12/31/12: I edited this post early this morning to correct for some late-night syntactical issues. “The piercing light of her eyes is a reminder there is light upon the dark path no matter how doubtful it might be …. Owl can navigate the dark realms of the night and still sustain her nourishment; if you…
Archives for December 2012
Blue Note Clive
I just received a record album in the mail. It’s an EP (German label) with this avian hipster on the cover … Clive the Racing Pigeon in his best Blue-Note-Records pose. We cared for and loved little Clive — a lost and unwanted racing pigeon. Clive was in a local animal shelter with a flesh…
Bird Verse: Eastern Gods
They are eastern gods — they meditate. (Yes they are.) “The Owls” by Charles Baudelaire (translated by Edna St. Vincent Millay) The owls that roost in the black yew Along one limb in solemn state, And with a red eye look you through, Are eastern gods; they meditate. No feather stirs on them, not one,…
RIP, Wolf 832F
The only descriptors that come to mind right now are “backward” and “barbarian.” I’m so disheartened, time and again, that gratuitous violence toward our wildlife is not only tolerated but sanctioned by many wildlife agencies and politicians. And, as much as I’ve tried over the years to be “reasonable” and “balanced” (I have), it’s often…
An American Crow in Seattle
Maybe this photo resolves the American Crow/Northwestern Crow conundrum, once and for all: I suspect that any Pledge of Allegiance here is to Corvid Nation. Check out my post Crows on Cairns for a short discussion about what really constitutes “American” or “Northwestern” when it comes to corvids. Photographed at the Ballard Locks with the…
[Bird] Towel Optional
A European Starling preens in a communal bath on the Seattle waterfront as a juvenile Starling wanders into the splash zone. This bird bath was a series of long, narrow puddles at the edge of a bike path, visited at various times by Starlings, crows, finches and sparrows. Each time a cyclist buzzed by, the…