Natalie Portman's new baby pics!!!

Since I saw Black Swan for the second time in February I have been thinking about little Natalie Portman having her baby! It seems like just yesterday she was blowing us away in The Professional... and then she did Black Swan and was just Fu)(*&^ing amazing & deserved that oscar for sure... Okay well I haven't been thinking about it constantly, but it crosses my mind when her name or one of her movies comes up, or WHEN I SEE SOMETHING THIS CUTE!

This is cute enough to be Natalie's baby, but this is a mallard.

This guy is eating some seeds from the surface of the water.

Feeding the Red-wing Blackbirds is almost an addiction. It feels so sweet when they trust you enough to land in your hand and eat, these little wild creatures. They are brave, they fend off crows and herons. The other day there was a Great Blue Heron flying, and a Red-winged Blackbird was ON his back - no I didn't get a picture of it with the camera, but I will never forget the image in my mind. The heron was flying, the blackbird, not flying, riding - for like 10 seconds before it flew off.

We fed the birds and threw sticks for Sparrow and kept trying to stop Hawksley from stuffing his gob with pond mud. I should clarify that I am not a total birder... this is all new - our Pug is named Hawksley after the singer, Hawksley Workman who is awesome enough to have a pug named after him- and Sparrow Sparrow because he was thrown in a garbage dump that was subsequently set on fire, and he was a pretty sad little dude when he came into my life. So I named him after the liveliest, funnest, and most beloved warrior/pirate I could think of...  is actually Captain Jack Sparrow. It turned out to be perfect, because Sparrow means rebirth, and Sparrow is the reincarnation of my beloved dog who died of cancer, Miss Alice Otis. Some may scoff, but I set up tests, he passed.

I have always loved birds though not studied them to their fullest potential or mine. I do see them as symbols and signs and sacred little animals. My dad is a generous man and has bought me cameras after camera, upgrading mine as he does his own. This new digital thing is the greatest, you can click away, come home take off the crud and end up with a few great captures. I am making an effort to always use manual settings. I had a Kodak that took great shots on Automatic, but the better the camera, the better they expect the photographer to be. I am not a pro, I just like taking pictures, and getting good shots...

   So I got the captions option back on my BLOGGER builder page, hopefully the upload of videos can start soon, because I like it better when I post right onto here, not onto youtube... my computer guy Cory is coming to take away my precious and fix her from going to sleep in the middle of things. Somehow my computer became narcoleptic and just goes to sleep in the middle of photo or video oriented tasks. I am pretty sure that I am on the verge of a disastrous crash, so I took a note from Carrie Bradshaw and backed up my hard drive. 

I love how their little bodies look all suspended in flight...

     Enough ramblings, more photos. Oh, and tomorrow a Special Northern Flicker update... there have been hatchings, i think...

She was teaching them to tweet & paddle, quacking is next week.

The proud mama of 12 babies, or maybe daycare - not sure.

A blackbird in hand is worth how many in the bush?

Eli & Hawksley in a field of wild lupens...

  

Oh, and for those that care the Canucks beat the Bruins 1-0... The city acted like we were all one big happy family for a few hours, when we were coming in the back door some drunk asked us if we should all flash each other our boobs. Although a romantic offer, it didn't sound like a fair deal, so we passed...

Hawksley didn't chase the babies, but he took after a goose.
Bad idea of course, he scooted away with his cinnamon bun tail tucked under his belly...

And this bunny saw Sparrow speed by so fast he wasn't sure if he should hide.

Finally sun, so fotos!

Today was a another spectacular day on the planet, if you got to enjoy this day in Vancouver, especially.

We went out early with the dogs and headed to our favorite place. We brought a jug of crushed sunflower seeds and some shelled peanuts...

It took no time at all for them to recognize us, dogs and all and start landing for breakfast. I guess with a nest full of babies you consider doing a lot of things you wouldn't normally do for sunflower seeds and peanuts, when you are a Red-winged Blackbird.

All this time we thought it was a rarity for them to have fed from our hands in the winter. Now they try to land on me before I even have the seeds out of the jug and in my hand!

The fledglings are so cute, so awkward and their wings vibrate with anxious excitement. They see the mama land and want to do it so badly, but they are way too afraid. Which is great. The babies should be left alone by humans. We NEVER touch the birds. EVER. They land on our hand, and eat the proper safe clean food and leave when they want to.

There is a respect we have for them, and don't try to tame them or pet them at all. We just stand very still and let them eat, like we are human bird feeders.

May: Northern Flicker Report 3

The birch tree now has foliage, but it was bare when all this started. The flickers are very busy in the nest across the street. I am certain they are sitting on eggs, there is always someone in the cavity. They feed on our suet paddles at each shift change. They seem to take turns about every 3 hours roughly.

They have a definite habitual pattern to their day, and rain or shine they are shift changing and rotating. One thing I can't clearly make out is whether or not the two females are in rotation together or if he works both nests. I will see if there are two females there at once, but if they alternate between the male, I have no real way of differentiating.

When I was younger, my mom -spiritual teacher that she is- gave me a book written by Anne Cameron, called Daughters of Copperwoman. It's special book to say the least, with a lot of ponderable goodness throughout.

Like, "The only surviving census came from memorizers of the warrior society; from their perspective, a man had multiple wives, whereas the woman memorizor's view was that several women shared one husband." It's more than just a respect/ownership thing. Less about power, more about survival. I wonder how the Flickers feel. Does he have 2 wives, or do the females share one husband? because it looks like the females share one husband. Most of the mating ritual was between the females.

They danced through the branches of the birch tree tirelessly for weeks. He only came to watch their display during this time, there was no mating. That started after the dance between the females.

I haven't had time to thoroughly discover where the second nest is. It's close and down the back alley, but there are a few cavity nests in the hydro poles and I haven't seen any traffic to or from any of them yet. But I know there is one, because those eggs were taken with deliberate speed and to the same place each trip - not random drop sights. After the eggs were moved, there was another round of mating, my guess is to the second wife. And I think the second wife is in this tree.

What makes all this even more interesting, is that this egg moving business is a totally brand new discovery. No one has seen it, made any record of it, and we have video! 2 videos, actually.

When they were mating, the females bobbed their heads and flitted with each other around the birch for more than a week. If they were in between dances, they would rest together on the same limb. They would fly off together darting through the trees and around the rooftops. They would circle around their nest and the other one a block away and then fly back, both landing high in the bare tree, screaming for the male to come quickly, which he always did.

These days there is only some chatter in the wee morning hours, like around 5:15 AM. The it's all quiet, except for the changing of the guard... The shift changes go like this: She flies up and lands near the nest. He pokes his head out and sees her. He flies out and to either the roof or the suet paddle. She immediately lands on the nest entry-hole and hangs there a second before going inside. They know the Starling had been in and out of there during their mating dances. Now there's no chance for that to happen, because there is always someone in it or on the cavity hole!

After the shift change, she sits for about an hour and then he returns. She knows he is coming about a minute or two before he gets to the tree, so he must call and I just can't hear it - or they have a tight agreement.

He lands in the top of the tree and waits, her head poked out of the hole. He makes his way down to the cavity, limb by limb hopping down to her. He hangs on the hole as her head is poked out and then she flies away, always to the roof or the suet paddle, then to the other nest or yet one more location they come from across the street and south a block.

This is the female going into the nest. This is actually immediately after the second time they mated. She hangs outside on the cavity entry after mating, and those fluffy white feathers are all exposed, I like to make comments to Eliza like, look who has her knickers down again...

I am choked that I am still having trouble loading the videos onto this blog. I have been trying all day again and it always fails...

I love my desktop, but I worry her days are numbered... please hold out until afford to replace you, sweet eve. That's what I call my computer. And I called her that WAY before Wall-E. I called her that because she , eve, my Mac, is the mother of all creation. Which has nothing to do with evolution and everything to do with art...

What a palmful of sunflower seeds will get you...

One of the first sights & sounds of spring, is the spectacular and magnificent Red-Winged Blackbird. They are loud, happy and songful. At first glance you might think that the male has all the decor, all the flare and personality... but behind every successful man is a beautiful and more successful woman- in a lot of cases, so they say...

Jill's car stinks like something dead this morning so I drove her to work so I could take it in and clean it for her. We aren't sure what the heck is under the dog blankets in the backseat, but we are going to find out as soon as I post today's story. So starts today, and why we drove to the beach with the dogs in the middle of the week- I had the car. We decided to go to Jerry's Cove and see the birds. Jill left a bag of shelled sunflower seeds in the front seat so we carried those to the pond.

We often attempt to hand feed the Red-Winged Blackbirds, unsuccessfully except for 2 rare moments where Eliza fed a male, and a few months later, I fed a female. We are careful to get the proper food for the birds we feed. We do not feed the ducks bread like I did when I was a kid, apparently it's not good for them. Now we buy duck food or seeds & nuts. I reached into the sunflower bag and grabbed a palmful. I barely had my arm out stretched when the first bird landed...

She landed with no hesitation and stuffed her beak full with seeds. A few other females hovered over me waiting for their turn to land. They were very respectful of each other and took turns filling their beaks to the brim before flying off. If you want a closer look at the pictures I post, just click on them and they enlarge... This was the first close-up look at these gals we have ever had! They have a wonderful orange smudge on their shoulders, well some of them do, their markings are so beautiful.

We stood there feeding them for about twenty minutes before walking the dogs around the rest of the park.

Eliza feeds the hungry nesting mothers. We saw a few fledgling Red-Winged Blackbirds in the reeds near the bridge. We left a handful of seeds on the railing for them. It must really work up an appetite learning how to fly, and teaching someone to fly. Why are baby birds almost twice the size of their parents? Can you imagine if that were true fro everything that hatched out of an egg? Giant Eagles, turtles & alligators...

So we ran out of seeds and I have another errand added to my day. Once you start feeding a few birds, they seem to really make a point of letting you know that you now have a new responsibility. I learned to keep a balance with Bawckey, my backyard wild crow pet. Our pets are on the raw food diet, and I was giving Bawckey the leftover cat food - because it was too expensive to waste and not to name names, but Pippi (our cat) is Picki. Anyways, I would set out the cat dish and this one crow would eat it. I went away for a few weeks and when I came back, Sparrow (my dog) & I were on our way to the coffee shop, he swooped down and scolded both of us. So now he only gets fed occasionally. I save those leftovers and then every once and a while I feed him, like once a week or twice. But the bird feeders on the other hand feed a lot of different guys, so we try to keep that full. And the suet paddles are there for the Northern Flickers, and monopolized by the Starlings - who happen to be Jill's faves.

I just have a thing for the Red-Winged Blackbirds right now though. The day Eliza fed her first one, I told my mom about it and she mentioned hearing something about them in the news that day. Turns out that this particular bird has a strange phenomenon surrounding it. One that worries me and gets my head thinking about the conspiracy to hide the real facts about why, thousands of these birds spontaneously fell from the sky, more than once. Fireworks? I doubt it. And this isn't the first time it has happened... I am glad our friends at the Cove are safe for now. I shudder when I think that this happens to be located on some pretty valuable real estate. Our country is not as protected as we all like to think. Our National Parks are in jeopardy, they are over used and under funded. No one should ever have to fight to protect nature, it should be protected naturally.

If no one wants corporations polluting our water and our precious ecosystems, how do they continue to do it? I personally want to try to stop all of this planet raping from continuing in my neck of the woods. I was part of an International Greenpeace demonstration a few years ago, well more than a few now - but groups of us all over the planet were trying to get corporations to listen by just collectively boycotting one company and showing them all that we had the power and wherewithal to pull it off. A group of us simultaneously walked onto ESSO gas bars and chained ourselves to the pumps and asked folks to buy their gas somewhere else. It was the first time I had participated in something that would certainly lead to my arrest. It was an interesting study in human behavior. We were calm and peaceful, but many of the customers got really defensive. A lot of them were shouting that the climate crisis threat was all a bunch of crap made up by tree huggers like Greenpeace. It's so funny how someone can shout something at you and actually think it's insulting, "TREEHUGGER!" Anyways, I was arrested and thrown in the slammer. But that's another story.

Now to find out what died/is dead in the backseat of Jill's car... Have a nice day, if you are so inclined.

Mail Strike tomorrow? Can I get mine via Owl, instead?

When I was little and we lived in a small town called Ajax, my sister joined Brownies, and my mom became a Snowy Owl. I was too young to join, but played in the back of the gym while the group met. I loved that my mom was a Snowy Owl. In my mind this meant she actually was and would at some point transform into one when the time was right. My mama used to tell me grand stories about the forest where she grew up when her papa worked in the lumber camp near Burks Falls. There was magic in them and she knew about it, so it was no surprise to me that she would achieve owl status. I was under the impression that all I had to do was turn 7 and I would witness this secret transformation.

We moved from Ajax to the country just as I was about to turn legal Brownie joining age. Which came as a bit of a relief, because although I likes the little belt with all the leather pouches, and the sash and shirt with the crests of achievement, I really was not into wearing the leotard and the skirt. I was more of a jean jacket/jeans girl and still am.

There's a place in Delta near the Reifle Bird Sanctuary that takes in wounded birds of prey. Aptly named O.W.L., (Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society) is such a cool place because they save these specific animals, and you can go there and look at some of the birds that were too wounded to be released back into the wild.

I am lucky enough to know a wonderful person named Bri Fudge. She is a living Saint to Animals. She posted photos on her Facebook wall from one of the places where she's a volunteer/animal advocate. These pictures she posted of her volunteer work at O.W.L. got me an inside look at a really cool place. I was blown away. A few weeks later she took us & a few of her other friends, on a tour of this wonderful magical place that is in dire need of funding. As soon as you walk into the main office you are greeted by Sarah, the absolutely incredible looking Barn Owl. She is stunning. It's hard to take your eyes off of this beauty, and you wonder how you have gone a whole lifetime without making a point to see one in real life before.

Outside there are a few giant cages that house a few lucky birds that now have a new way of life other than the one they were born into. Most of these birds were hit by cars and brought in by folks that stopped to see what was lying in the road, so they are lucky to be alive. Others hit windows or get caught in extreme weather. Sometimes the Eagles come in with their talons locked together. The priority is to release the wounded birds, but sometimes, it's just not possible if the bird is to survive.

Two residents are a pair of Great Grey Owls that live in a cage together. Samson & Delilah are so beautiful and totally owl shaped owls. They were hard to get a good photo of because they were hanging out in the back of the cage on this cold January day. I asked Bri if she goes into that cage and she said only when she has to. These two owls have dedicated their lives to caring for ANY baby bird brought into the society. They are very loving and know just how to rear a baby that can be released into the wild. This ability causes them to be extra protective of their space, and they have been known to attack if you enter their cage. I say those scars are a badge of dedication to be worn with honour.

I asked all sorts of questions, like the hard one - they are birds of prey, do they get fed live stuff? The answer is yes they do. And the things they are fed are raised just for these birds. They are raised without medication, and live happy healthy lives until they are fed to the birds. They collect toilet paper rolls and stuff to put in the mouse cages so they have a nice life, before they have what the Buddhists would refer to as- a Sky burial... even though these wonderful birds in particular can't get to the sky I like to believe it still counts.

This pretty female Snowy Owl wanted to show me how stunning she looks with her wings all flexed up so when I was alone at her cage taking a few pictures, she posed for a nice shot. I had no idea that these birds burrow on the ground. All this time I have been wandering the forests looking for owls, and many of them spend a of of time on the forest floor!

I was working on a wonderful little island called Bowen, and returning from the landscape center around 5PM when I saw a Barred Owl on a Hydro wire. I stopped the car on the side of the road, jumped out, and took a few shots. I was standing right under him snapping away. He was eyeing something rustling in the grass about a foot from my boot. I left before I bothered him too much. I was so stoked to see him. I look for him each time I round that corner, but have not seen him since.

Jerry's Cove- Where's that at?

I love Canada. That's why I recently voted against the 'person responsible' for running my country right now. (That's in quotes, because I am not sure if he's actually human, and quite sure he is irresponsible.) I worship nature. I am inspired by it, and in awe of it. In Canadian nature, anyone can easily find beauty in it practically everywhere you look, without even trying. But like a lot of other places on the planet, Corporations are really compromising the natural state of everything and I am not sure that my elected officials are doing enough to protect this beautiful country, or planet.

Maybe you heard about it maybe not - but there is a catastrophic oil spill going on in Alberta. In April a major pipeline broke and made a huge industrial disaster. The company responsible 'apologized' & A$$hole running our country put a media gag on it until after the election. So as not to rile the constituants, and because he is down and dirty with off-shore drilling and digging deep to suck our planet dry for personal profit. An oil slick, right smack dab in the middle of wilderness, in a precious marsh, and in the middle of breeding time. Clean-up is not happening as fast as the locals who do worship their land need it to be happening. I won't go into a huge rant about the TAR SANDS, I am attempting to keep this light hearted - but I also want to be informative. Any words you see in my blog that are coloured differently than the usual text can be CLICKED on for further detail...

Now back to today:

Today was yet another day we loaded the dogs into Jill's car and went to Jerry's Cove, commonly known as Jericho Beach. This is the place where everyone in my family loves to come. The dogs can run, Sparrow can chase sticks, Hawksley is off leash most of the time, unless we see a Bald Eagle, then he's on leash. We come here a lot, it's glorious. There's a huge duck pond with a beaver family living in it and building dams all over the place. And right now, it's baby bird time!

You can go here and walk right past the ponds to the beach and spend your time looking at the water or walking the shores, that's what I've been doing for the past 19 years, anyway. Tossing tennis balls or sticks for Alice or- now for Sparrow. Or you can come during Folk Fest and not even recognize the place because of the stages, and food booths, and throngs of people/folk.

It is just recently that I have actually gone out of my way to see birds and watch and photograph them. Much to Sparrow's chagrin, the distraction from me playing with him is not something he is impressed by. I have always noticed birds - of course and watched them or whatever, but now we go specifically to watch the habits of the birds around the pond and get some good pictures. This is all because of Mr. & Mrs. & Mrs Flicker across the street probably. They demanded my attention and my camera, then it became like a challenge to get a decent shot of the birds I see. Then one day at Jericho a Red-Winged Blackbird landed on Eliza's hand and started eating seeds!

She walked up to the edge of the pond and held out her hand and this male RWBB just landed right on her fingers. He had followed her from back near the little wooden bridge and sung a few songs at her. She had the feeling he would eat from her hand, and so she tried - he didn't hesitate a second. We returned to this spot for few days taking their photos, attempting to feed them again. Might have been more successful without the truffling Pug & Frisbie focused Border Collie...

I got some nice shots though. Months later I was there alone and a female landed on my hand and had a few seeds. Her little feet were cold and soft, she held on tight to my thumb and forefinger and ate some seeds for about forty-five seconds before flying off into the rushes. They are delightful.

Today, we saw so many different birds. It was noisy with birds. Probably because we haven't seen the sun the way we should be so they are taking advantage of the warm light and getting out of the nest. We were particularly lucky to see a Belted Kingfisher! He was hunting, and first caught my eye when he plunged into the water and emerged with a giant frog in his beak. He darted out of the water and up into the Willow hanging over the water and quickly swallowed the entire morsel of whoever that was.

Eliza stayed back with the dogs an dI wandered up slowly. He was too busy hunting to even care about me taking his photo. I took these pictures, and left him to hunt. We watched a crow chase him back and forth across the pond a few times and then he took off fast. The crow thought he won that battle, but the Kingfisher came all the way around the forest a few minutes later and started hunting from the Willow all over again.

This day at Jerry's Cove was just another day at the beach for us. How lucky are we? Lucky enough to know I have to pay attention to nature, and what my impact is on it. I want to be able to continue to have these days. Even after the catastrophe in Japan. So for all these beautiful birds that need clean water, I say NO to off-shore drilling, and NO to endless consumption of fossil fuel. We have the capacity to make great change. Let's just get at it already... start by going out into nature. See all that you have to lose.