fabric type), bagged, labeled, and repacked in the drawer with room to spare. Yeesh, what a weirdo.

But I decided I'm going to make a quilt. Not right now, but some time this year. There are so many little scraps of fabric, many of which have a long story behind them. So I'm gonna make a little quilt, for a little someone. :-)

Okay, sleepytime.