I’m trying to get out on my bicycle at least a little every weekend, even when I don’t have a great deal of time. Today’s ride wasn’t all that long, but I got to see some barn swallow babies at a shelter house.
Hungry, hungry hatchlings:
No rest for new parents!
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Today’s walk was an early evening affair for me. I came upon some sparrows, ensconced in what I’m sure they believed to be a private communications chamber. But they were spilling all their secrets to me.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FeXkK8HXHYM
Would they have been so chatty had they known a human was listening in?
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I was walking home from work this evening when I heard a cacophony, a racket, an avian hullabaloo. I tried not to think Hitchockian thoughts as I wondered what was up with those birds. So what is up with those birds?
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We are in a two-day lull between brutal heat waves, so I seized the day and took a little bike ride this morning. I made a brief stop near a creek to drink some water (from my water bottle, not the creek) and heard an unmistakable sound, the first one in this video.
I’m not well acquainted with many birdcalls, but I do recognize a chickadee when I hear one. Has a more adorable looking bird ever existed? When I was pregnant with my second child, I started calling my baby Chickadee as a placeholder name until he was born. I don’t remember the reason I latched onto this particular nickname, but my fondness for the little critters remains.
I looked up when I heard the call. Aha!
I choose to believe it was calling out “Happy Juneteenth” in its own way.
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I woke up with a headache and had to chase it away before doing much today. I had many plans that are as yet undone, but so it goes. I did get mostly rid of noggin nuisance by mid-afternoon, so I got out for a walk, always good medicine.
I witnessed some neighborhood birds convening a meeting. What is all that chatter about? Are they making plans? Exchanging information? Or just gossiping? I wonder.
Even with most of the leaves gone, urban wildlife is able to hide remarkably well. I heard a lot of movement in the brushy area by the side of the road as I walked. I spotted a few squirrels, which all ran off before I could snap any photos.
Then there was a whole group of chickadees. I craved a photo of at least one, but hoped for the entire gathering. They kept flitting behind branches every time I pointed my camera and I got nothing. Amazing how quickly they can vanish from sight. Dare I hope there are more creatures left than we think. Maybe they’re hiding until we’re gone.
The cardinal I saw wasn’t so shy, though. Does he hope his beauty will save him? Or is he just brave? Or clueless about humans? Whatever the case, I thank him for posing.
Nomadic Noesis 