of birds and, ummm, birds

[emmarytz]

To answer a question raised earlier, yes this thing is on. Somehow I just never have time to post these days. It would be great if there were some even vaguely interesting explanation but there's not. It's not like I'm doing a whole lot of anything--other than feeling guilty for my failure to do things including, sadly, things like update LJ. What

Comments

[alexfandra]

Thank you kindly. You are one of the very few people on my LJ friends' list who ever posts, and I need people to post stuff, because I get about 3 personal emails a week and nothing else of interest to look at on the Interwebz, so if you don't post regularly, I get so bored with the Interwebz that I wind up checking my work email when I'm not at work, and that is SO WRONG. Do you now understand the great responsibility you have for my continued happiness?

Wow, fledgling season is in turbo drive in your yard. Fantastic photos and yes, I did note the corrected thumbprint ID. The Anna's is especially delightful. My fingers are crossed that the Sharpies have eyes only for rodents and starlings.

Re: books: I actually read a book taken from the general fiction shelves at Third Place Books. Not a mystery, not a middle-grade book, not fantasy -- *general fiction*. Shocking, I know. I thought I ought to just check those shelves for anything of interest as an attempt at openmindedness. And was pleasantly surprised to find "A Guide to the Birds of East Africa", a novel by Nicolas Drayson. I highly recommend it -- a charming, reasonably short work about widower Mr Malik, who is secretly in love with widow Rose Mbikwa, leader of the weekly bird tours in Nairobi, and who is working his way up to inviting her to an annual ball when his old childhood nemesis, Harry Khan, turns up out of the blue and develops eyes for Rose himself. They have a group of betting-minded friends who put forth the notion that only one should ask Rose to the ball -- the one who can spot the most bird species in one week. Adventures and misadventures ensue, in this sometimes amusing, sometimes touching, always enchanting story.

And now I am returning to my exploration of the northern coast of Oregon.

[emmarytz]

Your book sounds almost Thirkellian, and I'm envious of you with your time on the Oregon coast. We're not heading that way until September.

Just for you I've just posted *again.* It's a new record.

My birding question for you is this: Why was the osprey flying all over the place while carrying a fish in its talons this afternoon? It visited the nest, which I swear has been empty this year, a few times with it but neither stayed at the nest nor left the fish there. No, instead it flew with the fish to some other tall poles and also soared around the sky while clutching this damned fish. It looked like it had promised it a long flight to see the sights. Did the Master Birders address the madness of ospreys? -em.

[alexfandra]

Book: probably more of a cross between Thirkell and Alexander McCall Smith.

I am all a-twitter by your 2nd post in such a short time. Remember when you tried to post birds and books every day? Perhaps a happy medium can be achieved somehow.

Osprey: no dang clue. If it had been a prey species, I'd naturally infer it was trying to lead potential nest predators astray with false clues, but who preys on Ospreys? Then again, I suppose something or other could be interested in Osprey chicks. Gulls, most likely. So that's my only guess -- it was trying to trick the stoopid gulls into thinking the nest was where it wasn't. The MB class did not address the Madness of Ospreys.