Wrote this earlier today following a lovely encounter with a bird in my back garden.
Untitled
I don’t know exactly what kind of bird he is, but the volume of his song doesn’t seem to match his size. I hear him singing from deep inside the house and going to the back door expect to see something large and bright. But he is so small and dark, perched on the fern, singing his little heart out. I try to replicate his call, inferior of course in both sound and melody, but sufficient it seemed to get his attention. He hops to a nearer branch and repeats his tune, as though a music teacher correcting a student.
Anybody else enjoying birds more during the lock down?
@Ghost-of-a-Duke We have a blackbird in our garden (a condominium) that sings beautifully, especially in the evenings. First I think to attract a partner, then to protect his territory. So I have been told. The Swedish composer Lars-Erik Larsson said that the blackbird's singing is the most beautiful sound he could think of.
a week or so ago
two squirrels boinkin in a tree next door
really goin at it
a blue jay takes offense and begins divebombing the tree rats
interrupting the coitus
@ghost-of-a-dukesaid Wrote this earlier today following a lovely encounter with a bird in my back garden.
Untitled
I don’t know exactly what kind of bird he is, but the volume of his song doesn’t seem to match his size. I hear him singing from deep inside the house and going to the back door expect to see something large and bright. But he is so small and dark, perched on the fern, ...[text shortened]... h a music teacher correcting a student.
Anybody else enjoying birds more during the lock down?
nice
I'm enjoying some very loud crows
love them
miss my blue jays though
hope they return soon
keeping a bowl of peanuts for them
and the squirrels
@ghost-of-a-dukesaid Wrote this earlier today following a lovely encounter with a bird in my back garden.
Untitled
I don’t know exactly what kind of bird he is, but the volume of his song doesn’t seem to match his size. I hear him singing from deep inside the house and going to the back door expect to see something large and bright. But he is so small and dark, perched on the fern, ...[text shortened]... h a music teacher correcting a student.
Anybody else enjoying birds more during the lock down?
Great post Ghost.
I love to watch birds at the feeder in the morning. They seem cheerful. Their singing always signals promise of a new day.
The glorious pair of Sandhill Cranes may not sing as well but they do not have to, they're bird royalty around here and they know it.
Until the Cranes arrive, squirrels get dibs at the trough. Cardinals and Jays fight for seconds. It's a numbers game. The outnumbered are relegated to scavenging seedlings. But the wise and lucky Kestrels wait for me and a refill.
@wolfe63said I love to watch birds at the feeder in the morning. They seem cheerful. Their singing always signals promise of a new day.
every time i begin to think anthropomorphologically and attribute sweetness to avian "singing",
i am reminded of the words of my seventh grade biology teacher -
"those are not songs"
"those are fierce war cries and death is about to follow"
birds are no less than vikings in their plundering viciousness
Nice to know I'm not alone. Before lockdown, I never made time in my morning routine to listen to the birds. I hope I don't return to that when this madness ends.
@rookie54said every time i begin to think anthropomorphologically and attribute sweetness to avian "singing",
i am reminded of the words of my seventh grade biology teacher -
"those are not songs"
"those are fierce war cries and death is about to follow"
birds are no less than vikings in their plundering viciousness
I don't want it to be true, but I know that you're right. It's actually like gang warfare out there. Size matters. So does aggression.
I guess, to a large degree, I imbue them with my sense of idealism. It hasn't been a conscious choice. Rather, its borne of my own profound want for peace and order.
@ghost-of-a-dukesaid Wrote this earlier today following a lovely encounter with a bird in my back garden.
Untitled
I don’t know exactly what kind of bird he is, but the volume of his song doesn’t seem to match his size. I hear him singing from deep inside the house and going to the back door expect to see something large and bright. But he is so small and dark, perched on the fern, ...[text shortened]... h a music teacher correcting a student.
Anybody else enjoying birds more during the lock down?
To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1962 American drama film directed by Robert Mulligan. The screenplay by Horton Foote is based on Harper Lee's 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. It stars Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch and Mary Badham as Scout.
I loved watching the squirrels bury the peanuts while being watched by the blue jays who would then take the peanuts away
there was a squirrel I named short tail who would greet me at my doorstep most days and a couple of jays who would perch on my railing waiting for some peanuts
but now the crows have dominated
very smart birds
once in awhile a chicken hawk will land in my yard