René discovered a chip that he thoroughly enjoyed. His feathers are growing back in after molting and over-plucking after his beak was cut back so he could use it. Yet he still doesn’t know how to properly groom himself, so I have to give him showers and brush his wings. We’re trying to get him to learn grooming from our other bird, but it’s slow going. You can read the history of René (formerly known as Joey) at http://photoofthedayetc.com/2012/12/30/joeys-big-adventure/.
On my way home, just before the sunset, I saw this Western Cattle Egret hanging out with the geese in a field along Corrales Road. I turned around, went back and photographed it. I never saw one before, and it’s a little strange that it was by itself among the geese, ducks and crows in the freshly watered pasture — they are normally in a flock like the other birds in the field.
This Cooper’s Hawk was trying to catch a flicker for breakfast. They flew by really fast, the flicker flew into the cottonwood and the second the hawk got into the cottonwood, the flicker made an instant u-turn and flew back over me and off to another cottonwood. The hawk couldn’t make a u-turn and landed on a branch, giving me the opportunity to photograph it.
René had dinner with me again tonight. I was talking to him and asked him what he thought about a few things to which he replied with belches. I just can’t imagine where he learned to belch!
René, the Eclectus Parrot formerly known as Joey (see Joey’s Big Adventure) has come to live with us. Tristan’s household has too much activity for him, so he was getting over stimulated and stressed out. He is already happy only having to share a room with our Conure, Beakers. Laurie had Beakers out in his space in the kitchen and René was still in the study, so the birds started ringing their bells back and forth. I told Laurie they were “texting” each other. Rene’ came out when I got home and had dinner with me. Rosencrantz was sticking his tail in René’s face while he was pestering me and René was seriously thinking about biting Rosencrantz’ tail, otherwise René and Rosencrantz didn’t react to each other in the least.
The almost full moon was beautiful peeking through the clouds tonight. I can’t resist moon and cloud photos.
We had a stormy Saturday that produced a lot of clouds, wind, and few snow flurries and but basically not precipitation at our place. Despite the weather, I managed to get half of the iris I had to dig up for the electrical upgrade planted, watered the tulips that are starting to come up, got a door installed on the study, and made it out to get photographs of the stormy day. I am feeling quite productive today.
I went out to get the moonrise this afternoon. The clouds covered the moon when it first came over the mountain, but then as it rose behind the clouds it afforded nice photo ops. The geese and cranes are still hanging around, and the crows were thick at times, which reminded me of the movie “The Birds.”
Today I ended up with a mix of flowers, a sparrow, and a couple of experimental shots with pearls. The dried iceberg looked like a painting in the late afternoon light, and the flowers on the table were vibrant in the afternoon sun shining through the bay windows. While I was out walking around the yard before sundown, a sparrow kept flying around behind me and landing in a nearby tree. At one point I was standing in the shadow of the black bamboo, and the sparrow flew out of the tree, made a U-turn, and flew right back towards me, and almost flew into me, swerving around me at the last moment. I was dressed in black, standing in the shadow of the black bamboo, so I think it actually didn’t see me until it almost flew into me. After that, it sat in the tree across from where I was standing and gave me mad dogs.
We went in to see how Tristan organized her study space when we dropped her off after school late this afternoon, and I noticed the lights in their stairwell made a very nice design. Sophia always does the same pose whenever she sees a camera — a kind of pensive, sultry look — and René, the Eclectus parrot former known as Joey, is looking really good these days. Tristan said she noticed that René is not the brightest bird on the block, but then she is comparing him to her African Greys. Most parrots have intellects comparable to 2 to 3 year old children; whereas African Greys have intellects comparable to 5 year old children. So while most parrots are very interactive, inquisitive, and can often mimic people very well, African Greys can actually reason with you.
Cranes in flight, shot with a super -telephoto lens (600 mm).
I went out to the river late this afternoon to see what birds were out — the crows were swarming, the cranes were coming in for the night, and the geese were standing around watching the action. There was a hawk flying along the east side of the river when the crows flew in and several of the crows started chasing it, and a crows vs. hawk dog fight ensued. I attempted to photograph the battle, but they were too high and too far away to get clear shots of it.
Off Center & Not Even 