Yesterday evening I went outside to see what there was to see. The temperature had gone down and it was rather lovely in the backyard. Our outdoor cats followed me from the front steps to the side and backyard.
I sat on the picnic table and noticed a pair of Norther Mockingbirds actively doing something. For awhile they would fly to the back of the fence, sit there, fly to the front of the fence, near where I was, chirp, fly to the roof of the house next door, back to my fence, to that tree, to another tree, to the fence, flying to the ground here and there to peck, on and on. Early on the one Mockingbird was holding something in it’s beak, grub like. Fat. Didn’t keep it from chirping away, it was funny watching it, never eating it, never dropping it, never going into a tree to a nest to feed young, just flying around with it.
My children streamed out eventually and I was sharing my watchings with my daughter mostly. We dubbed the grub Mockingbird the female, and the other one the Male. The male Mockingbird would root around on the ground and find something small, fly around with it, then go over that routine again and again, seemingly he lost it, or ate it, as he was never out of full view, never went to a nest.
After a bit it was obvious that they wanted something to change. We were sitting there, many feet away from where ever their desire was. Eventually though, the male Mockingbird lived up to his name and started chastising a cat nearby. Chatter, scolding, then every so oven, swooping down … fly by’s, really close. Really close.
Different cats were around, and they mostly all got into the fun. (well, not fun, more for us that them) One cat was happy to partake in the affair. Spooky, the cat that showed up last year, tried to make him a house cat. He’s so cool, calm, big, handsome, truly a panther at heart. House living wasn’t his thing, so we let him back out to his preference. So he would sit over where the Mockingbird was patrolling, get the Mockingbird really upset. Time and again it’d swoop down, nipping the cat on the tail, back, etc.
Sometimes the cat, in fine form, would spring up swipe a paw at the bird, always catching just air. Most of the time he was cool and collected. His swiping moves, were more of the same.
He was under some old dead brush for awhile, depending on where in that stuff he was, he got Mockingbird attention or not. Other cats walked around and got the Mockingbird overexited and when they got the fly-by’s they ran for the hills. Only Spooky stayed firm.
It’s a mystery if he ever catches any. Somebody does, every once in a while. We have a great mass of Mockingbirds here. I don’t want our cats to eat them all, a few is ok, I’ve learned to live with it.
They get mice and rats too. THAT is awesome. So some Mockingbird fun. Just that, fun, training. Enjoyable to the audience.