Meet me in New Jersey

Back in the fall of 2007, I agreed to go meet some fellow bird bloggers in Cape May, New Jersey.  The lineup was originally much larger, but in the end only four of us were there to meet on that beautiful shore.



Delia
Susan Merchant
Laura
and moi

I remember it being so strange, so awkward, to meet these people that I had only known through my computer screen up until then.  I had flown all the way to New Jersey to go birding with strangers??


 From that first meeting, from jokingly calling ourselves "The Flock", a wave...a movement...a thing has occurred.  Now numbering in the teens, we are a group...a passel...a force.
From all over the country, we gather to laugh, to love, to bird, to cherish. To giggle uncontrollably.  To be shushed by trip leaders.  To ingest very large amounts of wine.  To get glared at by other, more responsible birders.

To quote Delia in a comment about our last Cape May Weekend:
"I don't know why we all don't just admit that, with the exception of KatDoc, we all went to Cape May to see each other and be rowdy! Were there even any birds there?"


I cherish these women (and one man) so much more than I ever thought possible.
In a little over 24 hours, I will be packing the car and heading to Cape May once again, to frolic in the waves,
to cry at the peregrines and osprey overhead, to get frustrated over shorebirds, and to once again wrap my arms around my Flock.

Hail to the Chief!!

When Jeff Gordon asked me recently, "What do you know about the ABA?", I didn't know what to say.  I knew what the letters stood for, and....umm....that's about it.  I couldn't tell you who was leading the organization, what they did or how they did it.  My opinion of the organization was vague, to say the least.  I proved a point for him, with my ignorance.

Over the past month or so, I have done some reading up on the ABA and have a clearer picture of what it's all about.  And up until about a week and a half ago, things were not looking good.  I kept reading phrases like "financial crater" and "poor leadership" and "Who cares about the ABA anyway?".

As it turns out, all birders should care about the ABA.  It is the only organization of its kind in North America, and it is FOR birders and BY birders.  They have a comprehensive Code of Ethics that as birders we all need to adhere to.  They contribute to bird and bird habitat conservation.  They offer conferences and workshops.  It's an organization for US.
This is the place where we all need to be.

About a week and a half ago, the news came ripping through the intertubes through email, texting, but most of all, Facebook.  Jeff Gordon had been selected as the new President of the ABA.  I'm pretty sure Facebook broke that day.

We will be learning more as the weeks and months go on, but for now, I am unbelievably proud of Jeff, honored to be his friend, and ready to help in any way he needs.  He has a HUGE job ahead of him.
Be sure to stop here, at his blog and the new ABA blog for updates.

Here's a link to a video Jeff has posted on the ABA blog:
Hello from the New President and Greetings from Providence

I was telling my mother about Jeff's good news, and I mentioned that I wanted to join the ABA for the first time.  Mom decided that a membership would make a good early Christmas gift for me.  Thanks, Mom!

I leave you with my favorite photo of Jeff (because I took it, and because it captures just what makes Jeff so darn lovable)...
Chilling on the Farmhouse porch one evening during the 2010 New River Birding and Nature Festival.
(And Jeff is on the front page of their web site too!)

A last kindness

Nellie came into our lives in February 2001.  A two month old mix of big head, big feet and sweet puppy charm.  Her mother had been a German Shepherd, and it looks like her father was a Lab and/or Rottweiler.
Whatever her lineage, I thought she was the best thing ever.



Until it came to house-training her.  I thought she was brain-damaged.  She just.  Didn't.  Get.  It.
After five months of sopping up accidents from the carpet, I sort of gave up on her, and told Geoff that she was his dog.  He was responsible for finally getting her brain to learn what "Go outside" meant.

I never thought I would love her the way you're supposed to love a dog.  She wasn't a dog you could hug...she wasn't smart, I thought.



And like I said, I had given up on her.  But she never gave up on me.

When I was heavily pregnant with Isabelle, I was finishing the nursery preparations.  I had just steam-cleaned the carpets in her room and the hallway.  Wearing Keds (the only shoe that would fit on my swollen feet), I started down the stairs.  The combination of wet carpet and stupid shoes caused me to fall.
Somehow, in the 1.5 seconds it took me to stumble down 3 steps, Nelllie was there. She materialized out of nowhere and I threw my arms around her and stopped myself from pitching all the way down.  As I came to a screeching halt, I sat down on that wet carpet, and gasping for breath, put my arms around Nellie and shook like a leaf.  She sat there and let me hug her for the first time.
She had saved Isabelle.  That was the day Nellie became my dog.

Nellie had a neurotic fear of tree swallows, afraid to go out in the backyard every year they nested here.
She was always gentle with Isabelle and Lorelei, even when they weren't.


She accepted a wide range of new animals into the house over the course of her life with us.


(Everyone remember Boomer?)

Her life was completely intertwined with mine.  Never completely confident with her status in life, she looked to me when she was scared, or happy, or lonely.  She was my shadow, always watching for where I was, what I was doing.

I never could get a really good photo of her and me, since she never wanted to look at the camera...not when I was around.




Nearly ten years is a long time to love a dog.  And not nearly long enough.
We aren't completely sure what was wrong with Nellie at the end, but she showed symptoms of transitional cell carcinoma, cancerous cells in the lining of the bladder.  No cure, just treatment of the symptoms.
And we tried.  We worked the pills as long as we could.
But every day, she got thinner.  She stopped enjoying her food and her toys.  And the final thing, the moment I knew we were going to lose her...a look.  Just a look that she gave me, telling me that it was time to let her go.
And since I loved her, I found the strength to say goodbye.

With the help of a dear friend, I listened to her last breath and felt her slip away.  Away from the pain, and away from me. 
A last kindness to a soul that deserved the peace we were able to give her at the end.

Nellie Bly Williams

November13, 2000 - September 22, 2010

We love you.

The Zoo all for me!

When the Greater Cincinnati Environmental Educator Expo came around this year, I hopped on the bandwagon.  The council used the new education building at the Cincinnati Zoo, and after set-up we were free to roam the zoo at will for two hours.

I have never been to the zoo by myself.  No stroller?  No kids begging for stuff from the gift shop?  It was hard not to skip to my lou.

(I was hoping to see Thane.  We end up at the same events, but never seem to hook up.  Sigh....for a refresher course in "Thane and Me", see this post...found out that he was doing a talk in the room next to the expo, but I couldn't leave my table.)

What I did see were some cute/silly animal behaviors.  And some things that I have never been able to just stand and observe.


In the Discovery Forest, I always look for the Two-Toed Sloth.  And he is always in the same place.  Sleeping in his tree.  This makes me smile.



There are two Laughing Kookaburras right outside the "Bird Building".  This one was so bright-eyed and curious....walked right up to the barricade to blink at me with those lovely slate eyes.  He made me smile.


Ever since I got to hear Kelly do her kookaburra impression, she is what I think of when I see a  kookaburra. 


The bird building is of course my favorite part of the zoo....full of feathered lovelies from all over the world.  From King Penguins to Whiskered Auklets to Rhinoceros Hornbills to Scarlet Ibis.
And this extremely friendly eider (don't know the species) who wanted to come and investigate me through the glass.  It made me smile.



This black bear reminded me of this day at last year's New River Birding and Nature Festival. 
The floppy gap in his mouth made me smile.



The white lions were asleep too.
(The zoo's white lions are gifts from none other than Siegfried and Roy)

That pink tongue...my house cats do the same thing.  Made me smile.


I got to pet this two year old alligator.  I didn't tell the handler that he felt like a purse.  That would have been tacky.

His cool leathery skin made me smile.  And the fact that I was brave enough to do it.

This lemur was all like, "Meh."
Made me laugh.



A new exhibit, "Dragons", highlights the world's monitor lizards, from tiny Adobe Monitors to the ginormous Komodo Dragon.  This is the hind end...the end you want to see.

 I just stood there and stared and stared at the massive amount of dragon flesh stretched out in there.


The Cat House (I always laugh when I say that) is another favorite.  Too bad the urine smell is so bad in the building....I wonder if they can do something about that.

Looking for all the world like a little domestic cat, this Sand Cat was taking a nap and making my heart do a little dance.  Check out that fur....strokable.


The Meerkat was showing me his brain, via his nostrils:



The Macaque exhibit is on an island in the middle of the zoo.  This one is preparing his "Hamlet" soliloquy.

Look at that face.  Hey, Creationists?  You honestly think we aren't related????


I think this one was burping.



I watched this one, alone and tucked into one of the rock crevices, for about five minutes.  He was just playing with his toes.   :)



The last exhibit I visited before I had to hustle back to the expo was what I thought was the bald eagle eyrie.
Was I ever surprised to be confronted with an ANDEAN CONDOR.

With the largest wingspan of any land bird (3.2 meters....that's over 10 feet, y'all), and a body that weighs up to 31 pounds (THIRTY ONE!), it's a bird that inspires awe.  I stood there like an idiot for a few minutes, just staring.  I didn't know the zoo had acquired a condor.  This is a big deal.  This one is a female (See her red eyes?  Males have brown eyes.  And females lack the red comb of flesh above the beak that males have).
I had her all to myself.  She was fairly close, and we sized each other up...I was obviously boring, as she resumed preening.  All I could think was, "That is one BIG A$$ bird...."
A great day.  

Small moments

Late summer drones on for me...the girls are back to school, but the bird action (now that I have some time to get out and watch them) is still quiet.  Babies are grown, the fall exodus not yet begun....

I take what I can get, though.  Small moments of magic. 



I found a flower whose stamens are minuscule Pixie Stix.

(Please click on this to see it larger...)


Glowing Morning Glory.




Did not know an inchworm was also noodling his way through the thistle blooms alongside the skipper.
(This skipper was the size of a quarter.)





A delicate, tiny white flower in the underbrush...



So small and fragile-looking, I held my breath as I took its picture.



Watched water striders' shadows chase them under the water.



I found water so clear, it held the sky inside.



Just the right patch of shade gave me a star.



Stumbled across a bird finally, a solitary sandpiper eating a small fish.



A small moment that was huge for me....
I've always wanted to see this.  A damselfly freshly emerged from its nymph skin. 



Zero defining marks.  Just opalescent translucence.

I've never held a dragonfly or damselfly.  They are too smart, too fast for that.  I've always wanted to, but never had the chance.

And then he climbed onto my fingernail. 

Cuteness and its many forms

If you recall from this post, Thirteen our screech owl is going through the atypical feather molt that seems to be the bane of captive screech owls everywhere.
A week after I took those photos, I went in to get him again.  Things are looking up....but little dude still has a long way to go.


At least his ear tufts are coming back...
No matter how many feathers he loses, I still think Thirteen is cute.
Sort of like a Jim Henson creation.  Think about Animal.  That's one weird looking thing.  But we all love him anyway, right?

If he let me, I would love to help him preen off all of those feather sheaths....



A few things to point out, since it's not every day you get to observe a screech owl so closely:

The nictitating membrane:  (from the Latin nictare, to blink)
This is a membrane present in many animals such as birds, reptiles and sharks.  Some mammals have a vestigal nictitating membrane (We humans have it...the pink bit in the inner corner) while some mammals have a fully active, controllable membrane.


They are either transparent or translucent....in the above photo, we can clearly see the disapproval and embarrassment through the membrane.




Another cool thing:
The ears of an owl are set near the face, close to the sides but facing forward.  In the Tytonidae owl species (such as Barn Owls), and the aperture is rounded and asymmetrical (the left ear is set higher than the right), but in the Strigidae owls, the shape of the aperture varies.
An owl's range of audible sounds is not dissimilar to ours, but their hearing is so acute at certain frequencies they are able to hear the slightest movement of their prey.
The facial disc that every owl species possesses funnels sound waves right to the ears, acting like a satellite dish.  And they are able to manipulate those feathers to calculate where their prey is.  Barn owls' hearing is so acute, they can find their prey in total darkness.


And when the satellite dish falls off, we can see right in there.
If you can see the hole in Thirteen's head, behind and just under his eye?  This is the ear canal. 

I love this photo just for the glint of sunlight in his eye.    And that pitiful ear tuft, still half wrapped in sheaths:




A completely different type of cuteness:

School begin this week and the girls are excited to be back.
A big thing around here is that Lorelei is cheerleading this year. 
And boy is she good at it.  It comes to her naturally, this whole ra-ra thing.

This beautiful and good-natured child has been fun to be with since birth.  Shoot....even delivering her was EASY.


Today we got to watch her do her very first cheerleading gig, complete with football game.



Now, I did the cheerleading back in the day, just for a year.  I don't really know why.  I ended up being one of those ironically sarcastic teenagers who quietly sneered at cheerleaders.
So along with it being amazingly expensive, I had to struggle with my inner conflict....

But when a child really really wants to do something like this, a good mom just bites her tongue and writes the check.



(We won, too.  It was a scoreless game until the fourth quarter, when out of the blue, one of our boys had the ball and somehow outran everyone down the field for a 60 yard touchdown. 
I broke a blood vessel in my finger, I got so into it.  It was awesome.
(Maybe I didn't completely leave the cheerleading behind?)


Check this out....it starts EARLY, the whole football player/cheerleader thing:

That boy does NOT have his mind on the game.

The Summer Dance

The party isn't over
But some are ready to go
and some are already gone


Her gown
Fresh and bright at the start








Shows the wear and tear of the dance




The lights will dim



and the debris with begin to blow
across the dance floor




Where so many found a partner


The colors will change along the walls
as it reaches its close,



The weary dancers slow their spinning
and prepare their exit



It's been a wonderful party
and all good things must end



But not yet...