I just got the cutest email from my dear great-aunt in Seattle and it's funny that it would come now... it says the picture shows how you can tell the difference between a male and female bird! :) I think that may come in handy in all my new-found studies on my little cranes! So, I guess if the little Gray number isn't squawking in Niles' ear, it's a good sign that it must just be an intrusive competitor vying for his new-found home. Mystery solved! Thanks, Aunt Dee! :)

In response to my recent experiences, Mom suggests that I now call my homestead "Wild Kingdom" as opposed to "the Hood", which certainly could fit some days. But, I think with the new doubled-up, super-duper, ain't nobody gettin' in, and don't EVEN think about gettin' out gate system, it may just be more like a zoo? I don't know, but after talking to my friend Debbie, I firmly believe that it must be easier to smuggle a baby penguin out of the highly-guarded, densely-populated new Georgia Aquarium, in broad daylight than it is to just get into my own neighborhood these days! Evidently, they really feel that they are keeping the 'riff-raff' out of our 'posh' community over here. Or do they? Maybe that's what they WANT us to think, when really they're just trying to 'clean up the streets'?? Now that I think about it, that makes much more sense. :)