You Lookin' at Me?

Considering that they'll shamelessly accept any and all food handouts, the squirrels around here are surprisingly hostile.

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Crepuscular Sightings

I was taking the dog out. It was the precise tipping point of dusk, when the world goes from afternoon to evening. The sky, which minutes ago had been a bright glowing dome of fading blue tinged with orange, had turned off its light like a lid closing, a match snuffed out. Now the streetlamps, which had been anemic bulbs pale as pearls, became blazing yellow beacons whose beams shot through the darkness.

As we crossed the street I saw a flying shape dart into a tree. I noticed it because it was bigger than most of the common birds I see, and out after dark, and perfectly silent.

I looked up, and hunched on the naked branch of a locust tree was an owl, turning its head left and right and around. It was small for an owl, compact, with just a hint of ears tufting up from its rounded head.

It was silent and streaked with brown and so entirely unexpected that I was almost convinced it was a tree branch come to life and inspecting the world with eyes of yellow amber.

It stayed in the tree during our walk up and down the block, but when we rushed back outside with a camera (the dog puzzled but obliging), the branch was empty.

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Flamingo Friday: All Square

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Now I Really AM the Only One Without an iPad

I just saw this fascinating story on the National Zoo’s website about their new program providing Apps for Apes, where the orangutans can use an iPad to access "more than 10 apps, including musical instruments, cognitive games, drawing programs and others. Eventually, the Zoo hopes to connect its orangutans with those at other zoos using video conferencing platforms."

Is technology the best way to go to increase “enrichment” among captive animals, particularly ones so closely related to ourselves? Do we run the risk of having them lose out on “real” experiences, or is this an excellent way to prevent boredom and at the same time allow researchers to observe behavior? Or a bit of both?

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Beach Scene

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Flamingo Friday: Face First

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Street Scene, San Francisco

In early December I was in San Francisco for work, and, while I didn’t have much time to visit anywhere but the conference center during daylight hours, I did discover that I could find some interesting creatures on the streets right outside of it.

I wish I were able to provide more commentary, but, much to my disgust, I’ve been forced to realize yet again that getting a bad flu takes a while to recover from.

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Flamingo Friday: Shy

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Not-So-Wild Wildlife

I am sick today, so I will leave you with this commentary-less Landscape with Schnerrier from Delaware:

[For inquiring minds: a schnerrier is a schnauzer/terrier mix.]

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A Holiday Heron for Monday

I know we’re past the New Year now, but I spotted this contemplative heron on December 25th, and it seemed like a nice image with which to start (er, continue) a new year.

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Big Whoop

I was visiting the zoo right before Christmas, and I didn’t have much time. I was going to get to the flamingos, get some pictures, and get out—and, no, I didn’t have time to watch the troupe of otters galumphing down their dry streambed (well, okay, obviously I watched them, but only for a half a minute at most).

I was almost there, too, having paused only to take a quick shot of a wild hawk high up in a bare tree, when I passed the whooping cranes’ enclosure.

One of the two birds was bowing its head up and down and looking extremely agitated. “This looks intriguing,” I thought, and so I trained my camera on it—just in time to catch (alas imperfectly) a series of amazing jumps!

Now, when I say “jump,” you’re probably thinking of the kind of little hops that most of us are capable of. But these jumps—these jumps were huge! They were dramatic! And, while some of the flapping and beak-opening was perhaps less than elegant, the actual leaping bit was as light and graceful as the drift of a blown blossom.

Because my usual response to what appears to be unusual animal behavior (human or otherwise) is to assume that it’s related to sex, my first guess was that this was some sort of courtship ritual. And yet the jumping bird (male or female, I wasn’t sure) didn’t seem to be all that focused on his/her potential mate: instead, this seemed like a fairly free-form series of leaps.

Intrigued, I looked up “whooping crane courtship behavior” online (the internet does have its benefits) and discovered—courtesy of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service brochure—that, yes, head bobbing and leaping are part of courtship displays, and both male and female birds engage in these activities.

Since courtship begins in winter, it’s probable that the balletic moves I observed were in fact a prelude to hanky-panky. But it’s not certain that this was their purpose. After all, the best part of this pamphlet was a line explaining, “These dances…may occur at other times as whoopers…show excitement.”

So maybe this particular set of leaps was less about getting in the mood and more about having gotten an invitation to the kori bustards’ elite New Year’s do.

["This is the best holiday EVER!"]

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Flamingo Friday: I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles

(For more on why they look so bubbly, check out A Strainer Among Us)



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A Tidal Cycle for New Year's

May your year be imbued with the thrill and excitement that defines every beach-combing adventure.

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