Look! A bird!

[nebo113]

Langue_doc.....slowly and with deliberate footsteps    Is there any other way for a great egret
to ambulate?  :)

[FishProf]

Langue_doc.....slowly and with deliberate footsteps    Is there any other way for a great egret
to ambulate?  :)

"Awkwardly, like a newbie in stiletto heels" comes to mind.

[apl68]

Sunday before getting ready for church I took a long bicycle ride.  While passing a stretch of woods, I saw a hawk come out of the trees and wing its way along the edge of the road, parallel to my travel.  It shrieked a couple of times.  Then it crossed the road and passed directly overhead.  I thanked it for the little show as it flew away.

[Langue_doc]

Langue_doc.....slowly and with deliberate footsteps    Is there any other way for a great egret
to ambulate?  :)

"Awkwardly, like a newbie in stiletto heels" comes to mind.

Why would anyone wish this on the egret, elegance personified? 😉

nebo113, I've seen egrets and herons do their dignified walks, but this was the first time I'd seen one walk around the entire shoreline of a body of water. He was also taking his time yesterday grooming--the head would disappear into the feathers, come up for a brief moment, look around, and then you could see disturbance in the bird's body where the beak would be combing the feathers.

[Langue_doc]

During the above walk--three miles, approximately an hour and a half--I saw more than 15 northern mockingbirds which I duly listed on ebird. Now ebird is upset because according to them--rather the individual who emailed me--this is a high count, and wants to make sure that I know how to identify this particular species. Aargh! They are quite common in not only the parks and nature preserves but also in my neighborhood, on my street as well as adjacent streets. I've seen them on fences, sitting in a nest on a low branch of a tree on the next street, and on one occasion a pair just outside the front door, doing a little dance, which they continued after moving to the planters on either side of the door.

Pardon the garbled syntax, I'm still fuming at the thought of responding to the email.

[nebo113]

Cedar waxwings hanging out in the yard.  Don't know why I find them so intriguing.

[nebo113]

Wrens are squatting in the bluebird box. 
What?!?!?!

[Langue_doc]

Bird report from the last couple of weeks: The Canada goose family seems to be thriving--both goslings are doing well, with one of them chasing sparrows. Tragedy seems to have struck the mallard family. There were three duckings about a couple of weeks ago, but only one last week. The pond they frequent has huge snapping turtles, some of them a foot long, and all of which seem to like munching on chicks. The last time I saw the lone duckling, it seemed to be doing well, but I wasn't happy with Mama duck, because she was teaching her duckling to cadge for food--they were both practically at my feet, looking up hopefully for some goodies. The egret is still there, still walking instead of skulking behind the bushy tree that hangs over the water, but not as methodically as on the day I stood mesmerized.

[FishProf]

I was out with a class when we spotted a Scarlet Tanager.

One student kept asking, which part is the tan part?  I only see black and red.

When other students asked what she meant, she said its not scarlet and tan, it a scarlet and black ajer.

A quick perusal of a guidebook sorted that out.

Now I wonder what other critter names I have failed to successfully transmit.

[Langue_doc]

One student kept asking, which part is the tan part?  I only see black and red.

When other students asked what she meant, she said its not scarlet and tan, it's a scarlet and black ajer.

Major vocabulary fail. Did Stu explain what an "ajer" was? I'm still banging my head over this one.
 

[FishProf]

One student kept asking, which part is the tan part?  I only see black and red.

When other students asked what she meant, she said its not scarlet and tan, it's a scarlet and black ajer.

Major vocabulary fail. Did Stu explain what an "ajer" was? I'm still banging my head over this one.
 

Yeah, she said 'it's just another kind of bird isn't it?  Like a tit, or a jay, or a sparrow'.....or an ajer, apparently. (I'm paraphrasing)

[apl68]

One student kept asking, which part is the tan part?  I only see black and red.

When other students asked what she meant, she said its not scarlet and tan, it's a scarlet and black ajer.

Major vocabulary fail. Did Stu explain what an "ajer" was? I'm still banging my head over this one.
 

Yeah, she said 'it's just another kind of bird isn't it?  Like a tit, or a jay, or a sparrow'.....or an ajer, apparently. (I'm paraphrasing)

I've never seen a copy of the American Journal of Engineering Research that could fly before....

[FishProf]

More of an aggressive falling, really....

[Thursday's_Child]

Once again my favorite underwater livestream has a bird!  An anhinga this time, slowly moving along the reef looking for a meal.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i8ARjIeM2k & scroll back to 10.16.22 by the clock in the lower L corner.  It'll remain available on the stream for 12 hours.

[Langue_doc]

A great egret flying majestically over the parkway earlier today. There's a body of water alongside this parkway, so it isn't unusual to see egrets and/or herons flying across or alongside. In other news, we have a resident Northern Mockingbird on our street, who just like good neighbors (the kind that stick their noses into everybody's business) alights on the fence whenever he/she sees me getting in or out of my car, noisily making its presence felt. The mourning doves who used to hang out on the trees and rooftops across the street have now moved next door, surveying the going-ons from their perch on the neighbor's roof.