We stayed up too late drinking prosecco and watching the Twilight Zone marathon. But then we got up early, had breakfast at a local joint, and went looking for birds. Found this gorgeous roseate spoonbill feeding in a shallow pond:
The only thing that marred the beautiful scene were the distant strains of “praise music” emanating from a nearby mega-church. Not old-fashioned hymns, which can be lovely, but abominable soft rock-style dreck. Didn’t seem to bother the birds, but it irritated the crap out of me.
Anyhoo, we also saw this lovely hawk surveying a meadow from his perch in a palm tree:
Then we encountered this very serious-looking family of Sandhill cranes, fresh from their mission of fucking up the surface of a fairway in search of tasty bugs:
Sandhills are BIG birds. If they ever get tired of people’s bullshit, things could get ugly.
So what’s up in your neck of the woods today? Open thread!
germy
Those services can get pretty loud. The mega-church folks think they’re attracting the young folks, but all they’re accomplishing is making old folks buy ear plugs.
I avoid that crap. A “worship” service shouldn’t be 100 dB.
pat
Sunny today, off to try to photograph the belted kingfisher in flight. Then down to the park to feed the birds and photograph them taking the peanuts out of my own hand. Chickadees, downy woodpeckers, tufted titmouse, white breasted nuthatchers, all swooping around and coming in for a peanut.
ETA: Obviously using different lenses, 400mm and 18-55 on my Canon.
gene108
My brother and family are coming by this evening, on their way back to NYC. They might spend the night.
So I need to clean. Put stuff away. And do some grocery shopping.
But all I want to do is stay in bed.
Ugh…life’S not so great problems that easily solved, but become bigger and bigger problems, as I procrastinate
Corner Stone
Stayed up way past my bedtime, but for a good cause I guess. There are only a few more events in the near future where my son will actively want dad around.
Raining again here in the GHMA, off and on but muggy as hell and not really cool as far as I can tell.
greennotGreen
Sandhill cranes, fresh from their mission of removing the chemical-laden monocrop covering their natural food source.
FTFY
Mike in NC
Our friends in Tampa introduced us to Sandhill cranes a couple of years ago and they were impressive.
Corner Stone
@germy:
I was driving home after midnight last night and over a small rise I saw multiple police flasher lights off on the feeder. I was like, “Dammit, somebody screwed up their new year.” But as I approached I realized they had blocked off lanes and were doing traffic control for a huge megachurch right off the freeway. Parking lot was almost completely full and cars were just starting to exit onto the feeder.
Kathleen
Happy New Year Betty and The Juicers!
Betty, I saw one of those cranes last week while visiting my daughter in Tampa. Their property abuts a nature preserve, so there are lots of birds to watch from her lanai. One of the cranes made its way to the cul de sac from the preserve and squawked as I passed it while finishing my run.
On a gross note, I am awash in snottage, sneezage and slothage thanks to a sinus infection. I’ve not been this sick in over 2 years. After doing laundry this morning I can’t even summon the energy to put my stew in the crock pot. Wah. At least I got cleaning and grocery shopping done yesterday. Today I will be exploring the wonders of food delivered to my home if the restaurant in my building is closed.
Gindy51
@pat: Mine just sit on the window sill and look in when the feeders are empty. No kidding. I can always tell I’ve been neglectful of my outdoor dependents when they fly up and get in my face about it. I’ve been bird watching out this same window for almost 20 years and they know where to sit to get my attention. I have been trained well, if I see them I go out and feed them.
Yarrow
A red tailed hawk swooped so low over my car yesterday that I could see the feathers! I don’t know why it did that. I was driving, so I doubt my car was shielding a mouse or something. Is it an omen?
germy
@Corner Stone: They should just do a drive-thru service. I think Robert Schuler invented the first Church you didn’t have to leave your car for? Parishioners would sit in their autos and listen on speakers, like a 1950s drive-in. (At least they could adjust the volume.)
Schlemazel
BIL fell in with a fundy group while he lived in FL & we went to a service with him once. We got there about 40 minutes before the listed start time and people were already in full swing. the lyrics were projected on the walls in front and the music was very repetitive and rhythmic. The songs were never more than 10-12 words just repeated and repeated. It was a very odd experience. Light rock might have been preferable.
germy
@Yarrow: Just checking for a “MAGA” bumpersticker. Didn’t see one, so you didn’t get windshield poop.
HinTN
Much like raven said downstairs, 40 degrees and drizzle, which calls for a fire in the fireplace (I’d attach a picture if I could) to welcome our friends to nosh on black eyed peas, collard greens, and country ham. Maybe we’ll get some fresh air and maybe we’ll just veg with football on the electric teevee machine. Happy New Year BJ commentariat and FP folk.
O. Felix Culpa
@Kathleen: Welcome to the infirmary! Thankfully Ms. O has taken over cooking duties while I suffer – noisily – on my sickbed. I figure I might as well start 2017 being pampered. Hope you recover quickly!
Yarrow
@germy: Whew! Glad to know I passed the test.
@Schlemazel: I think the big screens are the thing these days. Heaven help them if the electricity goes out. How will people cope? No projected lyrics. No amplified music.
Kathleen
Thanks, O. Felix! I hope you feel better also. I plan on pampering myself today by not doing a daggone thing, but will have to forage for food.
pat
@Gindy51:
Hummingbirds used to do that with my dad’s feeders in California.
These birds in the park have been trained to take food out of your hand and when you stop the car they are right there, Hey were’s the peanuts. huh??
donnah
Beautiful photos, and uplifting for the first day of the New Year.
I am not ready to surrender my anger at the trump debacle, but I am determined to get out of my funk. I’m back on my stationary recumbent bike and added a mile of walking outdoors to my regimen. I’m not letting 2017 bully me.
Happy New Year to all!
Jeffro
Let’s help the New York Times out a bit, shall we? Here’s two current headlines on the front page of its website:
1) With Trump, Russia Goes from Foe of the U.S. to Friend (!)
2) In Trump’s New Year’s Note, Love and a Jab at “Enemies” (!!)
Fucking ri-dic-u-lous…Orwell would be proud. #1 implies that Russia is now a friend of the entire U.S. and not just the man-baby. #2 makes it sound like wishing most folks ‘love’ was Trump’s primary focus last night (as opposed to being a seething jackass)
Objectively Re-Written:
1) Trump Views Russia – Longtime Enemy of the U.S. – as a Personal Friend
2) Trump’s New Year’s Tweet Bashes His “Many Enemies”
Satisfyingly Re-Written:
1) Trump’s Pro-Russia Bias Puts Putin Ahead of America, Endangers 300M
2) Man-Baby Trump Lashes Out on Twitter for 2 Millionth Time
MomSense
I see bald eagles all the time but I can never seem to get to my phone camera fast enough to capture them. One afternoon I was sitting by the river watching a pair of eagles teach a juvenile to fly. There was lots of loud encouragement and one of the adults sort of put her/his wings under the juvenile’s wings at a distance to press the young one up.
The bald eagle population has taken off in Maine but they seem to be displacing other predator birds like hawks and Ospreys.
Yarrow
@O. Felix Culpa: Please be careful and focus on your recovery. I had the cold or flu crud starting in late November. The cough was so severe I almost ended up hospitalized. I have either severely strained my intercostal muscles or cracked a rib from the coughing. It’s nothing to mess around with. Had I taken it easier on the front end I think I would not have got so sick.
Scout211
Lodi, a nearby town here in NorCal, has a local preserve that attracts Sandhills. It’s a big deal to see them here in California. I think they even have a yearly festival there.
We were visiting my sister and BIL in Orlando and were shocked that they just hang out in the green spaces in their gated community. They are much larger when you walk by them than when you view them through binoculars in a wetland preserve. They are huge.
MomSense
@Jeffro:
I’ve take to responding to NYT by telling them I’d love to know what juicy things Russia found in their emails. At this point it’s irresponsible not to speculate.
O. Felix Culpa
@Yarrow: Thanks for your good wishes! I’m taking it very easy and if things don’t improve in the next day or two, I’ll take myself to the doctor. I hope you’re all better now.
geg6
Probably being the ultimate Steeler fan and watching the third string play the Browns today. Maybe the Browns can pull out a second win to end the season.
Just kidding! LOL!
Also getting ready to start the pork and sauerkraut. Low and slow and it will be delicious. Mashed potatoes and honey glazed carrots, too. Very traditional New Year’s Day dinner around here. One more day of holiday break tomorrow, so that will be a complete relaxation day for me before the rat race starts again.
zhena gogolia
As I’ve said, I’ve always wanted to see a roseate spoonbill before I die. But I have no interest in visiting FL. Thanks for the pic!
O. Felix Culpa
@Jeffro: @MomSense:
Yes. And yes. Sigh. Our failed media experiment at work. Their framing is and has been appalling. And it appears they are not learning. Presumably because something behooves them not to learn. Bigger sigh.
Suzanne
Lying in my deliciously soft, warm, cozy bed listening to RAIN! Loooove rain!
Pogonip
Everyone get well soon!
Achoo.
HeidiMom
I just saw a Facebook post with the heading “New Year’s Resolutions,” a list of the usual sort of resolutions –lose weight, save money, exercise more, etc. — all crossed out, and one surviving resolution: “Spend More Time with My DOG.” So I’ve adopted that as my resolution for 2017, because it’s one I’ll actually try to keep.
charluckles
Ten miles deep into one of my favorite wilderness areas in the Rockies. Camp is set up on the edge of a massive open park. It’s dusk and we are all worn out and enjoying some brandy I had brought in. Out of nowhere a group of sandhill cranes parades almost through our camp. They certainly can be pretty intimidating birds.
burnspbesq
Apparently the Tournament of Roses has pull with the weather gods. After three days of rain, today is just glorious, with more of the same on for tomorrow.
They used to call this “Chamber of Commerce weather;” people who had to dig their cars out in order to go get snacks for the game would see it on their teevees and start making plans to migrate.
HinTN
@O. Felix Culpa: Old family recipe from Dr Rennie: Warm a teaspoon of honey in an ounce of lemon juice. Add an ounce of whiskey. Stay in bed and drink lots of water.
O. Felix Culpa
@HinTN:
Thanks! I have the honey and lemon juice…but am sadly lacking in the whiskey department. Will kahlua do as a substitute? It’s the closest thing I have to “strong” liquor.
HinTN
@O. Felix Culpa: Try it with coffee and have the honey with lemon separately. :^P
dr. luba
Fighting off a cold still–I had headaches earlier in the week, today a runny nose and congestion. Am packing for my (temporary) escape for the USA, as I am following Senator Klobuchar’s footsteps and heading for Ukraine. For the holidays. While the country still exists in its current form.
I will be in Kyiv for my godson’s birthday for the first time in his life (he’s turning 18), and spending the Xmas holidays (old calendar) in my mom’s village in Volyn. Then concerts and visiting friends in Lviv. Should be amazing.
Then home in time for the greatest political tragedy in our nation’s history…..
laura
@Yarrow: a hawk in flight crossing your path is considered great good fortune according to a birder friend.
So you’ve got that going for you.
Schlemazel
@MomSense:
We have had an explosion of raptors in Minnesota in the last decade. It is tough to drive a mile on the freeway and not see a hawk, Sharp-shinned, harriers, red-tail and broad-wing are the most common but I have seen others I don’t recognize including a couple smaller types. The bald eagle population is ridiculous, particularly when the bunch up in the winter. Last winter up near Bemidji we saw 40 or 50 of them sitting in a single tree and taking turns feeding on a deer carcass. They put up nest boxes downtown for Peregrine falcons & I have watched them take pigeons on the wing when I worked in downtown. It really has been a success story for the raptors.
O. Felix Culpa
@HinTN: Excellent advice! The lemon and kahlua combo sounded…unappealing. :)
cope
Wonderful pictures, BC. Spoonbills are my current focus of desire in taking pictures and yours is excellent.
Our neighborhood is home to several hawks. They will often perch on the back fence of our yard, scoping out their next meal.
The sandhill cranes are very Jurassic looking. Besides tearing up the turf, they sure make a lot of noise when they are on the wing. I have friends who hate them because the birds like their lakeside yard and leave copious quantities of avian shite behind.
The other day, we sat in the living room and watched a tiny little bird land on our pool deck, contemplate the water and then fly/swim thorough it for a quick wash. It did this several times and then took off. I would love to get an action shot of that happening.
Anyway, as my Scots/Irish ancestors might say, “bliadhna mhath ùr” to all.
Doug R
@Gindy51: Sometimes when I go outside and my hummingbird feeders are low, one will fly up and chirp at me to get on it.
Elizabelle
I think we are going to need a “Pretty Birds” or other soothing thread every single day of 2017.
Digital pacifier.
@dr. luba: Have a great trip. Let us know what the folks in Kyiv and Volyn think about our inauguree to be.
Schlemazel
@HeidiMom:
this is what I posted on FB for resolutions
I will sleep in more
I will exercise about the same
I will continue to over eat
I will not take up smoking
This year I am going to stick with them!
Betty Cracker
@zhena gogolia: Spoonbills are also found in coastal TX, Central America and some Caribbean islands, IIRC, so you can still see one without setting foot in FL. Spoonbills are common in my area, but I’ve only seen spoonbill chicks a couple of times. They’re so ugly, they’re cute!
Yarrow
@O. Felix Culpa: Good plan. Thanks for the good wishes. The muscle strain or rib fracture is still very painful. I haven’t seen a doctor because there’s nothing they can do. But it inhibits my ability to do things I want and need to do. The cough lingered forever. I went off the two prescribed cough medications and was okay but then overdid and it came back. So be cautious and smart in taking care of yourself.
Schlemazel
@burnspbesq:
I thought the parade was tomorrow?
O. Felix Culpa
@dr. luba: Have a wonderful trip! And good health to you too! The concerts and family visits sound wonderful. My hope is that we don’t surpass the Civil War as this country’s greatest tragedy, but I agree that the capacity for damage is great indeed. All the more reason to fight.
Vive la résistance!
Yarrow
@laura: I’ll take it. After the horror show that was 2016 I’ll take good omens. It was pretty too!
dr. luba
@Kathleen: If it’s sinuses, it’s most likely viral (or so the most recent research shows). Decongestants help–12 hour Sudafed, not that fake crap they try to peddle. The kind you have to show ID for. Drink lots of fluids–I like Constant Comment tea with lots of lemon and a sweetener of your choice. Those neti pots apparently help, along with heat to the face.
I haven’t had a sinus infection in twenty year now. I had a bunch of them in my thirties, and then they just stopped. Lucky, I guess. Although I’d prefer them to knee issues any day…….
Ben Cisco
Happy New Year, jackals!
Started the year off cleaning, then got an emergency work call. Hoping to be done with that in time to watch the Panthers play out the string.
HeidiMom
@Schlemazel: I like the way you think!
Eric NNY
I have Sandhill Crane envy. They’re beautiful.
Rob
Sunshine and blue sky here around DC. On our walk to the store we saw a couple of Turkey Vultures flying over the park, and a closer Sharp-shinned Hawk taking off from a tree-top. Also the usual cardinals, juncos, chickadees, etc.
Good health to those who are sniffling.
eta: and a happy new year to all of you!
Louise B.
Thanks for the beautiful pictures, Betty. That roseate is a gorgeous bird. Drank way too much sparkling wine last night, am now nursing my morning coffee and contemplating cleaning up the mess in the kitchen. Happy New Year!
germy
Schlemazel
“OK GOOGLE Surely it’s not going to snow today?”
“It will, and don’t call me Shirley”
…Forgot to take my phone off Airplane mode.
dr. luba
@Elizabelle:
I can tell you now. I was there this past summer, and everyone was worried about the election. They couldn’t understand how someone like Trump would even be considered for president, much less have a chance of winning. Not only did they see him as vulgar and stupid, but the ties to Putin are a real existential danger to Ukraine.
When I was in Rivne, the director of the museum asked who I was voting for. I told him I was voting Hillary, and he became ecstatic, even shouting it out to passersby.
I reassured a friend in Sokal that I didn’t think the US had enough racists and morons to elect Trump. It turns out I was wrong……..although it was a problem of distribution, not numbers. But Trump never should have come to within even 3 million votes of HIllary.
What’s worse is how many diasporan Ukrainians voted for Trump, all the while continuing their posturing as Ukrainian “patriots.” Racism and misogyny trump their so-called patriotism every time.
Achrachno
Your palm-sitting raptor is a red-shouldered hawk, just in case anyone is interested.
Elizabelle
Didn’t see it, but read that Mariah Carey had a memorable final performance of 2016.
Someone on Twitter said it was the sendoff 2016 deserved.
JPL
@laura: Two hawks swept under my eave, and so close to me that I hit the deck.
That was a month before the election. hmmm
Elizabelle
@Ben Cisco: Speaking of emergency work calls:
Has Ultraviolet Thunder (?) the flying tech guy been around much? Just realized I’d not seen his ‘nym in a while.
bystander
@Jeffro: Thanks for reminding me why I canceled our NYTimes subscription.
In the new year, I have decided to avoid walking by the hordes lined up to buy cookies at Levain Bakery. It’s worse than the lemmings who waste hours waiting to buy an “awesome” cupcake fercrissakes at Magnolia Bakery because SJP are one on SATC. But not as horrific as the people standing for hours to buy a cronut. You’re in NYC, people. See an art museum, a history museum, a Broadway show, a planetarium, the remaining vestiges of the earliest part of our history, go to the Philharmonic, a ballet, an opera. But stand in line for hours to buy a frigging cookie because you somehow think ingesting it will confer coolness on you?
Thank you. I cede the floor.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I wanna laugh at this, then I remember he’s going to be president
cynthia ackerman
Twenty-some years ago I had the honor of being pushed around and chest-butted for twenty minutes by a truly terrifying large bird: a 7-foot tall 250 lb female cassowary known locally as Blue Arrow, on a bluff overlooking the airport in Cairns.
Makes those sand hill cranes look like Cornish game hens.
Kathleen
@dr. luba: Thank you, Dr. Luba. I did see a doc at Urgent Care and he said it was viral and prescribed ZPack, which I’ve almost finished. Usually I bounce back fairly quickly when I start taking drugs, but not this time. I need to drink more water and plan to get lots of rest the next 2 days. I will pursue the Sudafed you recommended next time I go to Kroger Pharmacy, which may be today.
Mnemosyne
@dr. luba:
IOW, they’ve become more American than they think. Sigh.
Elizabelle
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Were they wearing matching kneepads? NBC’s finest.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
from Maggie Habermas’s write up of NYE at Club Tacky
Douglas Brinkley apparently wants to be the Court Historian of this whole pathetic misadventure
The Lodger
@Kathleen: “Betty and the Juicers” sounds like the bad crowd at Riverdale High School.
Betty Cracker
@cynthia ackerman: Oh man, cassowaries can be dangerous as hell, or so I hear. Glad you emerged relatively unscathed!
Kathleen
@The Lodger: Or an indie-punk group from the early 80’s.
Roger Moore
@burnspbesq:
Not a coincidence. The original purpose of the Tournament of Roses was to convince people to move here by showing how nice the winters were.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@Elizabelle: A quick search shows nothing since late August.
Carol
Beautiful photos. A good way to start the day.
Elizabelle
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): Thank you. Wonder what’s up.
rikyrah
Mazel Tov Cocktail Verified account
@AdamSerwer
This, from WSJ editor Baker, gives up the game. ,Not objectivity that matters, but the *appearance* of objectivity.
rikyrah
Sarah Kendzior Verified account
@sarahkendzior
Trump-Putin, in three parts
1. July: lies about collusion
2. November: admission of collusion
3. December: flaunting of collusion
rikyrah
‘You’re fired!’: NY school board chair opens a massive can of whoopass on Trump racist Carl Paladino
Sarah K. Burris
29 Dec 2016 at 17:14 ET
The Buffalo School Board in New York sought to oust Carl Paladino on Thursday following his racist tirade against Michelle Obama. During the meeting, School Board President Barbara Seals Nevergold didn’t hold back in her criticism of the former Donald Trump campaign co-chair.
“Words matter, Mr. Paladino,” she said during the meeting, which Paladino did not attend. “Our president, the Commander in Chief of this nation for the last eight years, Mrs. Obama, our First Lady, and Mrs. Valerie Jarrett, special presidential council [SIC] are all African-Americans. Among other things, they are accomplished, intelligent, beautiful people and that’s not just my opinion.”
But under Paladino, Nevergold said that they were reduced to criminals, frauds or gorillas.
“The impact on children of color, especially African-American children is incalculable,” she continued. “How do we encourage them to use their God-given talents to soar, to reach for the stars, when a sitting board member responsible for their education demonstrates such contempt of their role models?”
She went on to say that Paladino’s contempt for the first family and their aides has fallen to a level of “unmitigated and hateful, racist and misogynist, rhetoric” that can’t be disassociated from the race and culture of the students in the district. Paladino has established a record and a pattern of behavior that the board believed violated his oath of office as well as the ethics as a board member.
Zinsky
Betty – sounds like a fun morning except for listening to the non-music being produced by the phony Xtians. It’s cold and clear here in Minnesota but the wife and I will still go for a two or three mile walk this afternoon, despite 20 degree Farenheit temperatures. It’s good for our health and our marriage. HNY!
dr. luba
@Kathleen: Z-pack won’t do a thing for a viral infection, because azithromycin is an antibiotic. Which is why you’re not bouncing back quickly. Z-pack is great for bacterial bronchitis, though–works like a charm.
dr. luba
@Mnemosyne:
Not so much American as Republican, the whole lot of them. Party first, even if your candidate is actively threatening your homeland which you claim to love. Of course, these people still think the Russians are communists, and so are democrats, because liberals are communists, so ipso facto…….
Olivia
@Schlemazel: A few years ago we had a bald eagle on the roof of the townhouse across the street from ours, south of St. Paul. He had flown with some very large roadkill up to the peak. For an hour or so, bits of fur and guts and whatever were rolling off the roof onto the front step below as he ripped it apart and feasted on it. It was a very odd sight in the middle of suburbia.
Mnemosyne
If you need some uplift and “we can do it!” feeling, here’s a post from a writer that Another Scott linked to in the thread above:
Now Is When We Become Fire Ants
ETA: He linked to a different post of hers, but this one caught my eye.
idontknowfrombirds
I don’t know from birds, but those are good looking ones.
mainmata
Going to the Redskins – Giants game to watch the ‘Skins fail to get into the playoffs. At least the weather is nioce
NCSteve
This summer, I watched in delight as a pair of cardinals who dominate my feeder raised and fledged two pairs of younglings, two boys and two girls, all with distinct personalities and plumage details. Had a lot of action, some of it new. Nuthatches, woodpeckers, several species of finches, a red shouldered hawk that periodically perched at the top of the tallest long leaf pine and looked for victims. My first raccoon.
And then I come and look at Betty’s pictures and realize that “birding” in Florida is to “birding” in NC as “football” in America is to ‘football” in Australia.
J R in WV
The Spoonbill is great, I hope to meet up with one of those some day soon.
We have Sandhill Cranes wintering in the valley where we built our winter cabin in AZ. For a very long time they came there for a playa covered with a little water, where they could wade and feed. Then back in the early 1900s there was a small earthquake, which pinched the springs that fed the lake off, and now it’s a dry playa, salt flats and sand.
The birds don’t seem to care. There’s huge agribusiness in the valley, and half-mile long center pivot irrigation systems, and the cranes loiter and hunt in among the sprayers. Huge flocks of them wheel in the sky, making a burbling sound together. My cousin calls it the Crane Cocktail Party sound. Then in late winter, early spring, they head north, probably to shallow waters in Idaho.
I was surprised to learn about all the other places where Sandhill Cranes live, evidently there are big flocks with standard summer and winter homes, that don’t real interact with other flocks with different travel schedules.
Betty – did you get a new camera, or just a phone with a great camera? These pictures are great lately!! Thanks!
Steeplejack (tablet)
@J R in WV:
I think she got a (new) camera for Christmas.
EBT
@Schlemazel: Hah, did you ever tell google to do a barrel roll? Or make you a sandwich?
Betty Cracker
@Mnemosyne: I’ve always hated fire ants, but damn if it isn’t a good metaphor.
@J R in WV: New camera for Christmas — thanks!
Mnemosyne
@Betty Cracker:
I like any metaphor where we all stick together and bite anyone who tries to separate us.
Miss Bianca
@Doug R: Same here! Or they’ll hover outside the window and stare accusingly at me like, “Dude! DUDE! The feeder’s empty!”
J R in WV
@Betty Cracker:
What did you get? Just curious as to type, fixed lens super zoom? DSLR? etc.
Really working for you, though, whatever you got! Like the NC guys said, birding in FL versus birding in NC (or WV) is like chess vrs checkers.
Mnemosyne
@Miss Bianca:
I witnessed that at my parents’ house in Arizona.
The hummingbirds would also alert them when the woodpeckers were hogging the feeder so my dad would go out and chase them away.
Betty Cracker
@J R in WV: It’s a Nikon Coolpix p900 w/ super zoom. If you zoom in on the moon, you can see the craters clear as day!
cynthia ackerman
@Betty Cracker:
Yeah, I do not recommend.
In case it happens, the key is to crouch down and stay calm. They see humans’ upright posture as another cassowary in threat pose. Took me twenty very hairy minutes to learn, and not something commonly advised.
jharp
The Sand Hill Cranes fly over my house and holy fuck do they fly high.