Birds!

[thedeadlyhook]

I saw a pair of Hooded Mergansers at the lake today! And this on top of the Ring-Necked Ducks, and Pie-Billed Grebes I've been seeing lately. Birds are just... cool.

And check out this photo site for birds. See close-up photography, such as this shot of a Double-Crested Cormorant, prove that life on Earth can look freakier than any alien species we can picture. I mean really, that eye. Too neat.

I guess I need some kind of bird icon, don't I?

Comments

[toysdream.livejournal.com]

Awesome! See, this is why horses are cooler than dragons.

[herself_nyc]

What IS going on in that icon?

[toysdream.livejournal.com]

I think it's Gandalf facing off against Saruman in Ralph Bakshi's animated version of Lord of the Rings. Either that or a Yeti family reunion.

[herself_nyc]

Whatever, it's quite a partay.

[thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com]

Bingo, you are correct. iconzicons did a whole set on the Bakshi LoTR movie, which I found irresistable.

[deborahc.livejournal.com]

Birds are just... cool.

::nods::

I got to see my local peregrine pair copulating last Sunday. Very exciting.

[thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen anything that fun yet (mating pigeons don't count in the same class of excitement, I think), but I'm waiting in breathless anticipation of baby chicks anytime soon. It seems the right time of year for it, and the baby ducklings last year were just so cute!

[deborahc.livejournal.com]

One of the funniest bird scenes I ever witnessed involved a pigeon and a peregrine - well - peregrines. No, it wasn't a hunt. I was watching the local peregrine eyrie (located inside a pillar-cap fronting the library) from a window accross the street. Momma peregrine was inside brooding her new babies, and a pigeon flew up to the nest pillar, clearly with the intention of landing on the edge. Well, just as it started to lower itself down for a landing it saw the peregrines inside, and my oh my - it was like watching a cartoon. Mom barely spared it a glance, but the startled and horror stricken pigeon started flapping maddly to back up, turned in mid-air, and frantically flew away.

Of course, I'm looking at momma and super-imposing a cartoon balloon over her head that had her thinking ...did we finally find a restaurant that delivers? LOL (and I don't use that abbreviation unless I'm speaking literally; I fell out laughing.

[deborahc.livejournal.com]

Sheesh!

accross = across

maddly = madly

[thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com]

Hah! That would've been one surprised pigeon! I don't suppose they're used to running into competition for roosting spots on buildings like that. Never mind a nest of falcons! (I've seen a couple of hawks around here, but not a falcon in the city - out in Marin, though, I think.)

[deborahc.livejournal.com]

I've seen a couple of hawks around here, but not a falcon in the city - out in Marin, though, I think.)

Don't know about Marin, but you've got a nesting pair right there in the financial district and a close-up view of their eyrie, courtesy of a great webcam. Check it out:

http://www2.ucsc.edu/scpbrg/falconcamera.htm

[thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com]

Wow! That's super cool! I know right where that building is, although if they're nesting up on the 33rd floor, that picture's probably the best look I'm going to get of them.

[wenchsenior.livejournal.com]

You're making me nostalgic for Tucson, where we used to walk out of the grocery store, glance up, and see peregrines courting overhead. One of the few cities in the country where p. falcons are practically 'trash' birds.

Well, ok, not quite.

[deborahc.livejournal.com]

One of the few cities in the country where p. falcons are practically 'trash' birds.

::gasps:: Blasphemy!

Well, ok, not quite.

::humph:: Well, alright, then. That's better.

Seriously though, after very nearly disappearing it's wonderful that they've come back (at least in some places) so strong as to be considered almost commonplace. Here in Chicago they've done quite well. There've been as many as thirteen nesting pairs in the Chicagoland area in the last few years. Three pairs nest within minutes of my home and workplace. I love watching them.

[wenchsenior.livejournal.com]

They are spectacular.

[kassto.livejournal.com]

Yes, darling, you do. And here for your delectation is the New Zealand bird, the tui, or known by the whitey settlers as the parson bird for its little clerical tuft of feathers. It has amazing metallic green, blue and black feathers, and is a fearful mimic. Its song is a combination of soulful notes, chuckling, chainsawing and dishwashing.

[thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com]

Ta-Da! Two American Coots, doing what they do best, fighting over territory. : )

What a lovely bird! I love your description of the birdsong. Coots are plainer to look at, but they sound a bit like squeaky toys.

[wenchsenior.livejournal.com]

Ah, Hoodies! Aren't they gorgeous?!

[thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com]

They are. Today was the first pair I'd ever seen, and I must've lurked by a tree for fifteen minutes watching them swim by.

[slackerace.livejournal.com]

I was gonna laugh and call you a dork, but those birds really are gorgeous! It'd be cool to see them on the lake. We have Canadian geese and...well, Canadian geese.

[thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com]

I actually used to think we had nothing but mallard ducks around here, until I started really looking. The coots - the birds in this icon - were the first ones I noticed. I remember thinking, "hey, were all these black ducks here before? And... huh, they're not actually ducks, are they?"

Do you have big flocks of Candadian Geese? There was a good-sized bunch hanging out in the Park a few months ago, but most of them seem to have moved on.