Ho ho ho. Also brrrrrr
It's not snowy in the slightest, but it is damp and chilly with a steady bluster of wind. Good for the seagulls coming in and for all manner of algae growing on the car. Not terrible for the birdies, who seem impervious to rain with all their fancy preen oils! Very seasonal? Just not quite sure what season exactly.
I admire the tenacity of some of the people in our neighborhood. Many fought back against the onrush of Christmas joy by putting up giant inflatable turkey decorations. Others had a more conservative approach...
I'm amazed the squirrels haven't gotten into these. Late autumn is definitely a mood here, even if it's covered up with a little frost and a ton of inflatable Christmas yard decorations.
Although autumn leaves are always my favorite (the leaf blowers that follow the leaves significantly less so) the foliage this time of year is actually quite beautiful. I hadn't really appreciated just how many trees and bushes fruit in the late autumn. Convenient for all those sweet birdies!
Many of the finches are turning quite rubicund recently, due to all the winter berries bursting about. They get their coloring from the carotenoids in their diets and apparently this is a high carotenoid part of the year. Very festive.
Another bonus of the seasonal berries is that we seem to have a resident American robin who rather enjoys the multiple variations of tiny berry that our yard offers.
American robins are called "robins" because somebody thought they resembled the well-known ball of cuteness known as a European robin (previously just known as "robin "and sometimes robin red breast, even though arguably that's much more of a rust or orangey color).
As you might notice, the classical robin is a tiny little borb of a fuzz ball of a bird.
American robins, being thrushes are much more in the "small pigeon" model of bird bodies. But they do have a beautiful rufous ruddy belly and they have an excellent instinct for eye makeup!
Look at that drip! Pretty classy little cape as well.
We spent a good forty-five minutes watching this baby sitting on our beauty berries. They would stay fairly still, just moving their head around (birds can't move their eyes in their sockets like humans, so they need to move their heads to accomplish the same effect we get by just constantly moving our eyes around).
Then with alacritous force, the robin would lunge their beak forward and snag a berry.
Berry captured, the robin would return to placidly sitting on a branch looking around, until the next berry blast.
The crows are getting a bit cheeky these days. Recently, we've noticed them flying together in groups. This part is normal. But then one crow will swoop into another crow's flight path, narrowly missing them and generally causing the other crow to either bob or swoop to the ground themselves. They seem to be taking turns at it, and there's no sounds of distress. I can only assume that they're playing, as they also will happily take breaks from all the swooping and diving to beg a few peanuts and then resume again.
They are also perennially curious about us, despite still being quite cautious. They have taken to flying up just ahead of us and watching as we approach. It's a bit like a game of chicken to see which crow will flinch and take off first.
They almost always do, but one got maybe a foot or two from us at the little overlook at the pond. Allan probably could have reached out and touched it. Very brave little one.
I can only assume they are wondering if I will tell the other crows where they buried their surplus peanuts. Crows are very private about this, but since I am the one giving them, they seem a bit less concerned when I see them do it.
The other baby we often assume is a robin is the Spotted Towhee. A bird that calls in question form. Only because of the rufous belly. It is distinct beyond that.
Every once in a while, we actually get to see the northern flicker. The northern flicker is a ground feeding woodpecker with a cute little look that become absolutely fabulous. The flickers in this area have a bright vibrant orange undercoating on their wings. Elsewhere, it's yellow. In either spot it's striking and delightful!
I dig their polka dot cardigan look though!
Speaking of high fashion:
Anna's hummingbirds refuse to accept the late fall vibe and go straight for something approximating a giant rave in springtime. It works. It works.
At any rate. It's been a fairly mild start to Advent season. Instead of doing chocolate Advent calendars, Allan has been getting Advent bird stickers. Every morning, a new bird. For reasons known only to Allan, this necessitates several drawings on the bird theme with a variety of media.
We have a comprehensive calendar, on which teh sticker is added. Allan draws a picture of that bird in the next slot over, only to cover it with the new bird on the new day. But we also have a full homage to that bird:
She's still working on yesterday's toucan.
It definitely adds a couple of hours to our school schedule, but so far we've survived. Mostly. Fractions aren't going to be getting the most attention just now, even though they are some of the funner bits of elementary school math.
This isn't a particularly chatty week. Just mostly getting back into the swing of things after Thanksgiving. We didn't finish our Star Wars adventure yet, but we're somewhere comfortable in Mandolorian 3 and will eventually rewatch the sequels. The return to schoolwork - other than busy with bird drawings - has been placid and relatively easy. Of course it shan't last. The two-week holiday is always significantly more disruptive, and January will be some kind of struggle.
But for now we limit the struggle to wrapping paper and post office runs!
I hope you're staying dry and keeping power!
No comments:
Post a Comment