And it’s starting to feel as if those feathers will be in a permanent state of ruffle. It’d be awesome if we could drag all the cave people back to their caves, slide boulders in front of the entrances, and starve their mean-spirited carcasses to enlightenment.
A bird woman can dream, can’t she?
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There are many rhymes about magpies, but none of them is very reliable because they are not the ones that the magpies know themselves.
~ Terry Pratchett
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Sometimes no matter how hard I flap my wings, it feels as if I haven’t gotten anywhere.
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the Cooper’s Hawk in his role in On the Power Line!
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Magpies are a reminder that “dapper” is a good look.
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It’s nineteen degrees,
if I had wings I’d fly south.
At least I’m inside.
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Photo by Zippy 10.12.16
So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.
~ T. S. Eliot
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I captured this image just before learning that Maggie Roche died on Saturday, January 21. She was the heart and soul of the singing sister trio, The Roches. I’m so very sad.
Thank you for the many, many hours of musical enjoyment, Maggie. Rest in peace.
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I live just west of Denver where it’s currently a whopping 8 degrees. There are about seven inches of snow on the deck railing and snow continues to fall.
I’m cold and grumpy.
It did, however, perk me up to discover that today is National Bird Day. Rather than scout for a bird to photograph out my window, I went to the archives. Here’s a majestic Tricolored Heron I saw in Kapok Park in Clearwater, Florida, last October.
Look closely and you’ll notice that there’s no snow and no sign of shivering. Clearly what we’re looking at here is an exceedingly intelligent little Tricolored Heron.
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Zippy and I are celebrating Christmas today with his siblings and mother. It’s the first Christmas without my father-in-law Stu. There will be a layer of sadness, but all his chickadees will be together.
Maybe someone will fall asleep and begin gently snoring, and we’ll put a rubber duck on their head before taking a photo. Stu would like that.
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There is no blue without yellow and without orange.
~ Vincent Van Gogh
Injecting a splash of color and Goldfinch-y goodness into this late-December morning. We’ve got sunshine today, but are sadly lacking in vibrant color.
And oddly enough, Mr. Van Gogh, the yellow’s making me feel less blue.
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Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.
~ Salvador Dali
Cooper’s Hawk. Photo by Zippy.
For a successful revolution it is not enough that there is discontent.
What is required is a profound and thorough conviction of the justice,
necessity and importance of political and social rights.
~ B. R. Ambedkar
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Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
~ Albert Einstein
Great Egret at Kapok Park, October 2016
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There’s a snowstorm headed this way, and the finches and chickadees are very busy at the feeders and heated bath. I’m grateful for my warm home and wish I could open it to my feathered friends tonight.
Then again, it’s probably not very cool to invite birds into a household that includes two cats.
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Click on image for full-gloom effect.
Out my window now
one dove in sea of brown-gray.
When’s the damned solstice?
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Today I’m thankful for my mental and emotional flexibility.
Exhibit A is this photo of Cliff Swallows.
I was searching my photo files for a picture of my dog Zoey,
and opened an unlabeled file in hopes of finding one there.
Instead, I found this eighteen-month old photo of those delightful birds
and immediately abandoned my planned blog post about walking my dog.
I’m sure Zoey won’t mind.
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Last night Zippy and I celebrated my birthday by going to a dive bar to hear local bands. My logic was that I’d feel less old and obsolete if I hung around the younger generation and heard new-to-me music.
The first band was a punk trio that played song after song in what felt like 45 second bursts of sonic-boom fury. People avoided standing in front of the stage because it was SO loud, and if I hadn’t feared for my long-term hearing, I would’ve been out there pogo-sticking. There’s something invigorating about music you can feel in your spleen.
Back at home where I’m modeling my wrist band that proved I was old enough to consume alcohol. I had to show ID for that sucker!
We stayed for two more bands and had a good time. Earlier in the week when I’d told my brother and his girlfriend our plans, she’d approved of my pre-emptive logic but also warned we’d be the oldest ones there. Well, I’m happy to say that Zippy and I spotted five people in the crowd who were clearly older than us. We high-fived after each sighting.
My plan was a success.
Today was another blue-sky-and-sunshine day, so I invited Zippy for a hike up in the open space. It was blissfully quiet out on the trails.
Another good call on my part.
Me meandering ahead of Zippy. We’d just scared up a Red-tailed Hawk, some magpies, and a flicker that’d been hanging out in a tree together.
So now I’m moving beyond another year and another birthday, and looking forward to any-and-all good stuff up ahead.
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For your avian pleasure, may I offer a House Finch and Dark-eyed Junco . . .
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Taken November 17, 2016, during our first snowstorm.
This is an Eurasian Collared-Dove, an exotic bird species that has been making its way west since its release in the Bahamas during the 1970s. We’ve still got Mourning Doves in our neighborhood, but the most common dove sighting in our backyard is one of these.
It’s hard to be anti-bird because, well, they’re birds. On the other hand, these birds are pretty pushy and spend a lot of time camped out in the feeder tray. Pink Floyd’s song isn’t about gluttinous birds, but whenever one of these doves bombs in and scares everyone else from the feeder, I can’t help thinking “Pigs on the wing.”
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Imprint after Mourning Dove hit the window (click to enlarge). Never saw the bird after that, so I believe it recovered and flew away. We have since applied window alert stickers to prevent further collisions.
For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return.
~ Leonardo da Vinci
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Not me. I’d be perfectly satisfied sitting on top of a tree, oblivious to all the stupid and ugly churning down below.
It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company.
~ George Washington
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Tracy Abell 