{"id":2672,"date":"2017-02-23T09:05:02","date_gmt":"2017-02-23T15:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=2672"},"modified":"2017-02-23T09:57:41","modified_gmt":"2017-02-23T15:57:41","slug":"some-days-are-just-strange","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=2672","title":{"rendered":"Some Days Are Just Strange"},"content":{"rendered":"

Full of Surprises<\/h2>\n

Life in the country is full of surprises, and some days are just strange. \u00a0You never know what you will see or hear. \u00a0My friend Lisa and I were walking on Saturday morning and heard–as Lisa put it–“something being murdered” in the creek bed. \u00a0Screeches and squawks went on for a good minute and then suddenly stopped. \u00a0Okay, that sounds gruesome to some of you, but that’s how the life cycle works out here. \u00a0We headed toward the cries to an overlook above the creek. \u00a0We found no bodies, no evidence, \u00a0but a \u00a0much happier sight–a pair of glistening Green Kingfishers sharing a branch. \u00a0Sorry–no photo of the male, but here she is–<\/p>\n

\"\"
Green Kingfisher over the Creek<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Waterlogged<\/h2>\n

After a stormy, windy, wakeful night, I was able to go back to sleep for little while on Sunday morning. \u00a0The first bird I saw when I got up at 8 am was this unhappy, water-soaked creature. \u00a0 \u00a0The other birds around the feeder were dry, but this little one apparently missed the forecast and lost his umbrella. \u00a0Look at this face!<\/p>\n

Water-logged Sparrow Missed the Forecast<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This bird was so wet I couldn’t figure out what exactly he was. \u00a0He looked like\u00a0a newly-hatched chicken with his big head and long, wobbly legs. Head down and hungry, he ate seed after seed from the ground. \u00a0 He actually tumbled over a few times where the ground was uneven.\u00a0 I wondered if he needed a wildlife rescue. \u00a0When \u00a0a Red-shouldered Hawk flew over \u00a0the others birds scattered, but \u00a0he didn’t even look up. \u00a0 I decided to keep a close watch from the kitchen window.<\/p>\n

Other birds at the feeder apparently got the midnight weather alert.<\/p>\n

\"Mockingbird <\/a>
Mockingbird Drying Out on the Fence <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"House <\/a>
House Finch <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Northern <\/a>
Northern Cardinal, Chipping Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbirds, House Finch, Harris’s Sparrow <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

After eating for maybe twenty minutes, the wet little bird was strong enough to\u00a0\u00a0shake himself hard a few times and do some preening.<\/p>\n

Shaking it Off<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As his feathers dried, the face of a Lincoln’s Sparrow slowly emerged. \u00a0After half an hour, he was ready to fly away.<\/p>\n

Lincoln’s Sparrow<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ad Hoc Committee Meeting–On My Roof<\/h2>\n

In the late afternoon, I heard a loud scratching and thumping at the back of the house. \u00a0I imagined a creature of some sort clawing its way out from the crawl space under the house. \u00a0I slowly opened the back door and looked out. \u00a0Looking right back at me from about four feet away was the dark, scaly face of a black vulture peering down from the porch roof. \u00a0It was just his head, almost upside down. \u00a0More noise came from the \u00a0metal overhang–I imagined more vultures up there flinging a dead pig around. \u00a0I heard loud thuds and more scratching. \u00a0I quietly closed the door, grabbed my camera, slipped out the front, and went around back.<\/p>\n

Here’s what was happening on the roof of the house–<\/p>\n

\"Black
A Committee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\".A vulture gathering is called a “committee.” \u00a0I was hearing the thud of each 4-5 pound body landing, and the scratching of \u00a0large talons on metal. \u00a0There appeared to be no dead bodies involved.\u00a0 They eventually noticed me and took off in a dark flurry.\"\"<\/p>\n

Some days are just strange. \u00a0I’m glad I’m not superstitious.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Full of Surprises Life in the country is full of surprises, and some days are just strange. \u00a0You never know what you will see or hear. \u00a0My friend Lisa and I were walking on Saturday morning and heard–as Lisa put it–“something being murdered” in the creek bed. \u00a0Screeches and squawks went on for a goodContinue reading<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,22,41,12],"tags":[11,5,31,32,30,37,218,206,393,294,216],"class_list":["post-2672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bastrop-lost-pines-birds","category-bastrop-lost-pines-nature","category-lost-pines-life","category-restaurants","tag-bastrop-birds","tag-bastrop-tx","tag-bastrop-tx-birds","tag-bastrop-tx-lost-pines","tag-bastrop-wildlife","tag-birding-bastrop-tx","tag-birds-of-bastrop-tx","tag-birds-of-texas","tag-black-vulture","tag-country-life","tag-lincolns-sparrow"],"yoast_head":"\nSome Days Are Just Strange - Lost Pines Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Life in the country is full of surprises and some days are just strange. 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