Either the mockingbirds are making war or making love. Then a kiskadee ...

[UTUSN]

Mockingbirds are totally common around here, in YEARS becoming ho-hum. In past years, they have called attention to themselves ONLY in nesting season, dive bombing me and the dogs. (Attention not being paid them for their year-long singing.) The calendar this year seems out of kilter---- calendar-Easter coming so early, but Spring-by-the-birds just popping out now.

So there has been no nesting aggressiveness from the mockingbirds yet. But in the past two weeks or so, one or another of them has been doing "wing-arching" --on the ground, and ALONE. It didn't look like they were playing for an audience -- iow, NOT courting any bird in sight.

This morning a couple of them have been playing (I don't think it's really a GAME) at WW I flying aces----- flying at each other and chasing in flight. This would likely be more like two males being aggressive, no?

But for the first time, a kiskadee has been hanging around. I've seen these before, but only in passing over the years. This one, if it's the same one, has been HANGING. And yesterday, he was VERY close, was perching about five feet away at my shoulder level and didn't fly away from me.

Today, it was in a bush I was approaching, and yelled out when I got too close, in the same area as yesterday's perch. Perhaps a nest. But it hasn't attacked like the mockingbirds. It has a dashing, silent-movie Zorro look, with the mask across the eyes, viz., ...