Quiet???

Rule #1: Be very quiet near owls. They sleep during the day.
However, squirrels don't know this and run up and down owl tree. Bluejays don't know this and scream at owls. I couldn't believe the racket. I'm alone trying to be quiet and all of nature is creating a Geschrei.

I figured that if I offered some nuts to the bluejays they'd stop pestering the owls. They came for nuts, but then flew right back into the tree to yell at the owls.

Suddenly there was a vast amount of noise behind me. Oh no! Several hundred grackles.

Hopeless, absolutely hopeless. Chatter-noise.

No rest for the weary. And not a human problem.

This was Monday. Yesterday there was no sign of the owls. I suspect they've gone to find a more quiet roost spot.

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Merely ordinary??

"But it's just a pigeon", my pal said. For me there's no such thing as "just a..." There's something worth noticing no matter what. Watch the pigeons. They usually walk away. They're usually grey. Why did this pigeon stop and watch me and stay put. This was not typical pigeon behavior nor was the coloration typical. Amsterdam Avenue pigeon. Nice to meet you.

There are sparrows and there are sparrows. I suspect that the staring-at-humans is learned behavior. That, or they're seeing a reflection in the lens. A totally non-skittish white throated sparrow.

This house sparrow cracked me up. He came and sat on the fence within touching distance. Definitely learned behavior. Have food? I'll wait for a hand out. Sometimes I wish I could do human portrait studies as easily as I can grab bird studies.

Totally unexpected, the fox sparrow appeared. Someone had tossed down bird seed. The fox sparrow eats like a parakeet. "Beaks" the seed shell until the shell drops off, then has the nut to dine on.

Again, maybe the fox sparrow saw reflection in the lens. It didn't move off or show fear. This was not ordinary sparrow behavior and a great oppportunity to watch the eating process.

And then chickadee appeared with nut already shelled.

It was that kind of day..... park regulars, totally lovely, nothing ordinary.

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Assorted fun

If you haven't guessed, I love crocuses .

The owls remain in the same fir tree. The difference this time was that the squirrels were running up and down in the tree really disrupting their rest. Nervy little things.

Little titmouse. Big meal.

And then there was the big bird watching little birds, one cooper's hawk on alert. Watching me too.

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A yankee

Oh, it's that time of year again. Worm yanking. This robin had it made. One plot of land all to himself, a mud swamp. And where there's mud there are worms. This lucky robin stayed put and yanked out each course without having to really shift any distance. Solitary dining.

After one full course you have to rearrange your body a bit. Definitely not undernourished.

There was a pattern,... gorge, rest about ten minutes, rearrange body, resume yanking.

The only problem was that I had to stand in the mud too. I may never get the muck out of the grooves in the soles of my slop shoes.

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