LBBs

One of the leaders on birding field trips I used to go on would mark down any birds that he couldn't get a good glimpse of as LBBs -- Little Brown Birds. I have my fair share of little brown birds in my backyard at the feeders and at the bird bath.

Look at us, we're just little brown birds.
Not me! Check out this red breast.
That's not bad, but we'd rather have some REAL color, like that guy in the yellow and black.

Or even that noisy blue fellow. But no, we're destined to be just little brown birds. At least there are lots of us.
But even a crowd is no match for a squirrel who wants our dinner.
Call in the big guns!
And their brothers.

You all do what you need to do, this little brown bird needs a drink. And peace and quiet to enjoy the garden. Even if we are little brown birds.
With thanks to the house finches, goldfinches, bluejays, and magpies. And no thanks to the squirrel.

PUT AWAY THE PUMPKINS

Some of us at work collect these Audubon stuffed birds. You press on their back and an authentic birdcall sounds. Sometimes, to relieve the monotony, one person will start it off and soon answering birdcalls come from around the room. It's rather amusing and fits in with my belief that a huge room filled with staffers is not much different from a kindergarten class except for the work being done and the naps not taken. The birds in this shot from last Christmas were decked out in holiday hats.

Which brings me to my point. I looked out the kitchen window yesterday to see workers swarming over the grounds of the assisted living center behind my house. On the grass they were setting up a life-sized Santa in his sleigh with eight not-so-tiny reindeer. Multitudes of white lights were being strung on the gazebo, stapled across the rooftops, hung from the gables, and swagging the trees. This is the beginning of the holiday display that the center puts up, a bit more elaborate each year. When it's in it's full glory and the lights are switched on every evening after Thanksgiving, I no longer have to turn on the nightlight in my kitchen to find my way around in the wee hours. It's rather like living next door to Chevy Chase in "Christmas Vacation" but at least it doesn't blow all the power in the neighborhood now that public utilities has put a new transformer in.

After reeling from the thought of Christmas decorating coming right up, I opened my door to find a package from my daughter. She sent me these glass lanterns from Gardener's Supply Company to kick-start my own holiday decorating. These are really charming, with little leaded glass window-panes. They take a votive candle at the bottom. Bearing in mind an unfortunate incident from a couple of years ago, she also sent battery-operated votives. They flicker like a real candle and aren't likely to set my wall-hung kitchen clock on fire from a candle burning too close to the plastic frame which would scorch the brick wall and send burning bits of toxic plastic floating across the kitchen. As if!

So when do you start decorating for Christmas? Thanksgiving weekend? Sooner? The night before Christmas? All I know is that soon I'll have to throw out the pumpkins and the frost-blasted chrysanthemums lining the front walk and haul out the boughs of holly.

BIRDS OF A FEATHER

When you walk in my front door birds chirp. Not real ones. There are an assortment of wooden and mechanical birds on the divider between the hallway and the living room, and some of them have motion sensors which make the birds chirp as you pass by. Some people think it's really annoying but I like it.

I don't get any chirping from these birds. This was a whirligig on a post but the post would never stand up straight so I moved it under a small Flowering Almond tree. Now the branches hold it up and it looks like a Western Tanager and a Mountain Bluebird or two stopped by for a rest.

Speaking of birds, I just finished "Brief encounters with Che Guevara" by Ben Fountain. It's a collection of short stories about Americans doing good and not-so-good in third-world countries. I really enjoyed it, especially the first story about an ornithologist who gets captured by guerilla rebels in a Colombian rain forest. All the stories were fascinating, some were wickedly funny, and all were thought-provoking. This was a good read.

SOME CREATURES I LIKE AND SOME I DON'T

These red-shafted flickers are definitely in the "like" category. There are four coming to the suet feeder each day. Two of them are juveniles. You can tell by the way they harrass their parents with begging, calling, and obnoxious behavior. I'm very fond of these birds. This photo is not very good because I had to push the zoom all the way to get it, and I was in a hurry to leave for work.

On the other hand there are the raccoons who trespass by night and visit the pond looking for fish. They bite their heads off and then discard them on the ground for me to find in the morning. I've had enough of buying canapes for the 'coons, so no fish this year. When the raccoons don't find fish they go on a destructive binge like juvenile delinquents. They throw the pond plants around, knock over a bird sculpture (the same one every night), muddy the birdbath, and generally carry on. I usually sleep through all this, but sometimes I hear their wild chatter in the trees. I like hearing night creatures but what with whistling, shrieking, clicking their teeth and growling, these guys sound insane.