Clouds, Asphalt, and Northern Mockingbirds

Clouds

This afternoon was one of those days with heavy air trying to rain, but doesn't get around to it. The clouds on days like this are spectacular, high-rising thunderheads that along with the heavy, still air give everything else a subdued mood. When looking west towards sunset on days like this, there can be a golden tinge to the edges of the puffy white-colored water suspended in sky. Other than a few large drops of rain that fell while I was walking out to my car after work, there were no other results from Beltsville to Annapolis during the commute home. But when I was walking away from my office building, a friendly Northern Mockingbird tempted me to bring out my pocket camera - dropping down from a tree to the grass, luring me after it, jumping into a shrub, and then to a window ledge on the building before flying off when I got too close. The mockingbird is a regular to the grounds at the Carver Center, often singing other bird songs from high up in the trees that are no older than the grounds around the building, or from the tops of the parking

Northern Mockingbird

lot light post that are white-washed white from the droppings left behind by these birds perched there where singing their serenades. It is funny how I never see a Northern Mockingbird in our backyard, or on our street, but just around the block at the intersection of Bay Ridge Road and Bay Ridge Avenue, regular sightings can be made. It isn't more than 880 yards as the crow flies from our back yard to the intersection, but it is a world away for these birds. They seem to like an asphalt habitat, like that found in parking lots and at busy intersections.

Night Winter Moon - Almost

Almost a winter moon - 12/09/2011

On the way out the door for dinner, the moon was rising through the trees that just a few weeks ago still had some leaves. I had to turn around and turn off the alarm so I could get my camera to take this shot - no tripod, steadied on the door jam, being sure the moon flare on the lens was centered on the white disc. When the moon is full, and the tide high, the City Dock area in downtown Annapolis always floods. The tide mustn't be high tonight - no sign of water flooding the low-lying streets that rest just above water level as it is under a full moon, this twelfth day before the start of the Twelve Days of Christmas.

A few mornings ago, I was late getting going after having a video conference call with research partners in China the night before. But since I was still around the house as the bird activity picked up after  

White-throated Sparrow - First winter

sunrise time, it was nice to see White-throated Sparrow Wednesday morning - picking around on the ground looking for a few seeds that had not already be pecked out of their shells. The morning was dark because of the clouds and rain, but colors on the sparrows seemed to stand out because their feathers were wet. The white spot on the throat and the yellow-colored lores. Like the moon peaking through the barren tree branches, this sparrow was making its way around the bare twigs on the crepe myrtle whose round berry-like seed pods are all that is left of summer. Those pods will be picked apart next summer when the northern migration begins again.

Winter Wonder Neverland

The Great Big Digout
Record snowfall closes schools, leaves roads treacherous
December 21, 2009

As the region continued to emerge from the weekend's record December snowstorm, much of Anne Arundel County remained shut down today. Public schools, Anne Arundel Community College and courthouses were closed. City and county government opened late this morning, and most federal workers were excused from going to the office. And plowing crews struggled to clear roadways. "I would urge county residents to exercise caution," County Executive John R. Leopold said this morning. "The roads are still treacherous." Leopold said it could take until tomorrow night before all residential streets are passable. He said the county has 300 people and 200 trucks working 12-hour shifts to clear the roads. "We're doing everything we can," he said. As Saturday's snowy whiteout gave way to a sun-sparkled world yesterday morning, locals began the next stage of coping with the biggest snowstorm in years: digging out. Plows scraped major roads while, up and down residential streets, families armed with snow gear cleared cars, driveways and walkways, tossing showers of powder into the air. Elisabeth Hulette, Staff Writer, The Annapolis Capital
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It is one of those mysteries...how do these little critters survive the great outdoors, especially when everything gets covered with a beach-thick blanket of snow. As a follow up to the Finding Neverland fauna inventory, the principals right after our record snowfall were: the Gray Squirrel and Black Squirrel (1), Blue Jay, House Sparrow, and Dark-eyed Junco. I heard a crow calling from the junipers in the next door neighbor's yard (2), and caught glimpses of one flying far off in the sky beyond our backyard fence. Two weekends before, we had a little bit of snow fall, and a Carolina Wren picking at our suet feeder (note the feeder on the right of the pole in the photograph to the left). The birds seem to come in waves, leaving the feeder alone most of the day. The squirrel dig down into the the snow, and peak out and about...constantly being vigilant. Like in summer, the messy blue jays are a part of the food cycle for the squirrels, scattering seeds from the feeder above down to the snow below where the ground feeders find them and feast.

It was a good weekend for being buttoned down in our house. The snow just kept falling and falling - it started around 7:00 Friday evening right as we got back home after finishing Christmas shopping, was more than a blanket by Saturday morning, and continued to come down throughout the rest of the day. Even after digging out the front door landing and rock step walk down our front yard, and clearing off the cars parked on the street on Saturday, it was more than worth the money to pay four fellows who knocked on the door Sunday morning for a half hour of their services clearing off the drive way and sidewalks, while I again cleaned the snow off of the cars. Darrel - who also has a lawn business in summer - his son Darrel, his brother, and another fellow named Larry (unlike the the three brothers from the Newhart television show)(3), said I was the first customer of the day. It is funny how a number of my neighbors complimented me later about the time I saved compared to what they were then facing after having themselves turned down the crew earlier....and asking how much I had paid....and after barely making a dent in their own piles of snow, commenting that they would catch the crew the next time they came around.
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(1) The Black Squirrel can be traced back to 18 Canadian squirrels that were released at the National Zoo during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. For more information, see the Washington Post article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/18/AR2005051802251.html

(2) A couple of months ago while we had a work team retreat in western Maryland. Rick, one of my co-workers, has been a birder since 7, so we agreed to show up at the retreat with binoculars and go birding. After arriving and having dinner, we planned to get up early for a bird "watching" walk.

Early morning rendezvous'd
and so learn'd
bird watching is more about listening
than looking

(3) The Darrel's and Larry were as unlike the three brothers Larry and Darrel's from the Newhart Show, as a sitcom set in rural New England Vermont is from real-world Mid-Atlantic Maryland on a snowy weekend in December. Hard work, cash payment, and a satisfied patron with a cleared driveway and sidewalk, with not a care for the rest of the day. For a taste of the fictional Vermont Larry and Darrel's, go to the link at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwYw2i2icNg