Monthly Archives: February 2013

Birds have been thin on the ground — er, in the sky — I mean, on the ground too, I suppose, and in the trees, and on the water, and wherever else one might find birds — lately. Birds have been thin, y’know, around, lately. I haven’t even spied an eagle from a distance, since the weekend, and the little tweeeeeeeee! birds have fallen silent. You know what’s not silent, though? You know what’s never silent? The gullie horde, that’s what. I was woken up by a monster gull, this morning; it stood outside my bedroom window, and wouldn’t shut up (or go away) till fed. I must’ve thrown my stuffed Angry Bird at the window twenty times; each time, the gull flapped up a foot or two, only to land again the minute the Angry Bird bounced back to me. And so it went, till the Angry Bird rolled under the bed, and I had no choice but to get up and feed the gull.

I did see a gull I thought might be a Western gull (rather than the Western/glaucous-winged hybrids that are so common, around here), but closer inspection revealed small greyish marks on its head and neck: probably another hybrid. It’s the smaller one, pictured below. Just look at that silly gullwalk!

A pair of gulls, walking along the roof-edge.

Gulls, bunched up for warmth.

Tomorrow, I’m going to try to get close to a bufflehead. Wish me luck!

Bird spikes are rows of blunted plastic or metal points, arranged on the tops of buildings, to deter perching birds without harming them. I’m not sure how effective they are, either at discouraging birds or on the safety front. I’ve heard more than a few reports of poked pigeons and stabbed seagulls. And I’ve seen an awful lot of this:

Bird spikes? What bird spikes?

I noticed one starling clinging to the spikes first thing this morning. I didn’t pay it much mind, at first: northern flickers were about, and those are much prettier than starlings. Then, another starling showed up, and another, and I couldn’t resist getting a shot.

I also went out on a nice snarled birdwalk — snarled, in the sense that I was following birdcalls, rather than going anywhere in particular, so I kept drifting about in circles, crossing my own tracks at every turn. I didn’t find much of anything — just the usual crows, gulls, and sparrows (both house and song) — but I did have another close call with those little tweeeeeee! birds. I was standing by a bush, trying to get a picture of a wet, messy robin with a worm in its beak, when I realised the bush was peeping. I leaned in for a closer look, and the mystery bird flew up in my face, over my shoulder, and away. Sorry, mystery bird. Didn’t mean to give you a fright. Oh, and the robin got away, too…of COURSE.

I might pop out later, try my luck again. In the meantime, have some trash birds!

A great greasy crow rear!

I swear, if I didn’t know better, I’d think these little devils WANTED to be photographed. This one flew into the frame while I was trying to snap a much more interesting bird. It took that bird’s perch, and fluffed itself up in a most photogenic manner. Also, another song sparrow ran over my feet while I was looking at this one. Go away, song sparrows! I’ve already ticked you off!