Early Brrrr...I mean Birding

Back on March 20th, when winter was still showing only a few signs of departing, I got a bit of cabin fever and decided to drive up to the south end of Seneca Lake and Watkins Glen do see what birds were on the water. It was a mostly sunny day with the temperature in the upper 30s and I knew from having driven through that area the week before that the lake was pretty much ice free with only a bit showing up to clog the few bays and inlets so things were promising. What I didn't count on was a fairly strong--and cold--wind out of the north-northwest that brought the wind chill down to near ten degrees.

While there were lots of Ringnecked Ducks and Canada Geese along with a few grebes, Mallards and assorted others bottled up on the south end of the lake, it was the huge number of Ring-billed Gulls on the ice and the breakwaters that impressed.

They were also the only birds I got close enough to to get a halfway decent photo.

Ring-billed Gull testing the waters of Seneca Lake on March 20th.

Too Cold!!

The Ring-bill is the most common gul of the Twin Tiers, BTW.

On the way south from Watkins Glen to the Aerie I decided to check out the Hammond-Tioga Lake area. While Hammond Lake was pretty much completely ice covered, and Tioga had just a small open area near the weir/connector to Hammond Lake, the spillway was wide open and running high and turbulent. There were a couple of immature Bald Eagles taking advantage of the wounded fish that would occasionally float up but they were w-a-a-a-y over there when I arrived and stayed out where a 300mm lens wasn't going to help.

There was one Great Blue Heron, however that seemed to pose along the spillway. For a short time anyway.

Great Blue Heron along the spillway in Tioga.

Great Blue takes off as I made too much noise(?)

Great Blue aborts his flight...

...only to discover the water's deeper than he thought!

GBH takes off to more isolated fishing grounds. (i.e. somewhere I am not.)

Amazing wingspan on the GBH as he continues to trail his landing gear.

I never see one of these guys in flight that I don't think of the Bugs Bunny cartoon with the buzzards slowly flapping their wings.

(From "Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid" which I can not find in its entirety.) 

"I'm bringing home a baby bumble bee...."

That's All Folks!

More photos tomorrow.

Merry Christmas!

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Nobody but nobody did Christmas Carols like Perry Como.

What Really Happens to Those Cookies

Bleech!

Another drizzly, mizzly day. The forecast is for 70% chance of rain and temperatures not above 45 degrees. Tonight's low will be in the mid to low 30s and some of that drizzle will become snow flurries.

Terry is still in sunny, warm Santa Fe, NM. Yesterday was "Tour Day" at the EGA convention, but, since she has her own car, she and a couple of her friends went off and did their own thing going up to Taos for the day. She says it was spectacular!

Around here...eh. Not much going on as I watch the rain fall.

Presidential Rag

Arlo Guthrie wrote this back in 1976 about the Watergate coverup. (He claims that the day after he first performed it in public, Spiro Agnew resigned.)



Sadly, the song's lyrics fit our current President and our situation all to well.

Senior Moments

Been there. Done that. (Well most of that, anyway. I think.)

This Means War!

The last couple of days I've been waging war against groundhogs. (This may be a violation of Pennsylvania code given Punxutawney Phil and all that. Just kidding. Ground hogs are considered vermin in PA. They're fair game.) I've caught them coming out on the lawn during the day, but they must also be making it into the garden as well. The leaves of the zucchini and cucumbers have been nibbled--just as they were getting large.

I've spotted three different critters. Two are large--one very dark chocolate and one milk chocolate in color. Then today a smaller one showed up.

I'm beginning to feel like Clint Eastwood:

Only, I've got an air rifle and not a shotgun. And I'm sneaking out onto the deck and trying to get a bead on them before they head for the tall weeds. The big ones have learned that the cocking of the rifle and/or sliding of the screen door mean something. Just the tiniest noise, and they dive for cover. The little one who showed up today hasn't learned yet...despite being hit at least twice. (The big ones got hit once or twice in the last few days.)

Conclusions:
1) The fat of a groundhog is thick enough to absorb the .177 pellets even traveling at 1400 fps.

2) Being absorbed in the fat, they do little damage. Especially since they don't expand upon contact like lead would do.

3) I'm going to need a bigger gun. Oh, I've got them, but using a 12 gauge or a .30-.30, or a .270 or a 50 caliber muzzle loader seems excessive.

4) I'm going up to the Bolt Hole tomorrow. I'll be bringing the .22 home with me.

5) In the mean time, I've extended the chicken wire fence down the side of the garden in an attempt to halt their depredation.

A Little Jazz for a Saturday Evening.

Feeling like a road trip. Route 66--or what's left of it--would be just fine. In the meantime, this will have to do.

This version is pretty hip, too.

Osprey--The Ultimate Fisher

One of the highlights of last Saturday's bird walk at Hills Creek State Park was watching an osprey make two dives into the lake and coming up (on the second one) with a small perch for it's dinner. The movies included in the clip below show ospreys doing much, much better. There are three distinct scenes. In the first, the bird takes advantage of a target rich environment and comes up with one fish for each talon--or so it seems. The second bird dives completely under the water as it goes after a bottom dwelling fluke or flounder. (Watch the bird shake itself while in flight--just like a dog--to rid itself of excess water.) The third bird captures what looks like a salmon or large trout--and almost finds it's too big to handle. Almost. Use the full screen option to get the best view.

Border Collie Trials

as you've never seen them before:



(h/t to Wyatt at Support your Local Gunfighter)

Today's the Day!

Pitchers and Catchers, baby!

It's on!



This year I'm going to find a way to go to a couple of games. Minor or major league won't matter as long as I can get out to the ball park and watch the action while sipping a beer (or two) and eating some peanuts, popcorn, Crackerjacks and hot dogs.



Spring is when every major league hopeful aims to impress and make the roster. Every year some young phenom shows up and heads north with the team. This causes the casual fan to ask the most important question:

For you ski bums out there

Are you a skier who lives in town and can't get to a slope out in the mountains? Well, that's no excuse at all! Watch the video below for some ideas (and great footage) of some urban skiing.



(Okay, the skis might not be in good shape after hitting the pavement, but it sure looks like he's having fun!)

(Seen on the sidebar over at Ace's.)

Halloween Night

It's Halloween!

Enjoy.



(He could sing and dance like few others. But, man, was he weird in his personal life!)

Bob, The Hamster

Enjoy!



(First seen over at Theo's place.)

It's Sunday. Let's go for a little drive...

...in a Ford Fiesta, no less:



(First seen at Phil's Phun site.)

Jazz for Cows!

Could be a new way to get them down from the back fields.

(First seen at Phil's Phun site.)

Gun Safety PSA from "Plaxico Burress"

Plaxico Burress was a wide receiver with the Giants when he accidentally shot himself with a pistol stuffed in the waistband of his pants. He spent 18 months in prison for having an unlicensed gun in NYC (not for stupidity). He's now a receiver for the Jets. Part of his sentence was doing safety talks and public service announcements on gun safety.

This is not one of them. But it is one funny spoof of what his PSA might be like. (Language may not be safe for work or little kids.)

Starring Derek Brantley. Written by The Landline. Music: Kevin MacLeod

Drill Baby Drill

Those guys from Minnesota are at it again. This is one of their best parodies yet. A take off of Chuck Berry's Johnnie B. Goode.



(First seen at Theo Spark's Last of the Few)

Aerie Report, August, 23, 2011

Did my second day of physical therapy today. After the first session (Friday) was was really hurting, but after today's things seem to be much better. The last two days I've progressed to being able to walk relatively normally on smooth, flat surfaces. Even a short walk across the lawn didn't produce pain in the right knee.

Going up or down stairs is still a painful experience in which I feel the knee will give out at any moment so I have to be sure to have a firm grip on the railing or remember to lead with the bad leg when going down and the good leg when going up and take the steps one at a time.

The therapists have me doing range of motion exercises at the moment. Many of them require bending the knee but with no weight on the leg. Even then, the knee sounds like a flamenco dancer stamping her feet AND playing her castanets every time I bend it. Or maybe it's just Bill “Bojangles” Robinson doin' his thang.



In any event, I go up to Corning, NY tomorrow to see an orthopedist. I'll let him (or her) poke and prod, look at the x-rays, read the MRI analysis and doctors' reports and come up whit his (or her) own conclusion. I'll also bring the x-rays from the left knee taken two years ago when I sprained that one.

******

Back in NJ, my niece's husband just had arthroscopic surgery on one of his knees today. He says it's been bothering him since high school, but last week he tweeked it and felt something tear (meniscus). He was on the job as a carpenter, though, so his was a workers comp kind of thing and, thus, got a bit more rapid treatment than I have been getting. Mine is just one of those "You idiot! What were you thinking?" kind of injuries.