Baby Birds!

[Guest]

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[Guest]

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[voluptuary_manque]

Any possibility that Super Bird is a cuckoo? Just askin' . . .

 

[Guest]

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[shereads]

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b318/sweetsubsarahh/BabyBirdsDay2006.jpg

In this shot, he looks like Jack Nicholsen as The Joker.

 

[damppanties]

In this shot, he looks like Jack Nicholsen as The Joker.

He might be a she.

 

[shereads]

He might be a she.

Jack Nicholson is a woman?!

Edited to add: Seriously, no woman would let herself be photographed in that shade of lipstick. And the hair! My god.

 

[Guest]

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[voluptuary_manque]

I know.



Whichever, this bird is loaded with personality.

Between the time the Army retired me and 9/11, I had a ponytail. I also acquired, for irrelevent reasons, a pair of Armani sunglasses (prescription). Every damned time I went anywhere wearing those glasses, especially if I was somewhat dressed up (like taking the kids on a field trip) someone would mistake me for Jack Nicholson. Every damned time! It's really disappointing, too, because I'm a much nicer person than he is . . .

 

[trysail]

Careful, sweetie. Raccoons are cute and appealing and bold and their babies are downright irresistable - and in Florida, they're increasingly contaminated with rabies...

Amen— that's good advice, and it ain't just Florida. In recent years, there has been a near-epidemic of rabies in 'coons throughout the Mid-Atlantic, as well.

A good rule of thumb is: if you see a 'coon during the day, (they are, of course, nocturnal creatures) you'd best assume it is infected. Beyond that, be wary of any 'coon that is behaving strangely.

It's a shame, 'cause I love 'coons. They are smart, incredibly adaptive and simply brilliant at thwarting the doomed efforts of the stupid humans to keep 'em out of the garbage.


Like Cloudy, I too carry on conversations with mockingbirds (and bobwhites). While I also converse with doves, regretfully I must nominate them as the dumbest birds extant.

 

[TE999]

The avian menagerie 'round my place has been especially active as of late.

The ospreys across the street are raising their third family--usually one or two fledgelings.

Mockingbirds are all over--mimicing beautiful birdsongs.

Cardinals, bluejays, painted buntings, red bellied, red headed and downy woodpeckers visit our feeders.

Yellow rumped warblers, brown thrashers and sparrows live in our hedges.

A coopers hawk makes a daily sortie through the yard, but so far no casualties.

We keep our feeders filled and it pays off.

 

[Guest]

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[TE999]

Oooh! Wonderful!

We had a hawk visit us last summer.

Well, at least, he hit the window hard enough to leave some feathers and a mark. We saw him later in one of the trees.

Most raptor casualties are from windows, wires, towers and misjudging dives at prey and hitting the ground.

Raptors are soooo cool.

Truth be told I like them a bit more than songbirds.

We have bald eagles nesting 3 blocks over.

I've seen swallow-tailed kites, red shouldered hawks, merlins, sharpies and sparrow hawks around too.

 

[Guest]

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[voluptuary_manque]

We had a pair of Cooper's move intothe big trees on the school campus. Didn't take long for them to seriously reduce the miserable pigeon population. That was about four years ago. They hung around for about three years but didn't show this year. The pigeons haven't fully recovered, yet, though. Good thing, IMO.

Redtails are migrants. They come and go with each spring and fall migration. Kestrels are resident. We've even had peregrines come by and ospreys insist on trying to fish in those concrete-lined channels we have the audacity to call "rivers". Merlins come and go but they're really secretive and hard to spot.

I really love raptors. I've been nutz for them since I was a pup. I've even dreamed of a falconer's license but who has the time?

 

[TE999]

There's a breeding pair of red-tails on the old county courthouse in Vero south of me. It's cool to see them nail a pigeon in flight.

We don't have perigrine's down here that I'm aware of, unless they're migrating.

I forgot sparrow-hawks are called Kestrels now. Old habits and all that.

I have seen ospreys fishing in the canal near my house. Now that is something to watch!

 

[WRJames]

We have a tiny little pine tree --really more of a bush -- right outside our kitchen window. For a couple of years a robin family had a nest there -- and they raised their babies, much to the delight of our family.

Then the neighbors behind us got a cat.

The next year -- nest in the same place, eggs laid, little ones hatching.

Two days later -- no babies, and a torn up nest.

The damn cat had been lurking all along, just waiting for them to get to be a nice snack size.

 

[Guest]

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[damppanties]

Jack Nicholson is a woman?!

Edited to add: Seriously, no woman would let herself be photographed in that shade of lipstick. And the hair! My god.

I know.



Whichever, this bird is loaded with personality.

It's just that.... can you ever see men that passionate about food?

*munches choco-chip cookie*

 

[Guest]

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[damppanties]

And I'm shoveling handfuls of popcorn in my mouth.

Yep.

We had a huge dinner.

Your turn.

 

[Guest]

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[damppanties]

We snacked.

We're eating truffles now.

I'm going to go look for boiled potatoes in the fridge right now!

 

[Guest]

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[damppanties]

I have some pizza Pringles chips to share.

I finished my Pringles last night.