On the Fence, Over the Fence

I looked in the back yard and something caught my eye behind the fence. I didn’t think too much of it at the time. Later I noticed again and decided to in investigate. Standing on the lowest vertical bar of the wooden fence, I looked and saw the two Spanish Bayonette plants which I had noticed before among the thicket of trees along the creek, fully in bloom. I took several photos, balancing on the bar, twice that day due to the light. The blossoms are beautiful and short-lived. The plant itself has long, sword like thick leaves tipped with a sharp needle. Several days later as I walked by the back window I noticed a larger bird sitting on the fence. I went up to the window, nearly scaring it away. Cautiously I watched as it sat there preening its feathers. I took these shot through the house window and through the screen surrounding the pool area, so I am surprised they even came out. The bird is a juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron, identified with the help of my Sibley’s guide. We see the adult herons on our neighbor’s roof frequently. They stand there very still, driving our cats who are in the pool enclosure area and can see them clearly, crazy. The neighborhood birds all seem to realize that the cats can chatter and pretend to pounce all they want, they don’t go outside of the house or screened in pool for their own safely (there are coyotes living along the creek) and the safety of all the birds who live in the area.