A Cat, Blue Birds and Fathers Day in California

It is already Father's Day in the Philippines. Here in Northern California Fathers Day will be tomorrow and the next day will be the official first day of summer. However, since mid-April this year six Blue Jays have been frolicking with abandon in my backyard. Two are the parent birds and four are the babies. I have been feeding them with bread crumbs and rice morsels, and faithfully replacing their bird bath and water every day. The birds were very happy in my yard since then, until today.
My daughter and her family are vacationing to Florida this week. So, Macrine and I are "cat sitting" for Gimlet, the family pet cat until the end of this month. Gimlet gets so excited when she hears the sounds and chirping of the blue jays. Her ears perk and eyes stare like a tiger ready for the kill. However, Gimlet is a house cat and does not really enjoy the outside world. So she seemed content, just watching the blue jays in the sliding door screen leading to the patio outside, until today.

I started feeding the birds with bread crumbs. The six blue jays were all excited.
All of a sudden, Gimlet got out and started running after the birds. The birds were all chattering and screaming. What a sound that was..I tried to call the cat in, but she just stare at the birds, mesmerized by their chirping. After about 20 minutes, I got tired of the noise and chirping, so I decided to pick up Gimlet and brought her inside the house. Finally, there was quite and solitude. I gave Gimlet her can tuna and she is now happy inside the house and taking a nap by my side. Gimlet acts like a small puppy. She follows me around the house if she gets lonely. She likes to cuddle when we are watching TV after dinner every night.



The blue jays are also a favorite of my grand daughter,Carenna. When she visits us, the first thing she would ask is if she could feed the birds. I consider these birds my pets. We have pets in the Philippines, two dogs, one cat and several chickens. But here in Northern California, our only pets are these blue jays that reside in my back yard during spring, summer and fall in this beautiful Northern California neighborhood every year. Do you also have pets in your back yard?