Kudos to Darren and Steve for sparking this neat thread. I’ll add my own ten in turn, putting a Louisiana spin on the list and ratcheting it down even further with birds commonly seen on my way to work. Common they may be, but these Louisiana natives meet the Ten Bird theme being both beautiful …
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The Curse of the Ten Bird Meme
A little note of explanation: Steve spent considerable effort scanning images and compiling the text for his three posts below. But due to the strange and improbable machinations of the Web, Steve is unable to post pics from home; Reid and I do the honors, which is (almost) never a problem. This time neither of …
“Ten Birds” Part 3
The Roadrunner, Geococcyx californianus, is everyone’s sentimental favorite Southwestern mascot. Of course, they are not much like the cartoon version– I think they are the most dinosaur- like of the non- avian dinosaurs that I know. They eat EVERYTHING– lizards, snakes, small birds like House finches. When I try to imagine how a Deinonychus moves, …
“Ten Birds” Part 2
You didn’t think they wouldn’t have a section to themselves? The Barbary Falcon, Falco pelegrinoides. Also known in the eastern part of its immense range (North Africa to Mongolia, though only in deserts), where it is larger, as the Red- Naped Shahin– or, a name fans of my dogs would know– “Lashyn”. This photo is …
“Ten Birds” Part 1
NOTE: These posts are listed under my name but written by Steve. We had a hell of a time getting them posted….technical difficulties! MATT Recently Darren introduced me to the meme “Ten Beautifully Interesting Birds”. I was challenged! Being as I am a hard- core Bird Guy, there is no way I can pick only …
Nojoqui Falls
Over the weekend, I finally got to visit Nojoqui Falls, located in a Santa Barbara County Park, off of Highway 101, just north of Gaviota. It’s one of those places I’ve driven past a hundred times and finally took the time to stop and look.The falls are not only pretty, but interesting geologically. They are …
Fire Season
It has started here. I don’t know if you can see clearly, but the white specks on the window and trim of my car are wood ash. Last week we awoke one morning to find our cars covered with ash that had blown in overnight from a fire about 40 miles north of us near …
“Sunbirds and Cashmere Spheres”
Pluvialis has another superb essay up. Here, she is describing Bearded “tits” (which are not tits): “Those pictures fail to show how glamorous these small birds are. They look like they’re made of cashmere. Very very expensive cashmere. And are wearing long, black velvet evening gloves. Their tiny waxen beaks resemble the heads of all-weather …
A Little Food Blogging for the Weekend
Prairie Mary sent a review of Bill Buford’s excellent new book Heat, which describes how a fancy New York editor (The New Yorker, Granta) decides to learn to be a Tuscan butcher under the influence of Mario Battali. Italians and others from Catholic cultures (Battali blurbed the hilarious Bad Catholic’s Guide to Good Living, which …
“Entering Human Lives “
A friend, a serious writer and reader of this blog, is now working on some tales of her life as an Animal Control Officer (“dogcatcher”) in a big city. Here is a tale of life at the sharp end. Take it away…. The early complaints about this case were about noise from barking dogs, a …