Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Birds & 2nd Dinosaur Age

Birds?

I'm not a "bird watcher" but I love to watch them. Sometimes I wonder if they're an omen or portent as some of our ancestors used to believe.

Friday night I turned onto Jackson St. in Northampton, and there's a car stopped in the middle of my right lane. As I started to pass and curse the driver under my breath, I realized that about 3 feet in front of the car is an owl sitting there on the road watching us all. From my quick glance I'd say it may have been a barred owl. Instead of cursing, I ended up being grateful to the attentive driver. I'd guess if the owl was there as a warning, it was a private message for the driver and not for me.

However, Saturday was different. I was standing in our yard half watching our 2 bunnies playing near the fence when out of the corner of my eye I realized a large bird was flying down not 4 feet from me about eye level. It happened too fast for me to identify it, either an owl or more probably a small hawk - wingspan of approx. 3 feet. It did not seem to be on an attack dive, there was no swooshing or anything. Then it immediately headed up on a pine tree across the driveway. I tried to get closer for a better look but it took off. What was that all about?

Fortunately it never saw our buns nor did they see it. So I guess it was there for me to piece together. At the moment, I figure it was our friend Teddy saying hello from the other side.

While I'm at it, these don't seem to have any cosmic significance on the forecasting horizon, but last week there was a pileated woodpecker on the tree right outside the house. Of course it was gone by the time I got the camera. It was quite striking looking though with its red head contrasted against the snowy field just behind it. AND in other bird news I saw 4 wild turkey over on Harkness Rd.

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Interested in a relic from the 2nd Dinosaur Age?

Currently offering the following on Ebay ...
Vintage Texaco Motor Oil 5 gallon can

How much am I bid on this piece of history? Evolved from dinosaurs and soon to be relegated to a museum. One day you'll be taking your grandkids to a museum and you'll see an oil can artifact such as this and say, "I remember when cars were run on fuels made from old dinosaur fossils." And your grandkids will respond, "How quaint grandpa!"
More info at:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130197234385&_trksid=p3907.m32&_trkparms=tab%3DSelling

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