You’ve seen the devastating reports of animals mistaking plastic for nutritious food. The news from the Pacific Islands about the Albatross is heart-rending. You know plastic does not break down for a bazillion years and turtles and birds try to eat it. Please, please, please buy the stupid bag at the grocery or recycle the [...]
Entries from July 2008
July 29, 2008
I Like Gulls
Can we talk about gulls for a moment? I know some birders eschew them, won’t even look at them, call them names like sea rats, G-U-11s, but, truth be told, …shhhh…I sorta like them. Maybe it’s because growing up in the flat land, we didn’t have any. Or they are a visual reminder of the sea. [...]
July 20, 2008
Conversation with a college student
I was sitting in the back of the conference room with my laptop plugged into the wall, when a young woman put her camera down next to me and sat down. We exchanged smiles and idle conversation. I asked her how she was enjoying BlogHer and she told me about her project. When she asked [...]
July 18, 2008
Almost Favorite Woodpecker
Out of the corner of my eye, I happened to see the flash of white on wings. Tracking the bird to a tree, I saw it stash an acorn in a tiny acorn-sized hole. I walked around the tree looking it up and down. The whole tree was a pantry full of carefully stored food. Acorn Woodpeckers [...]
July 17, 2008
Hawk on a wire
What the? I slammed on the brakes and swerved onto the shoulder of the road. I had seen the oddest hawk on a wire. It had a huge eye and gray head. We watched it as it watched us. We couldn’t figure it out. Big eye, no huge eye, gray head, look at the crest blowing [...]
July 16, 2008
Birding in Napa Valley
Currently in between business conferences, I am loafing in Napa Valley. Unable to find a bird guide (Grrrr), I randomly drove around this morning looking for birds. With the countryside being so dry, I thought it would make the most sense to find water. Looking at the map, I headed off to Hennessey Lake. As soon as [...]
July 15, 2008
Sea lions in the San Diego bay
In order to get out onto the bay, I plunked down my $32 and took one of those land-to-water crafts. In some cities they are called Ducks but here in San Diego they are called Seals. It is a, well, I guess I would call it a bus that can go in the water. After [...]
July 13, 2008
Pied-billed grebe
Licking a banana ice cream cone and strolling the embarcadero, I stopped to watch an immature pied-billed grebe swimming close-by. A young man sitting on the wall watched me snap a picture.
“Why are you taking a picture of a duck?”
It’s not a duck, it’s a grebe.”
“Greed?”
“No, greb-b-b-bah.”
“Gredah?”
No, grebe, [...]
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