"Save The Birds!"

Yesterday, the window next to my writing desk took a direct hard hit from a white winged dove. I was writing. It hit so hard it scared me. I immediately jumped up and ran outside to the downed dove. The trick here is to beat the nine cats and Gypsy to the window crazed birds. They fly into the windows so hard sometimes they drop to the ground dead. If so they are food and we are ok with that. First come first served. However, sometimes they are just extrememly confused after they crash and just need alittle time to recover. This is where I come in if I get to them in time. Believe it or not the cats and Gypsy are tuned into the sound the birds make when they hit the windows. They are fast in getting to the downed birds. Smart guys who have learned how to survive. If I arrive too late to save the birds I end up watching their feathers disappear into the mouths of the cats and Gypsy. Today I got to the downed dove and saw it get through the fence into Gypsys area. She was in the house so I knew the dove would be ok as it looked for a place to recover. I also knew it might not recover and would end up in Gypsys mouth. I waited several hours and then walked around the Angel Patch where the dove would most likely be, trying to scare it out of hiding. I did not find it and assumed it was either dead, dying or gone. I went back into the cabin and let Gypsy out. Within in seconds she had picked up the birds scent where it had come through the fence and was on a solid point next to some heavy cover in the Angel Patch where the dove had gone to hide. If it was ok it would be in the air by now. Enough time had passed that I knew the dove was dying. I released her to get it and she came out of the brush with the dove in her mouth. She was a most happy, proud dog to have this magnificent prize. I told her she was a good girl and she strutted around the yard with the bird in her mouth. It held her interest for most of the day and she finally ate it. I swept the feathers left behind off the porch and we both thought it had been a good day for us and a bad day for a dove.
Today, as I was sitting at my writing desk we heard another bump on the big picture window off to the right of my writing desk. Gypsy jumped up and so did I. We just looked at each other and thought what was that sound. It was not nearly as loud as the dove, but it had the ring of a bird crashing into a cabin window. This window is on the porch so all crashing birds fall on the porch floor. Once again she was in the cabin, so I hot tailed it out on the porch. Well, much to my surprise this time there were two hummingbirds on the floor of the porch just below the window. I reached down and touched one of them and moved it ever so gently putting it right side up. It paused a second and flew away. The other one was just laying on the wooden porch floor not moving. I reached down and turned it over and it shook itself and took off nearly flying directly into my face. A successful rescue. So it goes here at our cabin in the woods. People ask me, what do you do all day? Between hand feeding the runt feral kitten and saving the kamikaze birds I try to write alittle. Sometimes it takes us a long time to stop our morning on the porch watching the sunrise. The sky has been unusual for the past few day because of Hurricane Ike. We thought we might get some rain and wind from this huge storm but, at the last minute it made a turn to the East. I thank my friends from Maine, Oklahoma, Ohio and elsewhere that called us to be sure Gypsy and I were out of the hurricanes reach. Bill and Debra also said to call them anytime, day or night, if I had a problem due to the storm. Bill is the guy who does all the remodeling around here and they are long time friends. It is a good feeling to have folks concerned enough to call. We weren't ever in any real danger, but it was nice anyway.
Cooler weather is on its way and we are glad. It has been a long hot Summer. We hope our first guests in the newly remodeled bunkhouse will be able to enjoy some of our cooler days. Fall, Winter and Spring are the nicest day of the years here at the cabin. Gypsy and I see alot of porch time in our future.