For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Good morning everyone and Happy Friday! It is a beautiful sunny morning here. Coffee is ready, nice and hot and just the way you like it. Please sit back and relax with us for a few minutes. Muffin has already gone for her pre morning nap. She was awake a lot during the night. Bert was here again, so she couldn’t go back to sleep after that, she had to watch in case he came back again. I don’t think he did, but Muffin stayed awake anyway, so she’s tired now. There are 3 very bright red male purple finches, and 1 female, around these days. I have been trying to get a pic of those males sitting in the sun, they just look so nice in the sun. But, every time I go outside, as quietly and slowly as possible, they just fly away. Not up into the trees, they really fly away. Gone, and don’t come back again for an hour or two. Sigh.
My only hope is having them come when I’m already out there taking pics of the other birds. There are 3 pine siskins here now, and I counted at least 42 juncos yesterday, so I would estimate there are still around 60 of them. It was nice to see the white-throated sparrow among them. But it was just one, perhaps more will show up today. They are one of our most common summer sparrows. The evening grosbeaks are enjoying their breakfast right now. Well, they were enjoying it, now they are gone, all because of one rock dove who was determined to go on the feeder instead of on the ground. I spread lots of seeds on the ground for the ground feeders, but this one wanted to be on the feeder.
What they do first is sort of hover above the feeder flapping their wings to scare all the other birds off the feeder, then they drop down and begin to eat. Then I go out and convince the rock dove to leave. It took 11 times to convince him to go on the ground to eat. By then the grosbeaks had given up. Hmm, I see a few grosbeaks have returned now, so the rest won’t be far behind. A robin is singing so beautifully near the top of a black ash tree. The white-throated sparrow is singing close by, though I can’t see him. It is such a beautiful spring morning, hopefully later I can go for my walk to the river and see what is happening down there. Have a wonderful day everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
Β©2021 Steve McLeod.
I love the puctures of the bee’s! Amazing how one individual can impact so many things in the environment! πππ
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Did you hear about the guy in Texas that was stung to death by a swarm of bees while he was mowing his lawn? Just a few days ago. Thanks Dusty!ππΊββππ·
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I did see that!! You need to treat B’s with respect!!π¬π They are kind and gentle if you do!π π
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Guess they didn’t like the noise of his lawnmower. Necessary to be very careful around bees, or any other wild critters!π³π³π»πππ¦π§π¦π¦π¦¨ππ¦π¦π¦πΊπ±πΆπΈππ
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It is indeed! Lawnmowers
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Did you forget to finish your sentence? The final chapter of my story is now out and ready to read!
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I guess I did. Mowers can be aggravating even if you’re not a Bee! Oh great! BRB Got to go read it!!ππ
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Oh. Right. I agree. Especially like my neighbor who deliberately slows down when he gets to this part next to my apartment. He goes fast everywhere else. Sigh.π
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Maybe he likes you and wants to chat with you??ππ€ππ€
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Right. Well, the sun still shines so I’m off for my walk to see what is happening at the river. Talk later!ππΆββοΈπ²πΆββοΈπ³π
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Okay!! Enjoy the sunshine π and nature! ππ
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Thanks! It was nice, hardly any wind when I left homeπ but half way to the river the wind got quite strongπ¬ so it was cold coming off that icy water.π¬ So I didn’t stay too long. Maybe a good thing though since I got to see a couple things on the way back I would likely have missed.ππ·
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Cant wait to read about them!
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One was Scramble, my river path friendly squirrel.π I keep trying to get pics of him in the sun,π which isn’t easy since where he lives is very thick trees,π²π² the sun only gets through in small patches. Today I put peanuts in one of those patches of sunshine and he was there, sat so nicely in the sun with his peanut, I was ready to snap the pic and the camera shut down. Change the battery it says.π·π¬ By the time I do this Scramble is gone and doesn’t come back. πBut…
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You should check the battery charge before you leave on your walk.
For some reason bonehead keeps popping up in my brainπ€π€π€―
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It had good charge on it, not a lot, but good, that’s why I bring extra batteries bonehead.π Why would you want me to call you that anyway?π€ Very strange.
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I don’t know??πππ€π€
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That makes sensibleness.ππ
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I thought so!! Thanks!!πππ
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You’re welcome.π
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Uh umm… you said that already..πππ€
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But you said thanks. So I should say you’re welcome.ππ
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Well Thank You!πππ
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You’re welcome.ππππ
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Okay you winππ
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Thank you!π
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Stop it!!π€¨πππ
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You started it.ππ
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Did not!π€¨ππ
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Did too, did too. You said thanks right at the start, so I said you’re welcome….πππ€
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Okay!! I’m welcome!πππ
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π€ΈββοΈπ€ΈββοΈπ€ΈββοΈπ€ΈββοΈπ€ΈββοΈπ₯³π₯³π₯³π₯³π₯³πππππππ₯π
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You!!ππ
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Yep, it is!ππ
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LOL ππ What to do with you??ππ
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Clap?
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πππππππ
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As they say in the old country,”warm hands are like a canoe on a tropical beach.”
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π³π³ they are??
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No, but if you’re on a tropical beach, who cares?πππΉπΉπ΄π΄π΄ππ
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Now we’re talking!! I agree!! β±π When do we leave??ππππ
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Do you have a canoe?ππΆ
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I thought we could use yours! π I’ll bring the paddles!!ππ
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Mine has a small hole in it.π€
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Maybe I coukd plug it?π€
I’ve got some silly putty!πππ
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Might work, the hole is about a foot wide and 3 feet long.π€π€ͺ
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WOW!!π²π³ How did you get such a big hole??π€π€
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Well, I found this 3 foot long piece of rail along the tracks, but when I stepped into the canoe I lost my balance and dropped the rail. Things went downhill after that.
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That’ll do it!! I’m sure we can patch it up and get it working like new again!πππ Just get one of those BIG bandaids at the store!πππ might leak a little, but we can bail it out if it leaks too much!π
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I tried glue and newspaper, worked good until the paper got wet, then it sunk again.π³
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Should have lined it with Saran wrap 1st! Keep the paper dry!!ππ
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Now you tell me.ππ
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I suppose we could reinforce it with some fiber glass? Might be itchy to sit on, but whats a little itch when you’re having fun!πππ
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I just told you I tried glass, it broke when I bent it to fit.π€¨π€¨
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And I just told you, you need to use curved glass on your canoe so it doesn’t break! Form fitting see??π€π€
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And I just told you what happened with the curved glass.
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Forget the glass bottom! Ya can’t see anything through them anyway… I say we use birch bark and stitch it in…πππ³
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I decided to get an aluminum canoe instead.
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Oh you did huh? Does it have any holes in it??π¬π³
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Of course not. But it does have a tiny dent in the bottom, so you have to watch your step, so you don’t trip.π
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Good to know!! I’ll keep an eye open so I don’t trip!ππππ
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Good, might be hard to get you out again.
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And why would that beβ½π€π€ Now you have me concerned..π¬
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Well, I was collecting rocks, one was quite big, I dropped it, good thing that aluminum stretches. Anyway, now there is a two foot deep dent in the bottom. And the ends of the canoe kind of sit out of the water a bit. About 2 feet, which makes paddling a bit hard. But at least there’s no holes. There is a tiny crack though, so it leaks just a bit.
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I think I’ll bring a rubber raft instead…ππ
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Way ahead of you on that one. But I thought a glass bottom would be nice, however I used plastic instead so it wouldn’t break. Broken glass in a rubber raft is not good. So I cut out the bottom of the rubber raft and glued a piece of plexiglass in it’s place. Worked great. So I went out fishing. In retrospect, I should have made the corners of the plexiglass round, too sharp otherwise. It sunk. I barely made it back to shore. Good thing I was only 20 ft out.
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What’s the fascination with a see through bottom??π€π€ Sounds like it would be interesting to see What’s below… but not so practical π€π€
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I have an even better idea for my next canoe…but now it’s time for bed, very tired. Good night Dusty! Watch out for vultures!πππ΄π΄π΄π΄π΄π΄
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Good Night!! Watch out for SPIDERS !!π€π€π€π€ Ttyt π
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You mean like I won’t want to? Or more like I won’t be able to??ππ
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Oh, I’m sure you will want to, but staying there might be helpful, you can hold the gum in place.
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Gum??!!π³π³π²π²
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It’s okay, I chewed it already, but the water pressure keeps pushing it out of the crack.
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Try bubble gum! More flexible πππ Hey !! Ive got a teepee… camping on the β±ππ
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Does it have holes? Might rain you know.π³ββΊππ
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I’ll bring my rain coatπππ
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I’ll bring my tent.π
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Okay! We can set it up onside the teepee π
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I like to stay dry in rain.π
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I’ll shareππ
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You said yours has holes. Hey, maybe you could put an umbrella over it!ππ
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I am sure that would work great!
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How do you keep the sand out of the beds?
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Hmmm…. good question!π€π€ You got any ideas??π
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We could put Saran wrap on the floor.
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Hmm… That sounds like a good idea!!ππππ‘
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I can’t take the credit though, I heard a similar idea from someone else.
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Well… we don’t want sand in the canoe!!
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Yep, I gave up on the glass bottom canoe idea and decided a glass bottom boat would be better. There’s lots of glass bottom boats around so it should be easy to make one.π
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Easier… maybe
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No problem, I decided to make it easy by making a rectangular boat, make a frame inside to hold the glass, seal it so it doesn’t leak, no problems! Well, maybe one teeny problem.
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A teeny one!β½ are you sure glass is a good idea?
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Well, it was a good idea…until I dropped my hammer. There was this fountain…then it sunk.ππππ―π§
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You were using it in a fountain? How big was the boat??π³
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No no, but when the hammer broke through the glass, it produced a fountain. And down we went. Muffin was not amused. Had to go buy more bandages for my feet.
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Good for her! I’ll bet she was madder than a wet cat!πππ€£π€£
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That’s one way to put it. Well, I have to sign off, can’t sit anymore. Good night Dusty, chatter tomorrow!πππ΄
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Good Night
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Besides.. if it’s on the beach we dont need paddles!! Gotta be careful we don’t get sand in it thoughπ€π€π€
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We need the canoe to get to the beach.ππ
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Now you tell me!! Ya never said that before… ππ Here I was all set to enjoy the Sun the Sand and the Canoe! Might as well fill it with ice and keep the refreshments cold!π§π§π₯€π₯€ππ
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Got to fix the little hole first.
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Well I’m Dutch, so I’ll just use my finger to plug it!π
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Your wooden shoes might be handier.ππ
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You said it was a little hole!! My feet are size 9 1/2!! Thats not so little!π€¨π€¨
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Hmm, might need a few shoes. Ya see, I wanted a glass bottom in my canoe. I had the glass ready to put in and I cut the hole. That’s when the canoe sunk.ππ
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A glass bottom huh!!ππππππ€£π€£π€£π€£π€£
Ya didn’t really think that one through now did you??π€π€πππ€π€π€π€π€
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Well, after I raised the canoe I put the glass in, but the bottom of the canoe is rounded, so I tried to bend the glass. It broke and the canoe sunk again.
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You didn’t use the curved glass?? No wonder!! That’s the whole problem right there!!
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I got curved glass the next time, after raising the canoe again. Fit perfectly. I decided to go out fishing but when I put the anchor in the canoe it broke through the glass. The canoe sunk again.
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Seems it’s time to replace the entire bottom!!πππ Somethings just can’t be repaired!π€£π€£π€£
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The little fishies are now living in it.
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Oh…. that’s not good!! Once you get that fish smell in it it’s tough to get out!! Lots and lots of scrubbing is needed..ππ
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I gave it to the fishies, now I use a butterfly net to scoop up Muffin’s breakfast. She enjoys trying to catch them as they flop around the kitchen floor.
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Fresh from the sea and ready to eat!!π
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From the lake.ππ³
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Okay the lake!! π
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I got a nature pic to on my walk
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Cool!π Was it a squirrel?π€π
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Ha and HA!π NOT A CHANCE! Give me a second or two and I’ll post it. Much nicer crearure than a squirrel ππ
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You have chipmunks down there?π€
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Purple finches!
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I may have gotten some pics this morning, haven’t downloaded them yet to see how good they are. Have a great day and weekend Sheree!ππΊββππ·
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You too Steve
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Thanks!
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So beautiful colour flowers and your article ππΉπ
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Thank you very much! Have a wonderful Saturday!ππΊββπ
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Happy Labour Day ππ·Happy Saturday to you π·
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Is it Labour Day there? Ours is in September. Happy Labour Day! Thank you!
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Here May 1st celebrating ππ·thank you also ππ·
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Such welcoming pics ! I see that you had a lot of birds there…better than on TV…βοΈβοΈππΊ
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Yep, who needs TV with all this action, much more fun! Have a wonderful weekend!ππΊββπ
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that rock dove sounds kind of like a bully π
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There’s actually 6 of them, they all do the same thing. Yes, they do deliberately scare the other birds.π¬πΎ
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they are like a gang of bullies π
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Yep, that’s about it. I never thought they would be like that.π
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