Resident Wildlife, Kahala

Sitting at the breakfast table each morning, I look out the window into this plumeria tree.  

It is one of the few trees in Hawaii that actually looses all its leaves in the (late) winter,
then breaks into bloom in the spring.
In other parts of the world, it's called Frangipani.  

I don't know what it was that caught my eye one day last week.

Movement?  An unsual bulge?

Look carefully at the multi-branched fork 

almost dead center in this photo.

The one that looks like it's got whispy sticks around it.

It really does.

On closer inspection ... 

Mrs. Dove has built herself a very untidy nest.  

She picked herself an excellent building site.

Unlike most of the other trees in the yard,
 this one does not  dance in the wind.

We've had a lot of wind recently to make the trees dance --
and fragile bird nests blow away.

Here's a somewhat different view of the tree.  

You can see that the path from the back door to the clothes line and washing machine.

It passes right under Mrs. Dove's nest.  

Mrs. Dove doesn't budge, even when a camera is stuck practically in her nose.  

She does come down for the daily offering of bread and rice.

My mother has been feeding birds here for nearly 70 years.  

Resident wild life in the City
is harder to find than in Groveland.

It comes in different shapes and sizes, too.  

No deer.  No foxes.  No mountain lions.  No bears.  

No racoons or snakes.

No hummingbirds or quail or bluebirds.

No nuthatches or woodpeckers. 

Instead, we are blessed with 

doves and mynah birds, 

Bulbuls and Java sparrows, 

monarch butterfiles, geckos ...

and cockroaches.  

What creatures lived in your garden, on your porch or under the manholes 

(ooops, not politically correct -- personnel access ports)
in your neighborhood?
Give thanks for their diversity.
Even as you wage war on the ants, mosquitoes and roaches!

Don't forget to pray....