Here Kitty, Kitty

Just about one year ago, I added the gray catbird as a lifer and felt lucky to do so - I'd seen a bare glimpse of a trio of the birds foraging in Provo Canyon, and while the look was adequate for identification, it wasn't as memorable as I would have liked. Just a few weeks ago, then, we were walking again in the canyon, yet in a much more popular location, and I couldn't turn around without seeing the distinctive flash of gray with a black cap and rusty undertail coverts. Gray catbirds abound!

We never know what birds we will and won't see, and the birds that are scarce in one location may be abundant just a short distance away. What we can do, however, is try our best to create a bird-friendly landscape, to preserve birds in the wild, to practice an environmentally-friendly lifestyle, and to support wildlife organizations that also follow those goals. I do it to the best of my ability, and while the heat of the summer is slowing down the conversion of the new yard into a bird's paradise (I do have two bird baths and multiple feeders out, however), it is a process that will continue as long as birds are in the skies above my yard. Maybe one day I'll even attract a gray catbird - after all, they're only a few miles away.