Look! A bird!

[cathwen]

Wood ducks are such fancy-looking birds!  What a treat.

The other day I heard a loud scratching in the leaves under our dogwood tree--it was a beautiful male yellow-shafted flicker.  I stood and watched for a good while while he continued his search for whatever it was he wanted. 

[mamselle]

Bugs.

(...and yes, they're lovely!)

M.

[nebo113]

Yeah, the colors, especially.

Those tertiaries just get to me....

M.

I love it when you talk dirty!

[mamselle]

《...blush...》

M.

[apl68]

What fascinates me about wood ducks is watching them dive.  Or suddenly surface in a patch of water where you didn't see anything before.

[apl68]

This morning I was walking along the creek that feeds into the city park pond and saw the big egret that I've been seeing around the pond.  I've seen the grey herons this far upstream before, but not the egret.

[Catherder]

There are baby doves in the cherry tree nest again, and Mom is sitting on them to keep them all from being blown away in 42 km/hr wind
gusts.

[FishProf]

Eastern Bluebird fledglings learning how to pick bugs from the air.  They are delightfully bad at it.

[nebo113]

This morning I was walking along the creek that feeds into the city park pond and saw the big egret that I've been seeing around the pond.  I've seen the grey herons this far upstream before, but not the egret.

I am not familiar with grey herons so googled, and found that they resemble the great blue heron I know and love, but are not on my side of the pond.  I learned something.  Thanks!

[apl68]

Few birds exhibit their dinosaur ancestry as clearly as the big herons.  When they take flight it's like seeing something prehistoric.

[mamselle]

Few birds exhibit their dinosaur ancestry as clearly as the big herons.  When they take flight it's like seeing something prehistoric.

Yes.

And that archaic "Skrwawk!" as they go is chilling...especially heard at night, under a bridge as you're walking over the brook where The Old One hangs out...I'm sure he did it to scare me!

M.

[Catherder]

Few birds exhibit their dinosaur ancestry as clearly as the big herons.  When they take flight it's like seeing something prehistoric.

True, but although I like watching them, I'm not an admirer.  They are nasty predators, and cowardly.  More than once I've chased them away from burrows where there are baby otters.

[apl68]

Few birds exhibit their dinosaur ancestry as clearly as the big herons.  When they take flight it's like seeing something prehistoric.

Yes.

And that archaic "Skrwawk!" as they go is chilling...especially heard at night, under a bridge as you're walking over the brook where The Old One hangs out...I'm sure he did it to scare me!

M.

Several years ago I encountered a heron at twilight in a spot where I wasn't used to seeing them.  It was also standing on the bank--instead of in the water or perched on a branch--and was drawn up to its full height.  For just a moment I failed to recognize it.  Instead of a familiar big bird, my mind saw an unnaturally skinny, grey humanoid, for all the world like a sci-fi alien visitor.  Then something clicked in my head, and I recognized it for what it was.  Then it spread its wings and flew away.

I've often wondered what would have happened had I not been so accustomed to seeing herons.  I might never have recognized it.  Instead I might to this day have this bizarre memory of seeing an alien turned winged humanoid.  Some famous alien sightings over the years, like the "Mothman" of the 1960s, have been explained as garbled sightings of unfamiliar large birds.  My little "alien" encounter makes it easy for me to see how this might have been the case.

[nebo113]

Hummingbird disregarded fabric strips in doorway and flew into the house yesterday.  After trying to fly out the screened windows, it found the door and left.  Now that the front yard is completely fenced, I will keep the back screen closed, and leave front door open for the canine.  Birds do not enter by front door.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

A red-shouldered hawk startled me this morning. It was relatively close, but I couldn't spot it. :(