Regular Voice readers might remember this Burlingame is for the Birds post driven off of the Cornell Labs Merlin app. Two and a half years ago I heard a dozen birds in my yard, but the one I heard tonight was not one of them. A Great Horned Owl has made an appearance and has made himself heard. Cornell has a nice page about them here. I pulled the Dachshund a little closer as we listened together. She seemed to get it.

I was surprised when this hawk swooped in and landed on my patio umbrella last night.  He was calm, cool and collected as he surveyed the yard for dinner for about five minutes.  A true bird of prey.  Even when I walked out the door and stood about 20 feet away, he just stared me down for more than a minute.  I kept the Dachshund inside while I snapped the photo!

We haven't had a wildlife post in a couple of months, so here is a photo of my destructive masked neighbor, Mr. Raccoon.  If you look closely, you will see where a bistro light socket used to hang just to the right of him.  That is one of three that he was able to chew off the string of lights.  He looks like he is thinking "I wonder if I can reach the fourth one without falling off the cable?"

What better way to lighten things up for a bit here at the Voice than a photo of three hungry baby robins taken in my yard.  We thought it was an old nest since it was empty for awhile, but Mom filled it up with these three hungry kids.  The nest is somewhat hidden in a rose bush, but I still worry about the hawks taking notice.

I've enjoyed seeing more different wildlife downtown as the people thin out after about 7pm.  Several people have noticed a pair of ducks walking around the neighborhoods and downtown.  I thought it was just a male and female pair that I have seen before, but last night as "The Birdman" was feeding all of the birds in Lot J behind the Landmark I noticed four male ducks joining the feeding frenzy.  I'll bet there are more hanging around.  They bring a smile to my face and I hope yours as well.

I caught this little fellow red-handed munching away on our pumpkin.  It has become an annual feast for the squirrels. The photo was taken two days ago and this morning, the pumpkin is completely gone–he and his buddies ate the whole thing!