Last year a pair of cardinals nested in the tree right next to our deck and were feeding their young when Danny Spooner was visiting us, to his great delight. This spring, they have nested in a shrub in our front yard, only three feet off the ground. Mama and Papa freak every time we go in or out of the front door.

In spite of this, there are now three ugly, half-downy hatchlings in the nest. We're thinking of starting a betting pool to pick the date when one of the neighborhood felines grabs a take-out lunch...

Our three cats are indoors-only, precisely to prevent injury to themselves and other wildlife. Now that coyotes have established themselves in the DC Metro area, more folks are going to have to keep Fluffy inside, or their kitty will be take-out coyote chow...

On a real spring note, the House Wrens started singing on territory this week. I have three wren houses up, and they usually raise broods in at least two of them every year!