THE HORROR

Long time readers of this blog may know that I really love birds. I love listening to them, I love watching them, I love observing their feather colors and identifying them with my nerdy bird reference guide. My daughter has also picked up the birding gene. She LOVES to watch them in our yard and learn about the different birds common to our area. We watch the birds and go through the bird guide together. It's a whole big warm and fuzzy Discovery Channel moment. So we got a bird feeder.

*ominous music begins playing in the background*

I mentioned on a recent Tea Time that my love affair with our bird feeder recently went through a crisis due to an uninvited, furry interloper in our yard who was going after the the seed that inevitably drops to the ground. Said furry interloper is decidedly NOT a squirrel, whom I would not object to at all. Squirrels are CUTE. I know many people hate them, and classify them as the rodents that they technically are, but seriously. They have sweet faces and bushy tails, how bad could they be? Granted, I wouldn't want them in my house, but they have never shown any interest in such a notion. They want to scurry around and play with fire by dashing across the road in front of my car, eat bird seed off the ground in my yard, and then hurry back to their tree. Fine with me.

No, aforementioned interloper is far more nefarious than his squirrel cousins. He's full bodied and has a long, skinny, hairless tail.

*shudder of revulsion*

His name begins with an 'r.' I'm dying even as I type this. At any rate, we put out a catcher thing, which he promptly ignored, and thus we simply let the food source dry up. Anne and I mourned the loss of our bird friends who didn't find our yard nearly so interesting to hang out in without food awaiting them in the feeder. And our other "friend" also disappeared after a few days. We all breathed a sigh of relief, and I sprang into action in full-out librarian mode to find a solution to our little problem. A friend and fellow bird-lover suggested that it may have been our bird food. Switch up to a much less interesting blend of seed, and though we wouldn't get the same variety of birds to our feeder, we also wouldn't attract the scheming vermin. Done.

I waited a full week, missing our Cardinal pals the whole time. Another several days. Then Anne and I cautiously put the innocuous seed mix into the feeder for a trial run. The birds sniffed it right out and were delighted. We welcomed them with open arms. My heart sang at seeing the Cardinals, Blue Jays and House Finches once again pecking away in our yard. The feeder emptied, and I left it alone for another full week. I wanted to assure that the ground eating birds ate all of the excess seed before filling the feeder again.  The week passed, and so last night Anne and I filled the feeder again. Cautious optimism was alive in my heart.

As I came out of the shower yesterday after dinner, I saw the female Cardinal lounging in our backyard from out the back window. I beamed at her and headed upstairs to get dressed.

Several minutes later, I'm still upstairs getting ready for our evening of popcorn eating, movie watching and knitting when Anne bursts in:

"MOM! The Mommy Cardinal is out there!"

Indeed. Adore that Mommy Cardinal.

"And a sparrow!"

Not nearly so interesting, but I have no beef with the sparrows. They can't help it that they lack the pizazz of other birds. It's just the way God made them. ;-)

"And our mouse friend!"

"Yeah, and...Wait, WHAT?!"

I dashed to the window in disbelief. Indeed, the little *#!&er was out there helping himself, without a care in the world, blissfully unaware of the heartbreak that his presence was causing in our house. Because this second little foray made it official - we cannot have a traditional bird feeder. The urban neighborhood that we live in just does not make for the right conditions. I think that poor Anne was hoping that by elevating his status to a friendly one, we would let him stay and peacefully co-exist with the birds, but of course, NO, NO NO. We must once again dry up the food source. And then we cannot refill it.

I was teary-eyed watching the Cardinal pair last night before I went to bed. We probably will still occasionally see them after this, but only fleetingly and it won't be the same. I think we'll pick up a hummingbird feeder the next time we're at the hardware store, as they eat nectar, which as a liquid will not pose a rodent problem. Anne is excited about that, so we'll give it a go. I'll still in mourning over the loss of the other birds, but carry on I must.

*sniffle*

I need to be cheered up. Who has an amusing story to share in the comments? :-)

Tea Time with Tiffany #56 - Summer novenas, holiday knitting, birds & blogging: What do all these things have in common?!

Hello all, and welcome to a jam packed edition of:

Today I talk about July novenas, my summer knit-along progress and holiday crafting list, some drama at our backyard bird feeder, and why I started (and keep on) blogging. Join me!




**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe via Feedburner in your podcatcher of choice. Intro music is "Tea Ceremony" from PlayonLoop.com

Items mentioned in this episode:

July novena page.
Pray More Novenas, for monthly novena emails.
Busy, crafty plans - The 0fficial Christmas in July 2016 post!
The Sibley Guide to Birds

Are you praying any summer novenas? Planning your Christmas crafting list, or otherwise crafting anything new this summer? Do you have bird feeder advice, please, I beg you. :0 And do you enjoy writing? What is your motivation in doing so? I'd love to hear from you!

Spring has sprung

Signs that spring is officially here:

(1) I'm no longer wearing my cute LLBean Storm Chasers to and from work and have started wearing my Mary Janes home.

(2) A transitional fleece jacket has replaced my heavy winter wool coat.

(3) I'm starting to knit with cotton.

(4) A crow flew by me today with some straw-like stuff in her beak. At least this year she wasn't bound for our house. Last year we had a mourning dove nest in one of our windowsills and house sparrows in our attic vent. It's like there was a "SYMPATHETIC BREEDING FEMALE" aura that they all sensed.

(5) I'm coveting yarn in spring greens and pinks. Because I already don't have enough yarn. *snorts*

(6) Our tulips are starting to come up.

I love spring. Such a fresh, sweet feeling to it.

The birds tell me that spring is here...

...but it's hard for me to tell, since I can hardly see straight I'm so tired. Last night was another Hall of Famer "We'll Torture Her By Talking About This Night Until She Grows Up And Has Her Own Kids." BECAUSE THEN SHE WILL UNDERSTAND.

I knew it was coming though, because she screamed for the entire evening, and it wasn't just her regular "I'm tired!" cry. It was much more intense than that, and I knew it had to be her teeth. Plus, she's soaking whole sleepers with her drool.

So, then the night commenced, and we won't dwell on it, lest I slip down into a sleep-deprived depression. We'll just say it was bad. Real bad. Luckily, Mike and I have navigated these types of nights before, and so we were still speaking to each other this morning. Sleep deprivation brings out the worst in us, like it does most people, I would think.

And so this morning, as I drove onto campus, I saw a robin. Precious little guy! His arrival means that surely, spring is right around the corner. And so is sleep. Please God.

I have belly dance tonight, and somehow I have to manage to drag my pathetic self there because we have a performance on Sunday. How I'm going to manage to dance when I can barely climb the stairs is still a mystery, but somehow, I'll work it out.

Here's hoping that when I post on Monday, I'm perky and well rested. :)

Everybody is nesting these days

This morning, as I readied for work, I heard a bunch of commotion out of one of our bedroom windows. I'd been hearing a lot of cooing out there, but I didn't think too much of it. Some pigeons passing by, most likely.

Eventually, I noticed that the level of fluttering coming from that area could not possibly be from a fly by. I can't see fully out that window because there is a privacy panel on it, since the houses are so close together where we live. But there is a little space near the edge that I can peek through. So I peeked.

A mourning dove peeked back.

Mike had forgotten to lower the screen when he took our a/c units out last year, and two doves had taken up residence in the window, beginning a nest. I felt bad, but we had to shoo them out. We don't want to live *quite* that close to nature. Plus, the a/c unit will have to go back in there.

In terms of our nest, Mike is painting the nursery this weekend, and we have a very cute Berber carpet going in there next Tuesday. After that, we'll get the furniture all moved, and I can finally move the baby's "stuff" out of the closet and start arranging it in the room. I also have to wash all the little clothes. Perhaps next weekend. But I'm getting a bit freaked out - I only have a few weeks to go!

And it definitely feels it, physically. Overall, I still feel pretty darn good. But I'm nearly 37 weeks now, so the inevitable comes into play. My ankles and fingers swell very easily now, and sciatica is my constant companion. So is the bathroom, but that's a whole 'nother story.

The baby is a really good size now, and I'm feeling tons of pressure. My body is getting ready whether I'm ready or not!

Our friends, the Northern Cardinal

We've had some cute birds at our feeder lately. This time of the year, many chicks have been "fledged" from the nest, and are learning lifelong coping skills from their parents, to employ once fall arrives :) We have a family of Northern Cardinals that nest in a tree behind our yard that we enjoy year after year. And they stay all year; so even in the winter, when we put seed out, they come to eat.
I saw their fledglings last year, I believe in August, and by that time, they had all already gotten their adult plumage. The bird at left is a male. The females look completely different. They are buff colored, and have distinctive orange beaks. But they still have that tuft on their head, like all cardinals. Precious :)

So anyway, the other evening, I was cleaning up after dinner, and I hear a bunch of racket in our yard. Fledglings of all kinds are LOUD. They are very much like human children in this way :) They squawk up a storm, wanting their parents' attention and for them to feed them. So, I looked out, and what did I see?

I mean, did you ever? At first I thought it was a female, due to the lack of red feathers. So I ran to get my binoculars. Once my binoculars were trained on the scene, I noticed red feathers growing in on his belly. A baby boy! He was making a bunch of noise, and his father was rushing around, grabbing seed to pop in his mouth.

Suddenly, I heard more noise from the opposite direction. On the other side of the landscaping there was another fledgling, truculently making his presence known. This one too, was a growing boy. The father was racing between the two of them, trying to pacify them both. It was as if I could see a bubble over his head, that said "How on earth did I get stuck with afternoon duty all by myself?!"

The joys of parenting :)

Henry updates, and a cute bird story

My little boy is getting so big, isn't he? Precious dumpling. He looks more and more like a big boy everyday, and not a toddler anymore. He still has stupendously kissable cheeks, but his chubby belly is no more; he can wear jeans now! As a baby and toddler, we never put jeans on him because he was just too, well big, for them to be comfortable on him :) He's a darling.

I'm feeling a bit better on the school issue; I ordered his school supplies kit yesterday, so he's pretty much set for the public elementary school in September. Let me complain about the school supplies kit for a moment - $56! Granted, you could purchase the items on your own, but I don't think it would ultimately be any cheaper and it would certainly be more of a hassle. The school gives you this list of, I swear it, a *hundred* different items that you have to send your child to school with. 2 boxes of this specific type of crayons, an art smock, 3 glue sticks, 1 box of colored pencils, this specific type of construction paper... the list goes on and on. Mike and I agreed that just ordering the kit through them would be infinitely less of a near occasion of sin than going to the craft store and laboring to find all of this stuff. Once again, school was not like this when I went to school. *feels old*

At any rate, this will be a learning year for all of us. I'm definitely open to Catholic school should we not feel that the public school is a good fit. I need to gather a lot of information though, about both the public school *and* the Catholic schools, so it will be good for me. And of course, both Mike and I need to be on board for a decision to pay for Catholic school, and with him still being in school full-time next year, he's just not comfortable with the financial commitment at this time. Especially given that our public elementary school is considered the jewel of the district. I'll just pray that if Catholic school is the route we ultimately discern is best, we will both come to that conclusion and agree to pursue it. I'm sure there will be more to come on that.

At any rate, our Henry is such a precious soul. We just want what is best for him. He took this picture of me knitting a few weeks ago:


A budding photographer, perhaps?

Ok, onto the bird story. Last weekend, I noticed this odd looking bird in our backyard. Now, we're diligent about keeping food in our feeder, because, well, we love birds. However, we see very few interesting birds back there. We live in what I call an "urban suburb," just over the city border. Occasionally we get some Blue Jays and some Downy Woodpeckers. We do have a Northern Cardinal family that are regular visitors, and we've had a single American Goldfinch. We do get Dark-Eyed Juncos in the winter, which are pretty much our crown jewels. Ok, anyway, we usually just get House Sparrows, Common Grackles, American Robin, European Starlings, and an occasional Black-Capped Chickadee.

So, the odd-looking bird. Brown all over, kind of rumpled looking. Sort of bland. I couldn't really place him. But what struck me is that it appeared that he couldn't fly. He was just standing really funny. This was confirmed with about 5 minutes of constant surveillance when I saw him try to fly and fail. Immediately, I started to worry. An injured bird will pretty much quickly get gobbled up by any number of predators. Hawks, other large birds, cats... the list goes on. There was really nothing I could do for him, so I just kept rooting that his issue would resolve and he'd be able to take flight.

That evening, he was still out there, struggling :( And I noticed a large Common Grackle eyeing him from the bird feeder. My nurturing instinct went into overdrive, and as I watched, the Grackle went over, and to my horror, tried to pick the injured bird up with its claws. I pictured the Grackle cackling as it carried the injured bird away, to be ravaged. I shrieked and ran downstairs. By time I got down there, the Grackle had backed off, since the injured bird was making quite a racket squawking up a storm. All evening long I kept vigil, and I felt just awful. This poor little bird! He may not be particularly attractive or exotic, but I wanted him to make it. He took up refuge near the garage and the bird feeder. Suddenly, a group of Grackles flew down. My hackles went up. One of the Grackles picked up some seed in its mouth and approached the injured bird. Immediately, injured bird squawked as if someone were threatening it with a hack saw. As I watched in alarm, the Grackle went over and... popped the seed in its mouth.

OOhhhh... This Grackle was the bird's MOTHER. This was a juvenile Common Grackle! It must have fallen from the nest early, and poor Mommy Grackle was having the equivalent of a bird heart attack trying to either get the baby back in the nest or comfortably nourished and protected down on the ground. The baby chewed up the seed, and Mommy Grackle chased away the other birds that had come to feed on the seed. Suddenly, I regarded the adult Grackle with affection. I related to her as a mother :)

After the sun set, I didn't see the baby again. I'm hoping that he was able to stick it out until his feathers developed enough for him to fly, or the mother managed to get him back in the nest. That's the version of the story I choose to believe, anyway. Poor little thing.

Anyway, I'm off tomorrow to accompany Hank's pre-k class to a local amusement park, and Monday I'm taking off because my in-laws will be in town. So, you'll hear from me again Tuesday. Have a blessed weekend!

Spring migration...

I've been enjoying the increased level of bird activity lately in our neighborhood. Over the winter, we will continue to see Northern Cardinals, House Sparrows, and we also get Dark Eyed Juncos here that winter in this region from their summer home in the arctic. Come spring though, suddenly our community becomes alive with American Robins, Common Grackles, Black Capped Chickadees, and Blue Jays. I've always liked robins, despite the fact that they are fairly commonplace throughout the country. They just look so confident, no? They have a very cute stance. And children love them, including Hank, because they are so distinguishable with their bright red breasts. I love childrens' sweet and innocent take on birding:

"Mommy, wook, a WOBIN!! Why is he hopping away, Mommy? I wanted to hold him."

Everyone is nesting right now. Here on campus, we have a number of resident Red Tailed Hawks, and these are beautiful birds. They had a nest stationed on a light post on the practice track, and this winter it was taken down for fear of it falling and hurting someone. These are *big* birds, and as you might imagine, they make *big* nests for *big* babies. Thus, this year, the mated pair is hard at work assembling a brand new nest right in the exact same spot. These are routine-oriented birds. I think this is why I like them so much - we relate to each other well.

At any rate, every time I walk out to my car, I spot a hawk flying by with a twig in its mouth. And the funny thing is, all of the smaller birds are afraid of them, because, well, the hawk could eat them for a mid-afternoon snack in the blink of an eye. But right now, the hawks aren't so much focused on munching on pigeons; rather, they are in clear NEST-BUILDING MODE. This is very reminiscent of your Catholic Librarian in the months leading up to Henry's birth. I was a woman on fire.

So anyway, amusing little scenes inevitably result. A gigantic red-tailed hawk is busily gathering small branches in its beak, halo perched firmly on head. Meanwhile, a nearby robin or blue jay nearly has a heart attack sending out an alarm cry to alert every other bird on campus. Robins, in particular, just won't let it go if a hawk is within a mile of it. They're going to be hoarse by the end of the season.

In a few months, the new little ducklings will start to come out with their parents. We have Canada Geese here, and Mallards. They're adorable. Unfortunately, they are very prone to being hawk food :( I worry for them quite a bit. In my mind, the hawk's instinct to protect its own young should prevent it from eating anybody elses. This makes perfect sense to me, but the birds don't seem to agree.

Spring is in the air...

The other day, I woke up and heard a very distinctive bird call: that of a breeding male black-capped chicadee. It sounds just like someone whistling in a very come hither sort of way, and you'll only hear them making this specific call during mating season. I got all excited when I heard it: spring is coming!

Chickadees, in particular, are just precious little sweethearts. They are actually friendly; they're usually not frightened to come near people, and will land very close to you. They will happily eat the seeds in our feeder while we also work in the yard. Very, very cute birds. And the mating whistle is just too cute. It just screams: "llaaaadddiiieeessss! I'm here making a nest! See how fluffy and rich-hued my feathers are? Want to come join? We'll make beautiful chicks. *disarming smile*"

As is usually the case in Western New York, the instant the temperature gets up above 40 degrees, everyone (including your Catholic Librarian) starts walking around outside with short sleeves and no jacket. In fact, I just did that for a full 25 minutes while I took my daily walk around campus. It felt good, though I'm certain the rest of the country thinks we're quite odd.

Tonight I'm making a new dinner entailing sauteed shrimp and wild rice, and if it's good, I'll post the recipe tomorrow...

Right, I just discovered that I sent an email message to an entire group of my colleagues that I meant to send just to our student assistant. Clearly, it is time for me to head home and have a glass of wine. Heading now...

The cuteness of baby things...

The campus that I work at has some new residents - baby peregrine falcon chicks. These birds are an endangered species in our state, and thus the Department of Environmental Conservation is keeping a close eye on the well-being of these particular bird babies, and they came to "band" them, ensuring that their movement can be tracked as they grow. As you can see from the photo to the left, appearing in our local paper, the chicks were pretty unhappy with this whole process. I love the look on the little falcon's face. He's clearing saying: "What the *!@#! You just *wait* until MY MOTHER gets back!" And a formidable foe his mother would be.

Skilled hunters, these guys are. And they're not shy about it. As the article notes - even the babies have razor sharp talons. And they bite.

But baby anything gets my squealing instinct kicked into high gear. Birds, dogs, kids...you know what I mean. My Henry, at 3 and a half, is so cute, I can hardly stand it. Of course, as all parents can relate to, there are times when I can hardly stand to be in the same room with his high-pitched whining, but that's just part of parenting. The things little kids do only get cuter as they age, I swear it. Some recent examples:

"Mommy." *Henry rushes over, completely naked* *points to nipple* "What's this for?"

"Mommy, why do I have a skeleton? Can I take it out?" (Cute follow-up being me spotting Hank and Mike's afternoon reading material next to each other on the coffee table when I got home from work: The latest issue of Sports Illustrated and the Scholastic Honey Bee book of the month, Understanding the Human Body).

I love how 3 year olds don't understand contractions quite yet: "Mommy, do you have M&M's? Why do you don't?"

"Mommy, why that robin fly away?! I wanted to pet him!" In Hank's mind, how could anything eschew such loving affection?

We're bound for a trip this weekend to visit Mike's relatives. Should be fun, but consumed by family picnics that inevitably turn out to be overwhelming and exhausting. I'll survive. Hopefully, there will be wine. Oh, and I'm taking tomorrow off to continue my maniacal painting project. You'll get an update.

New bird!

To me, that is. Yesterday, I caught wind of a bird I've never seen before spotted on campus. Naturally, I grabbed my binoculars and dragged my good friend and colleague Chris with me, since he's much better at bird spotting than I am :) The bird we were looking for is an American Kestrel:

Cute, huh? Don't be fooled. This guy can rip small birds and other creatures to shreds in mid-air. Kestrels are actually in the falcon family, and are skilled hunters. But I admit, I find the picture very cute too :) Anyway, we head out there, and catch a fleeting glimpse of a female Kestrel scaring the absolute living daylights out of a flock of pigeons. I actually once saw a pigeon meet an unfortunate end at the claws of a Cooper's Hawk:

Just consider the Cooper's Hawk the larger cousin of our Kestrel. These are formidable birds of prey. Any pigeon just hangin' out on campus is in danger of being someone's next meal all.the.time. Plus, let's face it, pigeons aren't very bright. They coo right along until a dark shadow appears atop their heads. Anyway, I digress. We briefly spot the Kestrel, but by time we turn around (we had to drive; our campus is so ridiculously laid out) Miss Kestrel was no where to be found. Naturally. It's like they know I'm looking for them.

Later, I'm exiting campus, heading home. Up on a lamp post, Miss Kestrel is casually hanging out, waiting for some pigeons to cluelessly happen by. I nearly drove my car into a snow bank trying to get a closer look. She was quite dainty; you know, for a raptor. Very small for a falcon. But lovely. And scary looking, to be sure. I enjoy looking for her now each time I drive past that area of campus on my way home. Even birds of prey are my friends :)

My Florida journey

As I've mentioned in the past, in contrast to most everyone else I've ever met, especially in the area in which I'm located in the Northeast, I'm not a huge fan of central Florida. I will grant, I live in a place in which winters are long and cold, and we are on the receiving end of a lot of snow. If it's not a foot or more of accumulation, it's not even newsworthy. But I'm just going to out myself: I like snow. I like the winter. My wedding anniversay is January 8th; this says a lot about me. I love the stark, barren beauty of the winter and then appreciate the first buds of spring. I'm a seasons girl; I never want to live in a place where the weather is the same year round. Particularly central Florida, although the weather is not the same there year round. The weather there is either pleasant or it's excruciating. Not a lot of in between. Plus, there's altogether too many strip plazas in central Florida, and not enough sidewalks. Doesn't anybody walk anywhere down there? I'm thinking not, judging by the sheer number of golf carts that nearly mowed me down. But I digress; Florida obviously isn't bad, it just isn't for the Catholic Librarian.

However, one thing that I truly appreciate about Florida is the birds. I saw some fabulous birds there, things that I would never get to see in the Northeast. So, allow me to pictorially elaborate.

We went to the beach for lunch one day (a 70 mile round trip journey; this is fairly commonplace when we visit this region :) and I can't say I was looking forward to it. Being in the car that much makes the Catholic Librarian nauseous. But anyway, after lunch, we walked down to the beach. I saw some shorebirds there that simply made my day. The first, I expected. They were Laughing Gulls:

I know, I know, all gulls look the freaking same, don't they? These guys actually usually look identifiably different. When they're breeding, in the summer, they have dark hoods: Where I'm from, we see a lot of gulls, but not these Laughing Gulls, so I'm always happy to glimpse them. So, I'm standing on the beach, admiring the gulls, when my little eye spies some small birds down the shore line. A quick look in my binoculars seals the deal: these are birds that I've never seen before. Translation: I mumble a quick explanation to Mike and my in-laws and race down the shore line like a maniac, dodging pokey people in my wake. I get down near the bird flock, and attack with my binoculars. What I see are the cutest birds I've ever seen before in my *life*. They were Semipalmated Plovers: I mean, did you ever?! They were so cute, I actually squealed at the sight of their sheer adorableness. They were pecking at the sand, and whenever the tide rolled in, the whole flock of them would gather their feathers up, and scamper up the sand away from the water as fast as their skinny little legs would carry them. They were so cute I could hardly stand it.

Seriously. Who could resist this face? So, as you can tell, I loved the plovers. Suddenly, beneath me I sensed a scampering. I looked down to see a smaller bird hustling around me. Being an amateur birder, I'm easily overwhelmed by multiple new species. I just remember thinking to myself "is he different? I think he's different!!" I immediately (like the true nerd that I am) whipped out my little birding notebook to write down all his details for later identification. He was smaller and lighter, and was clearly on a mission in the sand. His skinny little legs were pumping overtime as he hustled about. He wasn't bothered by the tide like those wimpy plovers :) I eventually deduced that this bird was a Western Sandpiper:I liked him *very* well indeed. I think the plovers were my favorite though; I wanted to pick one up, kiss it, and tuck it into my purse for transportation home. I'm thinking airport security wouldn't have liked this too much.

Another bird that I see each time I go to central Florida are Sandhill Cranes. These are magnificently graceful large birds that actually mate for life.

When one is eating or otherwise distracted, his/her mate very stoicly keeps watch. They're truly beautiful birds to observe.

I also caught glimpses of a few wood warbler species. Yellow-rumped Warbler:

And the Palm Warbler:

These guys are tough to pin down. They're teeny tiny, and constantly bounce around in leafy trees, frustrating Catholic librarians everywhere and causing them to swear in a most unladylike manner. But your Catholic Librarian isn't easily dissuaded, so damn it, those birds were going to get in the purview of her binoculars. Truly, I enjoyed it. I'm working madly to hone my skills before the big spring migration, when once again you will be subjected to lengthy posts about birds.

The nerdy Catholic Librarian prepares to travel...

For most normal people, preparing to go on vacation means that they pack sunscreen, their bathing suit, and put their carry-on toiletries into those ridiculous little 3 oz. containers and subseqnent ziploc bag that the airline industry subjects us to. What does the Catholic Librarian do, you ask?

(1) Go to the public library and obtain a small army of romance and religious fiction, and Catholic non-fiction to read.
(2) Charge up my beloved iPod Nano, Max, (Mike claims I love Max more than him) and synch him up with some new French music Shauna'h gave me.
(3) Use super speedy librarian powers to find a free rosary podcast through iTunes, and subscribe happily. I am now loaded up with the Sorrowful Mysteries.
(4) Refresh my Vatican Radio podcast list so that I'll have a few to listen to at the airport; this, of course, is assuming that Hank is unconscious or something. Otherwise, how on earth would I be able to listen to anything?
(5) Make sure that my binoculars and east coast bird reference volume are in the "to be packed" pile. I've spotted many a snowy egret from the car on the way back from the airport.

So, I think I'm ready. I'd rather sleep in the same clothes for three straight days then not have a book with me or anything to listen to. I shudder at the thought.

Cute bird anecdote

I'm still miserably sick, but I observed a very entertaining bird spectacle this morning that I thought was worth writing about. I was proceeding out of the house this morning, naturally bundled like Nanook of the North. Did I mention that I was sick? And that I'm miserable? Right. So anyway, Hank is up ahead playing in the drivers seat of my parked car. As I head out, I hear some pretty pissed off sounding crows caw-ing like there is no tomorrow. I'm sure you're all familiar with our friends, the American Crow:




I look up, and there is an angry gaggle of 3 crows in the tree in our neighbors yard. Crows always sound like they have a lot on their minds, but this morning in particular, these guys sounded downright surly. They were all bunched together too, like they were having an emotion-filled meeting about something. Then I noticed *it*. On a branch below them, sat a giant, giant ass hawk. I soon discerned that it was a Red-tailed Hawk:

These are formidable looking birds. BIG. And as you might expect, he was pretty nonchalant about the presence of our friends the crows. While they caw-ed their little black heads off, he was doing the bird equivalent of calmly inspecting his manicure. You could see the crows gather, confer:

"dude, WTF!! He's in *our* tree. We *need* to get rid of him!!"

The crows continued on, undeterred. They were actually aiming their little beaks with the angry caws, right in the hawk's face. At this point, I'm standing in my driveway, just staring up at the birds. It was like getting free Discovery Channel. A few crows in a nearby tree caw-ed in sympathy.

Finally, some action. The crows got together and drew straws. The one that got the short one gathered himself, and flew over to perch next to the hawk, caw-ing courageously the whole way. At long last, the hawk appeared to actually notice their existence. He shifted, and then lifted his considerable wingspan and flew off. The crows banded together and flew after him, escorting him out of the neighborhood in satisfaction of a job well done.

I rushed, pink cheeked, to the car, to tell Hank all about the birdies. Suddenly, I hear the crows again. I hurry back to the driveway, and what do I see? The hawk, perched with a smirk of condescension plastered on his face, right back in the same tree. The crows are gathered nearby, and they're frantic:

"What the hell?! Damn it!"

By this point, they are emboldened and angry. Multple crows fly right in the hawk's face and caw. He gets up, flies away, and comes right back. By this time, Hank is in the driveway with me:

"Birdies! Oh, they no like that big birdie, do they mommy?"

I had to leave, so I bundled Hank into the car. As I pulled away, I spotted the hawk securely perched on the tree, ignoring the crows, while they caw-ed away nearby. I was seriously enamored with the entire interaction.

Winged Migration

I recently viewed a film called Winged Migration, a chronicling of migratory birds on a full cycle of their spring and fall migrations. It was one of those movies that I'm still thinking about weeks after I saw it, which means that it touched something in me very deeply. So, bear with me while I debrief :)

A handful of bird species were highlighted, including the arctic tern, the African white pelican, some storks and cranes, Canada geese, snow geese, barnacle geese and absolutely gorgeous red-breasted geese. The film includes very little narration, yet keeps the viewer engaged for about an hour and a half, just observing birds flying, interacting, breeding and generally surviving.

The most fixating element of the film is the quality of the footage. The camera appears to be strapped to the back of one of the geese, you feel so close to them. You can actually see their little faces as they fly. This is going to sound strange, but the geese, in particular, have *very* cute faces. And they look so earnest as they fly. They're taking their job very seriously :) They fly and form their giant V patterns with the utmost concentration.

So, throughout the film, there are events that made me smile, and some, of course, that made me cry. The director does a good job leaving the most upsetting things to the imagination and off camera, but still. In particular:

1. Scene in which a caged Canada goose hears fellow compatriots flying overhead and honks to them. He tries to fly away and join them, and when he can't, I swear his face actually falls. He watches them fly away with a look of utter dejection.

2. Baby bird of some kind nested in the grass, about to be run over by a tractor.

3. Red-breasted geese waddling through a toxic plant of some kind. One of them gets stuck in muck and is trapped as his friends get spooked and fly away, leaving him behind, panicked.

4. Baby penguin gets lured away from his parents and attacked by some nasty ass scavenger bird and...well, you know :(

5. White bird (tern?) has a broken wing and is abandoned by his flock on an African beach. Hideous looking crabs chase him down and he is powerless to fly away :(

The two that disturbed me the most were 4 and 5. Baby anythings these days make me think of my own son. Everything changes when you become a parent. Not that I ever would have enjoyed seeing a tiny chickling harmed, mind you. But now, the baby penguin and hook beaked predator in my mind become the cherubic Hank and some vandal trying to rip him from my protective arms. Someone whose very heart I would rip out with my bare hands should they attempt to hurt my baby. The penguin parents also tried to fight back, but Mr. Nasty Ass easily pushed them away. I swear it, on a scale of 1 to 10, this bird's face slappability factor was a 15.

And then that poor white shore bird :( It was pathetic watching him struggle, knowing exactly what those awful crabs wanted to do. It was then that I wondered to myself how the filmmakers restrained themselves in these situations. If I were anywhere in the vicinity, there's a zero percent chance of the following NOT happening: me, with a baseball bat, swinging at the crabs shouting "back off, you little f*ckers!" This of course ignores the fact that these particular crabs were anything but little. These were some gigantic crustaceans. They probably would have turned their attention from the bird to my leg, but never the mind.

I dwelt on these scenarios for days, weeks even. Despite the happy sequences of parent birds cavorting with their little ones, baby loons riding on their mothers backs, even a wild mackaw escaping from being caged and sold through use of his beak and sheer ingenuity, my mind wandered back to the vulnerability of these animals. All they are doing is minding their own business, not bothering their human friends in the least, trying to survive and raise their young. And all of these terrible things can befall them.

Well. Then I saw the "Making of" featurette on the DVD. I'm still mulling over my thoughts on what I learned there. As I mentioned, of course I wondered how they filmed the birds so closely. Turns out they did something called "imprinting." They raised the featured geese and company from the egg, bonding with them and getting them used to the noise of the equipment. In particular, that's how they got those unbelievable flying segments. The birds allowed them to fly right in their formation with an ultralite, a small flying machine with mounted camera. This information really tainted my view that these birds were filmed "in the wild." For instance, for the African footage, they actually flew the relevant birds to Senegal in an *airplane*. This film was just much more staged then I anticipated

In other respects, the "Making of" showed a fascinating side angle of the filmmakers interaction and relationship with the birds. When the pelicans fell ill with a parasite, they nursed them back to health. In one amusing scene, a handler is trying to get a food-boycotting pelican to accept a fish:

Pelican: snaps pouch closed tightly and looks away.

Handler: waves fish in front of mouth.

Pelican: "no, I really don't think so." Moves face in other direction.

The bottom line is, the birds were mostly domesticated, at least in my view. Very sweet the way they were taken care of. And I loved seeing their ability to interact with people. But it wasn't what I realized I was seeing when I viewed the film.

Here's the good news: many of those cry worth scenes mentioned above were totally staged. The baby bird was rescued from the tractor. As was the white tern from the invading crabs. And the red-breasted goose from the muck. In fact, that wasn't even mud. They planted him in some handmade concoction just to film that scene. Unfortunately, I think the baby penguin situation actually happened :(

So, I'm still dwelling on my feelings on all this. I understand that the ability to film animals in the wild is limited in scope and the footage may not be so gripping. So, maybe we need to accept some "staging" to make for a compelling film. I still definitely enjoyed the film. I got a closeup view of some beautiful birds and learned about some of their migration habits. Good stuff. Very, very thought-provoking.

"I feel old" moment of the weekend...

Chris takes out his portable CD player with speakers to try and entice a Pileated Woodpecker to humor us and show itself. He has a CD of relevant bird calls. (The woodpecker didn't end up taking the bait - he was probably watching us from a nearby tree, positively snorting with bemusement).One of his students looks at the CD player, absolutely befuddled, and asks "they still make those things?!" Oh man.

I remember the days of making mix tapes for your friends. So, when I was in high school, this meant dance mixes such as "Groove is in the Heart"and "Macarena." Good heavens.

Hip drops and bird sightings...

It was a busy weekend. I've been excellent on my diet (running on the weekend really seems to spur things along) and have lost 5.2 pounds so far. *heavens rejoice* I still have 5 full pounds to get down to what I weighed pre-Hank. There are many, many things that will never be as they were pre-Hank (all mothers know exactly what I'm talking about; anybody else anxiously awaiting the next Victoria's Secret semi-annual sale?) but I'm hoping my weight won't be a casualty.

Anyway, my weekend started off nicely with my Friday evening bellydancing class. I arrived to the community center where our class is held to the happy sound of coins jangling. I quickly changed into my half soles and green hip scarf for the warm-up and new movement portion of the class. We learned how to do these chest slide things with a head drop. Confusing sounding I know, but it's the best description I can come up with :) Then we practiced our routine. It's a real slow tune from vol. 2 of the Bellydance Superstars collection. Per one of my earlier posts, you know that it involves much use of the veil. Needless to say, I'm very, very nervous about the fact that our Hafla is *this* Saturday. We're much improved, but I still feel we (translation: *I*) need a lot of practice. I forget my sways very easily, and the envelope is still killin' me. Plus, our post-envelope circle looks emaciated, because we're all still so dazed from finding our way out of our veils. I also still need to finalize my 16 count solo. *heartbeat accelerates* *scared* I may practice with some of my classmates this week, which should help to calm me.

Anyway, Saturday morning I accompanied my wonderful friend Chris and his Introduction to Birdwatching students to the Iroquois Wildlife Refuge for some morning bird sightings. We had a *fabulous* time. We all carpooled, and Chris and I were in a car with two of his students. I suppose it was a compliment that I had a hard time convincing one of them that I was a real adult and wasn't also a student in the class :) We arrived with lots of good natured snickering going on amongst the students. We saw a couple of pretty things at first: American Goldfinch, some flocks of Canada Geese. Then, we stopped at an area of the refuge called Cayuga Pool. Some calm looking ducks were there, Wood Ducks, and a Green Winged Teal. Interesting, to be sure. Suddenly, Chris spots the mother lode: an American Bald Eagle. A shout goes up, and suddenly the air is filled with excitement. Binoculars are yanked onto faces, fingers are pointed. My heart in my throat, I find the eagle in my binoculars. I watch as he flies over the pond in front of us, scaring the absolute crap out of every other bird in a mile wide radius. Whole flocks of normal-sized birds spot the eagle and flee in terror. There is suddenly an abundance of bird life to behold :)

It was the first time I have ever seen a Bald Eagle. When I got him in the binoculars, I teared up. He perched on a branch, and Chris got him in the lens of his scope. Everyone took turns looking, me waiting impatiently and wanting to mow the students down so that I could see him before he flew away. When it's my turn, I step up to see him sitting majestically on a bare branch, clearly surveying *his* territory. King of the pond, no doubt about it. It was truly a memorable moment. Later, we saw a Hairy Woodpecker, some large birds of prey: a Northern Harrier (my first!) and an Osprey, a Marsh Wren flitting in some tall grass, and a really fabulous looking long-necked water bird called an American Bittern. Hard to top that eagle, though.

Now, it's Monday. I have lots of bellydancing to do this week, and classes to teach at work, sigh. Lots more World Civ. in my future, I'm afraid. I missed Bridezillas last night out of pure love for my husband, who wanted to watch the Steelers on Sunday Night Football. But I promise an update when I catch the re-run :) I *did* catch a bit of a show on WE called Amazing Wedding Cakes. If you think that there can't be much drama about such a mundane detail as a cake, you would be wrong...