May morning

It's strange to me that the days & nights remain fairly even. It now gets light about 5am and dark settles in about 6:30pm.

So many bird sounds. I've tried to identify them, but with so much vegetation the they're almost impossible to see. I always open my eyes in the morning with a smile to the grating calls of the Chachalaca. They sound like a squeaky gate, carrying on for over an hour. We watched our DVD of "The Count of Monte Cristo" a few nights ago & now it sounds to me as tho' the Chachalacas are saying "Jacopo, Jacopo, Jacopo." (He's the Count's trusted friend, played by Luis Guzman). If we ever leave here, that's the sounds I'll miss the most.

We finally had a short rain last evening. Only in spurts for about 15 min., but lovely. Of course, the gutters overflowed because of leaves. We'll have to ask Rene to get up on the roof to clean them when it's dry & cool. I don't have to worry about carrying water to my plants for a couple of days.

Early morning is so lovely. It's cool with the mist hiding the harsh sun. As the sun breaks thru, we have to shut our front shutters to keep the house cool. When the sun rises above the veranda roof, we'll open the shutters again to allow the breeze to blow thru.

We've struggled to see what we're guessing is a warbler in a cohune by the house. What a lovely sound. Being from the mtns of Oregon, our bird experiences were totally different. We'd watch the osprey & bald eagles, the blue jay, robin, red winged blackbird, pine siskins, grossbeaks, crossbills & blue birds. Our favorite was the little rufus hummingbird who spent the summer near our feeders. That's on today's shopping list. I need a feeder for the large hummingbird we see in the flowers. We're off to the metropolis of Spanish Lookout, always hopeful.