Happy Birthday, Mom!

I hope you had an excellent birthday!

I'm glad that I inherited my ability to fall with the least amount of grace possible from you.



Love you!

Goldfinch in Three Frames

Happy Thanksgiving!

We awoke this morning to 3 inches of snow. We were expecting rain and sleet so this was a wonderful surprise. The first order of business was refiling all the feeders and finding one that had been dislodged by the wind or squirrels.

The snow didn't stick around for long. The temperatures reached the mid-40's today. Our little corner was still fairly white when the sun went down though.

I hope that you all have a wonderful and restful Thanksgiving weekend.

We chose watching birds over eating bird.

One Flew into the Window. . . Twice.

These hands belong to Mr. David Pendell. He and his wife came to the rescue this afternoon when this young Sharp-shinned Hawk decided to hit our apartment door at ramming speed.

When I first saw him sprawled out on the concrete I thought for sure he had ended his young hawk life. Then when he skidded across the pathway on his belly I had a sickening feeling in my stomach that the best we could do for him was a quick death.

Then he got to his feet and "Oh happy day!" I grabbed the yellow pages and started calling the animal hospitals and humane centers while Jay started the online research. Eventually we ended up at a list of certified animal handlers in the Connecticut area. None of whom were what you would call close.

Since it was late Sunday afternoon, it took us three or four tries to get someone on the phone. The Pendells showed up about 20 minutes later and very professionally took charge. Sadly, the hawk was loathe to be captured.

In his final escape attempt he actually took flight but it was obvious that he was still hurt.

Then he ran into the window again.

As you can see from the picture, he did recover consciousness. The Pendells said that they would observe him for a few days and see what developed.

I'm debating as to whether or not I will check on his condition.

As it is, I can believe that we saved him from getting mauled by a cat or some such ignominious fate.

I've got a picture of your photograph

Slideshows galore!

Believe it or not I've only put up a small fraction of the photos Jay and I have been taken. For those of you who would like to see more I have two new (ish) slideshow over at Flickr. You can get to them by following these links:

Fall in Sleeping Giant and other places we have meandered to lately

Avian Extravaganza

We recieved our first comment on one of our Flickr pictures. It was rather exciting.

The picture in question was one of Jay's and another of his was picked a someone's favorite. I'd like to say that it's a pleasure to have our collective photos appreciated but really I'm a little bitter. He's totally bogarting my flickr account.

It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't gloat or if I wasn't unnaturally competitive about all things photographic.

So yes, go look at pictures, and please like mine best!

A Cacophony of Thuds

It started with a squirrel.



Poor thing thought it would be a good idea to check out the bird feeder hanging from the gutter. I'm not exactly sure what went wrong but it seems he mistook himself for a gecko and thought that he could just crawl down the slippery plastic to the sunflowery goodness.

As he tumbled earthward, I was hoping that squirrels were like cats and therefore he would turn in midair and land gracefully and unharmed. Then there was a thud.

I looked down out of the window to see a dazed but whole squirrel squatting on the ground. We made eye-contact but I tried not to stare. He seemed a little embarrassed by the whole thing. I watched until he started to nose nonchalantly for seeds on the ground as if he hadn't just cheated death.

The other squirrel that had been feeding down below didn't take the episode so calmly. Apparently a squirrel falling from the sky is a bit unsettling and worthy of comment. Squirrel number 2 ran to the tree and started flipping his tail and barking.

He might need some therapy.



The second loud thud was our gazebo bird feeder. It's actually the third feeder to take a dive from the second story but the only one that hasn't lived to feed again. It split into three unsalvageable pieces upon hitting the ground and disgorged a tiny feast for the squirrels.



The rest of the thuds were from the work crew that showed up and started pounding on the wall for some unknowable reason.

Needless to say they scared away the birds.