83% of all statistics are made up on the spot. Thanks for asking Suzy. We leave for India tomorrow. The Vernal Equinox Party was too fun for words. My face still hurts from all the laughter. Over the course of the night we had 58 guests. Things kicked off at 7:00, and at around 3:00 in the morning I realized that everyone who was still there was either spending the night or lived within stumbling distance so I excused myself and went to bed. The weather was perfect. It was cool enough that I could put shelving in my garage and use it as supplemental refrigeration space so I could plate my food well in advance, but it was clear and warm enough that we could also enjoy the fire pit out front. Two of my neighbor ladies helped me prep the food, and a friend from Minneapolis (who is all thumbs in the kitchen) arrived a couple hours early so we amused ourselves by making him prep and plate also. We had over 20 different appetizers in all, including a couple that featured our homemade pancetta and duck prosciutto. Some of the guests also brought things, and so we all ate very well. A couple of my friends who are vegetarians brought me bacon toffee as a hostess gift. Is there any higher expression of affection than vegetarians offering the gift of bacon? :o) The drinks were well received. Steve chastised me for not having stocked up the wine racks before people came (we have a 24-bottle capacity and it was only half full) but by the end of the night, we'd gone through 10 bottles, our wine rack was completely full again, and we have 20 bottles that don't fit. I like the way that works! Our cleaning lady came over the next morning and while my overnight guests were coming alive with espresso, she hand-washed ALL of my dishes while I dried and put them away. She then cleared and washed down all my counters and tables and left me with a mostly clean house. The last of my guests left around 1:00 on Sunday. I don't know about garbage production, but I can tell you the neighbors will be dragging quite a bit of recycling to the curb for us while we're gone! I'm tired but I'm thinking this is a good thing. If I stay up late tonight, I may sleep for most of our 23 hours worth of flights and adjust to the 11 hour time difference more quickly. On Friday and Saturday, while Steve is at his conference, I'll be with this woman: gourmetdesire.com. On Friday I'll have a full-day culinary tour which includes cooking class with lunch followed by a guided tour of the spice market, then eating local delicacies and local shopping, and then a local cuisine dinner. On Saturday we'll do another cooking class, focusing on a different aspect of Indian cuisine. Between this, the tour of the Taj Mahal we have planned, and some of the other things on our itinerary, my head is absolutely spinning right now. Truly, my cup runneth over...

My sister just called me with a similar problem with the phoebe nest on her deck. The first thing that came to my mind was the cowbird. I'm surprised that no one has mentioned this notorious brood parasite. Even though the cowbirds most common host is the yellow warbler, the brown-headed cowbird often targets Eastern phoebes for its host. I've actually seen female cowbirds egg-dump phoebe nests. It's an extremely fast process. Now before people have evil thoughts towards the brown-headed cowbird, I have to say this: it's not the cowbirds fault... Cowbirds evolved following roaming buffalo herds around, and therefore developed a breeding strategy (brood parasitism) that allowed them to do so. The cowbird used to be an uncommon species here in the northeast, but during the 17 and 1800s almost all forests were cut down for farmland. Since cowbirds are an open spaces/prairie species, this is the perfect habitat for them. They also like edge habitat (powerlines, forest edges etc.) So, I told my sister to keep watching the nest for a cowbird chick. The young, a week or two along, should be larger, louder and healthier by far than the others. It's more agressive behavior as a nestling makes it sure that it gets fed at the expense (often fatal) of the others. So if the young in a nest all look and sound the same, chances are it "cowbird-free."

My phoebes had skipped a year of nesting in their usual place (above the porch light fixture near my office door). My mirror set-up had scared them away. I should have realized that birds do not "like" mirrors -- but I didn't think about it at the time. I did see a bird pecking all day at the mirror, looking behind it, then pecking angrily at it when seeing the "intruder" again. That bird came back the next day to peck at the mirror again. I felt sorry for him wasting his time. But, I didn't think about the phoebes reaction being the same. So, they never nested there last year. I removed the mirror, but they still did not return to nest there this spring. Instead, they nested on another side of the house -- under our raised deck (same as last year). But, after the 1st brood was fledged -- THEY MOVED BACK TO THEIR OLD NESTING SPOT! So, the phoebes apparently got fed up with the disturbances created by our toy poodle (who is let out onto our raised deck several times a day.) The poodle would be walking directly over their nest, and possibly pissing over their nest. The nest building started May 25, 2021 and completed on the 30th or 31st. The mother was sitting on the nest on May 31, and there were 2 eggs in the nest. So, the first egg was likely delivered on May 30. By June 3, there were 5 eggs. All the eggs hatched on June 17 -- so, exactly 2 weeks after the last egg was laid. Interesting that all eggs hatched on the same day, even though each egg was laid a day apart. When I peeked, all the shells were gone. So, even tho I didn't see it, I assume that the parents removed all the egg shells. I also see the parents flying away with baby-bird poop. The poop looks like worms, and the parents carry it away from the nest. They either drop it or eat it (it is undigested food). Today is June 23, and the parents are often very busy bringing food. The bay birds are still too small to see without using a mirror over the nest. Here is a link to a very interesting article from 1937, detailing the observations of nesting habits of phoebes as studied over a 3-yr period. A few interesting details: Female does all the nest building. Incubation starts at varying times - sometimes after 3rd egg, sometimes after 4th, sometimes after 5th. The male apparently does none of the incubation. After fledging, the young birds remain close to the nest, getting farther way as the days pass. Both parents still feed the young after they fledge -- feeding them for periods of up to 18 days. Reliance on the parents gradually decreases. The parents may eventually show harsh treatment of the young to get them to go out on their own. Interesting. https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v059n03/p0410-p0417.pdf

Thanks guys! Perhaps someone will see the cowbirds in context, their association with bison, and maybe realize they aren't just a nuisance preying on unsuspecting parent's to be. To be fair however, the brown headed cowbird is a "homegrown" introduced species. They have expanded their range outwards from the central plains significantly since the days of American westward expansion. While once confined to the prairies, this adaptive bird now occupies almost all of North America. Such is the case with a number of bird species, though. Before the 20th century blue jays were found pretty much exclusively east of the Mississippi, but now can be found all the way to the Rockies. Similarly, northern cardinals have begun to hopscotch their way west, following man-made urban forests and waterways that, prior to human mitigation, flooded too regularly for the forests that now grow along their banks to establish. They show up on eBird lists around Denver with increasing regularity. In a less fortunate instance this is one of the ways that it is suspected that barred owls have found their way to the Pacific Northwest where they out-compete and contribute to the decline of their cousins, spotted owls. It seems I'm going off on a tangent here... As far as ticks go, Claire, I can't imagine that bird would pass up a meal. However, I have never found ticks to be a big problem here on the Front Range, we are after all a relatively "bug-free" region when compared to hotter and more humid climates. Perhaps there is simply no one who has ever asked the question of whether cowbirds eat ticks. It would be interesting. I do know possums (another critter that has started to migrate into Colorado) have a voracious appetite for ticks, and folks who can stand to keep a flock of screaming guinea fowl report that they do a fantastic job as well. Catherine, I consider myself to be among the luckiest people on earth to have to opportunity to do what I do every day. My only complaint would be that I would prefer a more "rural" location than right outside downtown Denver, but, it sure beats sitting in an office all day ;).