My biggest problem is that my house is in a new (<10 years) neighborhood and
we don't have large stands of trees nearby.  There are farm fields close,
but the farmers ripped out most of the fencerows.  This translates into few
reasons why songbirds would want to come around.  I keep some gourds hanging
around for the purple martins and barn swallows (great for keeping mosquitos
at bay), suet feeders and a bath by the kitchen window.  I can get
hummingbirds because we have a lot of flowers around and it's pretty easy to
make "nectar".

Cats are a big problem too.  We don't have an animal shelter in our county,
and a lot of city folks bring their unwanted kittens out to the country and
"dump" them.  They've really gotten out of hand--killing the birds, baby
rabbits in the woodpiles, etc.  The Toms are a particular problem with their
spraying.  That smell lasts forever!  I have an old truck that I bang around
in in the wintertime and the cats love to get under the hood on the warm
engine.  It's not a problem with the front-wheel drive cars in the hood
because the fan is temperature actuated, but I've fur-lined the hood of that
truck a couple times, if you know what I mean.  It just makes me
sick-hearted if one gets caught up in there and then runs away before I can
put it out of its pain.  I've learned to whack on the hood if I go somewhere
in the truck and it's already warmed up.  I did that one time and seven cats
ran out!  Scary.

Because I'm a hunter, and kind of have a stomach for such things, the
township has sort-of deemed me in charge of taking care of the problem in
our group of houses (about 60).  I live-trap the ferals (I know all the
neighborhood kitties, so there's never been a problem) and take them to a
woodlot I own a few miles away, dispatch and bury them there.
Heartbreaking, really.  If people would only spay and neuter their darn cats
we wouldn't have the problem.

Sounds like you have a great set of optics, Betty.  I have a bracket that
clamps to my car window and I can mount a scope/camera on that.  Have you
thought of something like that for your chair?  I can send you details, if
you want.  As far as the photography is concerned, I would think about
investing in a good, used, manual 35mm SLR (e.g. Nikon F series, Canon AE-1
or AE-1P, etc.) and get an adapter for the Leica instead of investing in a
telephoto lens.  You just can't beat German optics, IMO.  The Leica might be
"slow", light-wise, but the new film technology has developed (no pun
intended) to the point that you can get very fast 35mm film with almost no
grain.  Fuji makes outstanding film for just this purpose.

So, how many entries in your logbook?  Do you do sketches/watercolors?

-Kyle

-----Original Message-----
From: Barber, Kenneth L. [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2000 10:12 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: north/south


i like birds but they have to come to me. after years of trying i have a
pair of southern bluebirds that nest outside my bedroom window in a house
that is not a normal bluebird house. the hole is too big and bluebirds do
not normally like that.

-----Original Message-----
From: Betty Alfred [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2000 9:24 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: north/south


In a message dated 02/10/2000 9:14:24 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< We do hunt a bird in Ohio called Wilson's snipe.  Looks like a woodcock
or
a
 quail with a really long, flexible beak.  >>

Is anyone on the list into birdwatching, by any chance?  Or am I the only
Jane Hathaway in the group?