Thanks, Ldub...I like to cook, so the first thing I do when I get a new place is gut the kitchen and design one that suits me. It's all cherry on the outside, with maple bits inside. Dovetails and full extensions, of course. Took a couple of months to get that granite into port but then I laid the two slabs out so the veins run down the wall and across the counters...works for me.
Don't know much about them, Sprey. Learned a bit from the agronomist that takes care of my property. He told me it's a female Great White Egret, that the males stay on the nest while the females roam for food. Said they are known for not coming around humans other than to snatch food and run off. Said he's spent most of his life down here but never saw one act like she does.
She is the cleanest animal I've ever had around, never makes a mess of any sort. She flies about the inside of the house yet never knocks anything over. She comes when called, eats only when it's offered, I tell her to go to the bathroom and she heads outside to do her business before returning.
Tell her to get a drink of water and she's straight out to the pool. Tell her there is a lizard and point, she's off to get it...does an odd thing, sways her head back and forth almost like she's putting the prey in a trance, then strikes. Incredible sight and reflexes. Only eats meat, talons like a hawk and that beak is a six inch dagger and the inside feels like a hacksaw. I'll be sitting outside, she'll fly in, land on the table and spit up a lizard, then just look at me. Agronomist said she's sharing her kills. I trade her shrimp, scallops and smelt for a half digested reptile. She knows a good deal.
Because of the windows in this house, other birds mistakenly think they can fly through it, so sometimes we lose one when they break their necks against the glass. I was sitting outside at the table when a young scarlet hit the window about 16 feet up, it dropped down and bounced over by where me and the egret were sitting, just under the table...I looked down and noticed it was still moving, in that second the egret ran over and put her beak all the way through the scarlet's chest. Then she walked over to the pool, dipped the bird in the water a couple of times, tossed it into the air and swallowed it whole. Grabbed a couple of drinks and calmly walked back over to hop up on the chair by me like nothing happened.
She is kinda cool to have around...once you get used to her looking like a swan but acting like a hawk.