This goldfinch and house finch had breakfast together on Monday. Amazing how much color the male goldfinch loses out of breeding season
Author: Reid Farmer
Couple of Food Items
The Denver Post has a short piece on one of my favorite dishes that never gets any respect – grits. Polenta always seems to feel the love, but grits never does. I don’t get it. In the course of one of its periodic anthropological expeditions, the NY Times discovers home canning and the root cellar. …
Just in Case
Mister Magpie thought he’d hang out and see if Sadie might walk away and leave that soup bone she’s gnawing. Not a chance.
Mixed Jays and Mixed Juncos
We’ve had a very warm Fall so far, and a lot of our seasonal visitors have been slow in arriving this year. A cold front bringing in snow has driven birds south and down from the mountains making a busy morning at the feeders today. I was delighted by this visiting blue jay. Those of …
Poem
WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS What are we waiting for, all gathered in the forum? The barbarians are coming today. Why is there such inertia in the Senate?Why are the senators just sitting there, not passing laws? Because the barbarians are coming today. What laws should the senators pass now? When the barbarians come they’ll draft …
Annoying
NRO tipped me to this piece in Wired on the “Top 10 Most Irritating Expressions in the English Language.” Their list: 1 – At the end of the day2 – Fairly unique3 – I personally4 – At this moment in time5 – With all due respect6 – Absolutely7 – It’s a nightmare8 – Shouldn’t of9 …
A Girl in Every Port
The estimable John Noble Wilford reports on a new DNA study that shows the Phoencians, that sea-faring race of antiquity (no, not residents of Phoenix) have had a lasting genetic imprint on Mediterranean populations. “Scientists reported Thursday that as many as 1 in 17 men living today on the coasts of North Africa and southern …
Supernatural Cleaning Methods
The NY Times has a Halloween appropriate piece on how to rid your home of ghosts and other supernatural phenomena. It reminded me of the house we rented in Denver back in the mid-1980s that had a poltergeist. Some nights we could hear him walking up the basement stairs and through the living room. I …
Tell Us How You Really Feel
One of our field biologists brought this back from an assignment monitoring some pipeline construction.
Feeder Friend
Mourning dove.