I went outside this morning. Daphne was not in her Usual Morning Spot, so I went to check for owlets. No owlets were peering sternly anywhere I could see. So I did the fun turning-in-circles looking up at the canopy thing for about 60 seconds wondering where everybody was. All of a sudden, Buffy the Semi-Schnauzer said, in clear and precise King’s English, “Mom! Right behind you!” I turned around to figure out what was scaring Buffy to death and… there was Daphne, at eye level, on the wooden fence, feet away from me, just watching. Buffy continued to Sound! The! Alarm!, so Daphne flew up a few feet to sit right over our air conditioner and subsequently pretended to ignore us. But: I wonder what it is about this part of the cycle that causes Daphne to come DOWN. Is she previewing the ground in case somebody falls while fledging? Last year we caught her wandering around, on foot, among the false strawberries in my neighbor’s yard. And of course last year she also sat on our porch and peered into the kitchen for a while. Is she supremely bored? Is it total coincidence? Theories?
