This morning as I drove to the university I looked up to see a group of birds--on the leading edge was an owl, and behind it were the harriers, a bunch of small dark birds. Could have been starlings or grackles, or perhaps blackbirds. The large bird was beautiful--at first I wondered if it was a seagull, for the size, but as I passed under I realized what I was seeing.

After work this evening I dug out about 3/4 of an existing bed that was filled with Bermuda grass, leaving the desirable plants in place. I'll finish tomorrow when it's full light, because I have to dig very carefully around a prickly pear cactus (transplanted from the acreage across the road). "Very carefully" is for me, not the cactus! If it gets broken, all of the parts can sprout roots. If I get poked on the spines, I'll sprout little festering spots until the spines work their way back out.

SRS