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I know, it's pouring down rain, but when I woke up at 5:30 this morning, I had a theory: if it's been raining most of the night, and if it lets up, the birds are going to be very hungry for breakfast! So I drove to St. Charles CO for the third time. I got there at 7:30; it was still raining and there were no birds around the yard, so I drove around for 10 minutes or so. When I went back to my favorite parking spot, the inca dove was there feeding all by itself. It stayed for a few minutes as other birds joined in the meal, then they all flew. I saw it once more before 8. A little after 8, the homeowner came out to throw around more seed. I gave him a bag of seed and thanked him for his hospitality. The new supply of seed on the ground brought in maybe 200 birds, several different species. Two interesting things: I saw a leucistic bird, the size and shape of a brown-headed cowbird; smudgy gray on head, breast and belly, very pale, almost white on tail and distal half of wings. I've spent almost 5 hours at that place in the last week and that was the first time I saw that bird. The other thing.....I was listening to my new Birding By Ear CD in the car; one of the sections covers buteos. It also gives examples of blue jays mimicing calls of broadwinged or red-tailed hawks. When there were lots of birds on the concrete pad, I heard a hawk call and all the birds flew...except for 2 blue jays who were sitting on the fence and promptly rushed down to the feeding area, which they then had all to themselves. I never did see a hawk, and the other birds returned soon thereafter. Oh well, another exciting birding adventure! Susan Eaton Kirkwood, St. Louis CO., MO [log in to unmask] _________________________________________________________________ There are now three new levels of MSN Hotmail Extra Storage! Learn more. http://join.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-us&page=hotmail/es2&ST=1 __________________________________________________ * Audubon Society of Missouri's * * Wild Bird Discussion Forum * *------------------------------------------------* * To unsubscribe send the message * * SIGNOFF MOBIRDS-L * * to [log in to unmask] * * To subscribe send the message * * SUBSCRIBE MOBIRDS-L your name * * to [log in to unmask] * *------------------------------------------------* * To access the list archives from July 2002 on: * * http://po.missouri.edu/archives/mobirds-l.html * * * * To access the Audubon Society of Missouri Web * * Site: http://www.mobirds.org * ##################################################