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Sat. March 25, 2006
An ally encouter with a great blue heron
I was a good boy/domestic husband type today since I spent the mid part of it cleaning the house and tidying up the back lawn. Apparently I deserved a reward, too. It came in the form of a huge bird swooping down and landing on a nearby chimney. I saw it land out of the corner of my eye while working at my computer. The neighborhood view out our office window afforded me the sight and I immediately grabbed my camera and telephoto lens. The huge bird was immediately hounded by a couple crows that apparently claim domain over that particular chimney. The rascals even dive bombed the visitor a couple times although were unsuccessful at driving it off.
My line of sight, although better than nothing, wasn't the best from the house so I took a chance the bird would stick around a while longer and journeyed down the ally for a better vantage point. I stopped at a few spots and snapped some far better photos of what I later confirmed was a great blue heron. I've seen these guys before around my parents' house and elsewhere but always had trouble telling blue from gray herons. Nevertheless, at the time, I knew from it's size and silhouette it was a heron of some sort. It calmly enjoyed a little sunshine balancing atop the brick chimney with one leg. Although at one point I had to pass a rather mangy dog that resides on a rather mangy property, after I wandered further down the ally his barking was replaced with the gentle ping of a well-tuned set of wind chimes. I patiently awaited the herons departure and had my camera set for taking such action shots. It finally did seem to get slightly startled and leaped from his post and flew towards Point Defiance until I could barely make it out.
It was definitely a treat to see and, although I'm pretty sure I saw a heron not too long ago from here (now that I think of it) hopefully it'll be back for some more photo shoots. What a beautiful and serene way to spend a half hour this afternoon.
Sat. March 25, 2006
Photos ~ Crows pecking a neighbor's lawn
I had a brief chat with neighbor Bob today and we mentioned the clumps of moss scattered on his lawn. The crows were rooting around to find food and making a mess of things. They would yank clumps of it up to look for worms and didn't even have the decency to put it back. Bob didn't seemed phased and said he'd mow it up without a problem. He did but later in the afternoon I noticed the crows were at it again and snapped the following photos. I wouldn't laugh except A) they were pulling up unwanted moss in his lawn and B) they've done that to the moss in our front lawn. Circle of life I guess -- er something.
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