Cuckoo?

Let me just say that things here have been pretty crazy.  I'm not going to divulge the reason behind that comment,  you'll just have to take my word for it.

So, when I glanced out the window on Monday, and spotted a huge bird with a yellow beak looking in my direction,  I became quite excited, thinking that it must be the bird that my friend, Morena had been telling me about just a few weeks ago, but for the life of me, I could not remember the name.

So, I called her up and asked her, and she informed me that it had been a Yellow Billed Cuckoo.  I'm fairly certain that my reaction was not quite what Morena had expected as I let out a laugh that probably caused some hearing damage in her listening ear.

But this woman knows me well, and she understood perfectly why, after the week I just had, I would think that a cuckoo bird would fit right in with my life.  She was excited to come over and I wasn't too surprised to see her arrive with her trusty bird book in hand.

The bird was nowhere to be seen when Morena arrived, so I showed her the photos that I had managed to capture earlier.

Unfortunately, the bird did not resemble anything in the bird book, and certainly did NOT look like the Yellow Billed Cuckoo.

When Marty arrived home from work that day, I mentioned the bird to him, and I noticed a commotion of some sort going on in the tree outside the dining room window.  I asked him what he thought it was.  Not one to miss an opportunity like this, he pulled out his binoculars.

He exclaimed that he thought that this was, indeed, a yellow billed cuckoo!

I know what you're thinking....you're thinking this is a robin.  But, I assure you that I do know what a robin looks like.

And, I must mention that when a Robin landed on the garden gate near the bird in question, the robin  was dwarfed in comparison.  The mystery bird is about twice as big.

While we were staring at it, attempting to figure out just what it was, rain began to fall,  and the bird decided to lift its wings to guard against the raindrops.  Marty commented that "my" bird was acting quite crazy and he couldn't understand why it would stay on the fence in the pouring rain and not seek shelter in a tree.

I mentioned that perhaps that was why the bird was called a cuckoo bird.  Because it acted cuckoo.

Marty found that answer to be quite reasonable and he agreed whole heartedly. 

As if all of this excitement wasn't enough for the day, yet another unusual bird showed up, dripping wet.

Actually, the best part of the above photo is the rabbit lurking in the background.  Not to worry....he's outside the fence, on the other side, although I did have a slight panic attack when I first spotted him through the camera lens, thinking he was going to be munching on the lettuce.

I wish I could give you a better update on cuckoo, but I haven't seen him around the last few days.  

But, I am quite happy to inform you that the nesting bluebirds continue to brighten my day.

And this guy even turned his head and posed for the photo!

How great is that?

In the meantime, I'll keep my eye out for the mystery bird, or you'll be thinking that I'm cuckoo!