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| The lobby of my new vet's office |
It's not a well known fact, and he might kill me for putting it on the Internet, but Mr. W is a closeted crazy bird man. It all started when he and his college sweetheart got a parrot. Whenever he tells stories about the parrot, he gets this nostalgic little love twinkle in his eye. And if we go somewhere where there are birds in cages, he gravitates toward them immediately. Like a cockatoo on sunflower seeds.
Although the birdiness of our new property didn't factor into the decision to buy it, it's kind of a fun perk—particularly given Mr. W's fancy for feathered friends.
I hung our hummingbird feeder last week and was disappointed when some of the birds came to check it out but seemed perplexed by what they were supposed to do with it. I realized the little tin flowers on it had faded, so I repainted them red and that seemed to do the trick.
I love hummingbirds. The helicopters of the avian world.
This morning, I looked outside and saw that some woodpeckers had discovered the newly exposed sections of our fence. We plan to build a walkway down to our lower yard at some point and Mr. W got so antsy the weekend we moved, he busted out the saw and cut the section where we intend to put the path.
I've never seen more than one woodpecker in the same place before. We used to get them in Hollywood occasionally, but only one at a time.
So I was really shocked when a third showed up. What would you call that? A gaggle of woodpeckers? A worple of woodpeckers? A ménage á pecker? It almost makes up for being one pecker short here during the week... Bah! Sorry couldn't resist.
I haven't snapped any pictures of them, but we also get lots of blue jays, crows, doves, and some other little grey and white birds that do a funny sort of dance when they walk on the grass.
When we first bought the house, my parents gave us a birdwatching book and a pair of binoculars as a gift. I guess it's time to break them out. It'll keep me busy in between pecker visits...
OMG I love pecker jokes.
ReplyDeleteMy dad has a saying he likes to use when the weather is too warm. "Hotter than a four-peckered rabbit." No idea where he got that gem...
DeleteYou best keep an eye on that Mr. W. There's a lonely, slightly crazy old man who lives in an apartment building on our street -- he walks around the neighborhood, pushing his grocery cart, which is covered with towels and who knows what, talking to his two macaws. Then, just the other day, we saw an entirely different older man walking down the street, talking to a much smaller bird, perched on his finger.
ReplyDeleteI think birds are beautiful, from afar (no plans to have any as pets, especially since Sweets finds the whole lot of them creepy). But, in the city, to appreciate any kind of bird means you have to put up with pigeons, the flying rats of the bird world. My uncle does and the area in their backyard that houses the bird feeder is really disgusting. I think we'll wait for our bird feeder until we move to the country, too.
Hahaha Mr. W would probably make friends with those creepers! Whenever I think of pigeons, I still think of Bert and Ernie. Sesame Street made pigeons seem so cute.
DeleteHey now, be nice, Wife. You married me don't forget.
ReplyDeleteMy love, your crazy bird-man-ness is the perfect balance to my crazy cat-lady-ness.
DeleteI love watching the different birds eat out of the bird feeder my mom bought me for Christmas!
ReplyDeleteIt's a form of meditation, I tell you.
DeleteMénage á pecker. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I'm just trying to keep up with all your wit on your blog and FB.
DeleteOkay, first, A+ for the pecker jokes!
ReplyDeleteSecond, my mom is a crazy bird watcher. I mean, crazy in a good way but still, whack-a-doodle to the unfamiliar observer. But the craziest thing about hanging around the bird crazies is you start to become one, too. I notice birds I never did before, I watch where they hang out in the neighborhood and when. It's weird and so interesting at the same time.
I love that you got into it! If you like animals, it's hard not to get sucked in. I'm always peeking out the window to see if the birds outside are different from ones I've seen in the past. Your mom needs to come hang out at my house...
DeleteNICE pictures! thanks for sharing! I love hummingbirds, I see them all the time, and I feel that sense of discovering something magical everytime. :)
ReplyDelete