We have been very lucky this summer to be able to enjoy cooler than normal temps. Yesterday was an exception. Hot and humid.
You know, everyone enjoys a nice misting of cool water on a hot Summer day....
"Thank you. This is quite refreshing. I could sit here all day and let you do that."
....even if they would rather DIE than let you know they appreciate it: "No. I am NOT enjoying this. I hate to get wet. This is unpleasant. That stuff is all over me..... ...(stretching foot toward me)....you missed a spot."
You do not know our voice A lifetime of study cannot hold Our words in your mind
You do not know of what we speak Or what we say that is true
We scold your presence And you do not hear the meaning We call to others like us For the continuation of ourselves, Yelling away the dangers, To pass a message that is not meant for you
You strain to hear us
High and sweet
Gruff and low
In your arrogance you memorize The cadence of our kind But with ten thousand voices We speak above you
You can hold us for a moment in your hands To feel the fierce beating of our hearts
But even in that time of intimacy When you seek to know us, Small chipping and shrieking screams Tell a tale that cannot be translated Into human tongue.
We sing to the skies To the beyond you cannot see You assume you know of what we sing to Putting our phrases into words And into those words you glean your own ideas
For all the knowledge your brain can hold It cannot process the heights we praise. We do not sing for you.
Birding can expose you to so many things, can't it? New places, new faces... This morning found me getting out of bed at Zero-Dark-Thirty to go meet Les (from this post) all the way over on the other side of town for some birding.
With his schedule, it's tough for him to get bird time other than banding, and I have such a poor sense of "bird" hearing, we both jumped at the chance to get out to the woods.
Les has great ears. There's a vast knowledge base in that brain of his, and I used it as much as I could today. And just like our first meeting, there was more to see than just birds...
I took this photo just for Delia's friend Matty. He laughs like a 12-year old boy when anyone says anything remotely vulgar. (I can hear his voice now, saying "Hehehe...you said "knob") Delia, please make sure Matty sees this.
Pawpaws are starting to develop fruit...and that reminds me that I need to move the pawpaw trees I planted last year. Stupidly planted them in full sun. Duh.
A rare moment of seeing jewelweed in the sun.
Initially thought this was some kind of mint, but we decided it was beardtongue. (Which might also send Matty into fits)
We had no idea what this was....maybe Jim McCormac or some other plant geek could tell us? We assumed it was an exotic invasive, since there was so much of it. Looks like a pea plant with "fern" foliage.
This one brought up a funny story. This is a buckeye nut, before it ripens into the typical shape we are used to. Reminded me of the "infamous buckeye" picture from Cape May last year. I told Les the story. He approved.
He also agreed that I shouldn't put this in my cleavage. Too spiny.
And the inside of a buckeye before maturity: Three little wet "lima bean" things...it smelled good. Smelled green.
And yes, Laura...I have blue nail polish on today. Laura seems to take offense at my choices of nail color. She thinks it must be some "Midwestern Thing"...and she thinks it's weird. Which is exactly why I do it.
A very tired Mourning Cloak butterfly: I've never been able to get a picture of one of these, but I see them in the spring and summer flitting about. This one was very tired and sluggish in the shade on the road, so I picked him up and placed him in the sun. That woke him up a bit.
I got ONE bird picture today. And it's not even a good one: There's a blue-gray gnatcatcher in there. I promise.
Les got me a lifer today. We both heard and saw a Kentucky Warbler. Did I get a photo? No, of course not. That makes 219 on my Life List. We also got fleeting looks at a few broad-winged hawks.
Les made it his mission to teach me as many bird calls as he could today.
He taught me that the Kentucky Warbler sounds like a "musical horse" galloping, the Yellow-breasted Chat making a zillion different sounds, the wood thrushes "night song", White-eyed vireos say "Pick up the beer, Check!"...though I like this mnemonic better: "Pick up a realllllllll CHICK!"
...he is my own personal Yoda. Except he is way taller than me. And he's not green.
Thankfully he didn't quiz me at the end of our walk...but he did text me on the way home as I was listening to songs on my iPod: "Are you studying those bird calls?" I said, "Yes, YODA." He responded, "Bird calls learn, you must."
What a kook. Must be why I enjoy his company so much. :) And his company is a jewel. No one is 'born' a birder, and it's interesting to hear how others came to be these twitchy, nutty types who go to great lengths to see and hear birds. His story was way more interesting than my "cherry tree and birdbath" story. (Geoff got me a bird bath and weeping cherry tree for my first Mother's Day and it's exploded from there.)
Talking with Les, I discovered how similar we are in humor, opinions....nice to find your "People", isn't it?
Here's a quick video of a White-eyed vireo singing, and me begging it to sing some more:
Most education programs I do for RAPTOR, Inc are fun. Schools, churches, Cub Scout meetings. Some programs, however, get me jazzed for weeks at a time. Yesterday's program was one of those. I got an email from Jim McCormac a while back, asking if I would be interested in coming up to Columbus to do a program for the ODNR's Take A Child To Work Day. Would I be interested? In doing a program? At the O D N R ??????? (I liken this to a Catholic being asked to come visit the Pope.)
Yeah. Whatev. I'll do it, I said. (Gotta maintain some coolness.)
Jim informed me that all of the kids had signed up for my show. Seventy-five kids and their parents. We were a bit crowded, but everyone got up close and personal with our birds.
(all photos by Jim McCormac, because I can never take pictures of myself while doing programs...and get this; Jim was sweet enough to go up to his office after my program and burn these onto a CD for me to take home. What a nice guy.)
Angel the Screech Owl always elicits the same response..."Awwwww!!" (She also caught the eye of some songbirds in the trees.)
Lucy the Peregrine Falcon always elicits the same response... "Cooooollll!"
Storm the Barn Owl always elicits the same response...."Aiiiii! (with hands over ears)"
And Sylvester the Great Horned Owl just stuns everyone with his mighty, bad-ass self.
Side note: Sylvester always seems to lock onto one person in a crowd and follow them with his gaze...not sure what is going on with that. But yesterday, his disapproval was aimed squarely at Jim. Like he knew Jim was reason we had to travel so far. :) (You can't see it in any of the photos, but I am sporting more band-aids on my bird handling arm. I really wanted to take Isis with me yesterday, but she really, really, really didn't want to go to Columbus. Sank her talons into my forearm, through my GLOVE...I bled all over the place...and I was so fed up with her, I let her win that battle. I truly need some real handling gloves. That's two bad talon-episodes in a month. Saving my pennies...)
The kids got a real kick out of the birds (some kids asked me to come back next year!), and I think the adults did, too. I just felt so lucky to be there, presenting to the people that manage all those wonderful outdoor activities we all enjoy. (While perusing their website, I came across this....I would love doing that!)
Thanks, Jim...for the photos, for asking me to be a part of your day....for everything!
A robin was extracted from the nets, but was not banded: This is the leg of a robin infected with avian pox. As you can see, this leg ends in...mostly nothing. Avian pox is caused by a virus that infects the mucus membranes, and featherless areas of the body (eyes, beak and feet). Transmission can be via mosquito bites and through direct contact with an infected bird. (This is NOT a disease that has been shown to affect humans).
There is no known treatment. Captive birds can be vaccinated with a live virus vaccine, but wild birds are on their own.
The disease had begun on the other leg, too. The skin of the right leg showed signs of skin breakdown and a few of the toenails have degraded. This is also NOT avian conjunctivitis.
This robin was released without a band and we wished it well.
A band recovery: For the life of me, I can't remember what kind of bird this was. (UPDATE: Female Wood Thrush) Les can tell us. And he can also tell us if he got any info on when this bird was banded. (UPDATE: Last year)
Ever wonder what a brood patch looks like? Well, here ya go: (Les is blowing the feathers while I shoot the photo)
Brood patches show up on birds during the breeding season. This featherless bit of skin is highly vascularized to transfer heat to incubated eggs. Most birds lose the feathers in this area automatically, but some species like ducks and geese, pull the feathers out themselves and line their nests with them. As Les so eloquently put it, "It's like a coat with a zipper." :)
The position of the brood patch varies by species. Some species have a single patch, like the above bird, while others, like shorebirds, have a patch on either side of their belly. Gulls and galliformes (game birds) can have three patches. Gannets, pelicans and boobies (stop laughing) do not form brood patches, but cradle the eggs on their feet while incubating. If the male and female of the species both share incubation duties, both of them can develop brood patches.
All that you ever wanted to know about brood patches, but were afraid to ask.
Harmony Hill Winery was open for business on this day of Independence, so we met there to taste some wine and join in some general frivolity.
*By the way, I think this is one of my favorite holidays. As a tiny English colony, we were sick and tired of taking crap from The Man, so we did something about it. Rock on, America.*
I like these people.
Here's Kathi the Wine Hag, doing her thing: She knows I detest dry wine, so she found me some uber-yummy peach stuff.
It was goood.
And since it's all about the blog, I had to take pictures of everything.... And there's Donald! Glad he showed up...added some testosterone to our girly giggling.
Kathi provided the wine, I provided the cheese and crackers: Helped to soak up the wine I ingested...about half a glass too much. Burp.
It rained the whole time...I said to Kathi, "Feels like we are back in West Virginia." The umbrella had a leak. I am soggy.
Kathi brought one of her sweet dogs....Holly. We love Kathi's dogs...they have manners. (Don't tell Kathi...but every time she got up to get something, I slipped some cheese and pepperoni to Holly. But Kathi will find out anyway, when Holly barfs it all up on the carpet tonight.)
"Mama. Give me cheese?"
If you noticed Kathi's necklace...that's one of the gifts lovingly packed and shipped all the way from Peru to the Flock in West Virginia by another blogger....Mel. Hi, Mel! We love you!
Now, I'm not a wine-drinker, really. Give me a beer, or if I am feeling saucy, an Amaretto Sour. But knowing Kathi has opened up new experiences for me. I spent a lovely, wet afternoon sipping wine and laughing with friends.
IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BLOG. The Blog is powerful. The Blog is good.
I don't love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz or arrow of carnations that propagate fire: I love you as certain dark things are loved, secretly, between the shadow and the soul. I love you as the plant that doesn't bloom and carries hidden within itself the light of those flowers, and thanks to your love, darkly in my body lives the dense fragrance that rises from the earth. I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where, I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I don't know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when your eyes close, I fall asleep.
