Hummingbird's

I thought I would post something more pleasant today. No swarming babies, just hummingbird's.

After taking a few photos of hummingbird's resting on the feeder perch, my father - an excellent photographer - said it was easy to get good shots of hummingbird's at rest. The trick, he said, was getting a good shot of a hummingbird in flight. The icing on the cake, for me was getting a shot of a hummingbird in flight just as the sun was rising.

Picked hummingbird's to post because I remembered something. I wanted to get photos of the sunrise, so I rose before anyone else one morning and waited on the deck (extended family vacation in June 2008, Bear Lake, ID). It was quiet. A good quiet. A peaceful quiet. A quiet that as the sun rose, soaked into my bones. I need to remember that. Quiet won't always be so unsettling. I just need to wait for it, look for it - I'll get there.

Pedro & Julio Siting!!!

I feel my parrots names need a wee bit of explanation. Pedro & Julio: clearly two male names. Is one a butch female ... no - my brain in the blink of a second evaluated that whenever I make assumptions I am clearly wrong, and wanting to see baby birdies made them a gay male parrot couple before I even knew what was going on. I looked up, saw two green parrots one day and out loud said "hello, Pedro and Julio". I thought it was weird also until I evaluated it and decided that it probably was the best chance I had of seeing little parrotlets. And who am I to judge - I just go with the flow of my brain which clearly:

A ) Has way to much alone, at home, time on its' hands
B ) Has disconnected from any portion of sane, logical sense that is still left up there

OK, that being said. I have not seen Pedro and Julio since before Ike. Where do parrots go during a hurricane with 70 mph winds? I don't know - I didn't see tons of dead birds on the road after so apparently they were watching the news also. I hear birds chirping in my chimney all the time - for all I know it is an Avian Evacuation Shelter - but if not, where do they go? I had assumed they just got out of town and stayed in parts unknown.

Yesterday, two familiar green birds landed on a tree outside and just sat there. To actually capture a photo of these very skittish fellows, I have to move as slow as a statue. For any of you who have seen the show Sneakers where Robert Redford has to move slowly through a room so he won't set off the alarms - Dan Ackroyds words go through my head every time: "Go real slow!!". I generally scare them off or don't get a good photo through the window. I need at least one siting during the day to raise the blinds.

They flew off and I raised the blinds. Then out of the blue - THREE green parrots alighted on my birdhouse - with one on the roof since there was no room. I froze and just watched and basically evaluated size. Nope - they were all the same size - no baby - just a tag along? In seconds the new one - looks 'fluffy' compared to Julio and Pedro - got nasty and had scared the two away. So either this is their 'child from hell' that eats way too much or a nasty friend. I named her Juanita for lack of anything else coming to my brain (and no, not because she was nasty - in all probability she is a male based on the actions of the other two, but I have way to many male names floating around already). Might just have to shuffle the names here now. I got one very poor shot off of the strange bird eating alone:

And in honor of Pedro and Julio's non-demise during Ike, I found two photos - one titled Julio and one titled Pedro (you realize I can't tell the two apart, right? - I'm insane but not REALLY insane) and thought I would post them:

Pedro

Julio

(Crazy) Bird Lady

It all started while living in Norway. My desk faced a window and I had a beautiful view of our deck and yard full of trees. One day, I saw the cutest birdhouse, and had to have it. I placed it where I could watch the birds feed - as I found out - all year round. I was smitten.

Unfortunately my Norwegian bird house met its demise one day when a huge gust of wind sent it flying off the deck.

Found a bird house for our new Texas home one day at a fair and promptly set it up - outside the window in front of my desk:

My most exotic visitors are two parrots - Julio and Pedro - yeah, I named them. They have wonderful conversations ... complete with Spanish accents and, of course completely in my head. That's when I started wondering if I am one of those creepy 'bird people'. I am not sure, but I do know that I am a 'bird house person'.

Ryan and I were picking up the corsage for his homecoming date at a florist shop and I found yet another bird house. I had to have it. My thinking was that it matched EXACTLY a bench I purchased in a small village in Norway and they were meant to be together. And, it sort of filled up the hole left by one of my ficus trees that had a branch die and left a gap that I feel is my mission to fill. The nest (complete with the cutest little eggs) did not seem to be enough, so .... a bird house:

I am pretty sure the next stage is me sitting on a park bench somewhere in tattered clothing and a bag of birdseed muttering to myself while tossing food to the birds.

***

Maybe Julio and Pedro will come visit me ....