Drama On Pleasant View Road

Took the mutt for a quick after dinner stroll, but we had barely left the property when drama struck.

I heard peeping. Henry detected the source before I could even focus. A small grayish chick flopped about in the road. Feathers enough to flop about and really wear the mantle of " bird" but helpless enough to quiver at the huge set of teeth that is the omnivore poodle-boy Henry.

To complicate matters I heard a car approaching. To put it in perspective- I can hear a car approaching as it turns off the main road about 1/4 mile away. This noise is not to be confused with the other parallel road. I can also hone in on the whereabouts of any horse carriages tracing the loop by the echo of their hooves. All of this to highlight that this is a lightly traveled area where traffic is quite predictable.

Like Dudley Doright helping Nell tied to the track, I had ample opportunity to plan my rescue and execute it. I fumbled to tie my dog to the neighbors mail post. (Henry looked at this peeping bundle as an after dinner snack.) I dropped the lead twice but managed to get the task done. I looked up to see lights approaching so I ran into the road. The car slowed and I was able to shoo the bird to the side where it got tangled in the grass- wings akimbo.

I looked at its greenish tinge and thought baby Yellow Throat, but I looked up to see two common Sparrows fidgeting in the tree.

As exciting as this drama was I have learned to walk away. I did all I can do. I gave the baby bird another chance. It either figured out how to use its wings or it became a meal for the kitties next door. There is little else I can do to change the course of nature.

Life is hard all over.

Killer Dog

I chose to park in a slightly different place that morning, thus changing my walk into work routine ever so slightly. Some construction has filled up the small side street where my business is located so I was a little distracted by the internal cursing in my head. "Why don't they ever think about the businesses they are disrupting? Would it kill them to not park all three major pieces of heavy equipment right in front of my entrance? If all 4 city workers choose to eat lunch on my stoop again complete with folding chairs and coolers spread out I am going to have to say something."

I barely noticed the small tug at the end of the leash tethering my precious little pooch Henry, but I did notice the shark like snap and cloud of feathers around him. Crunch, crunch. He was rolling the still peeping body of a sparrow around in his mouth trying to get a little traction to swallow the mouthful of bird. I don't know what I was thinking but I wrestled the bird from his mouth and left it on the sidewalk. Did I really think it would make it after such a mauling?

I know it is the way of the world... not so much eat or be eaten, but eat AND be eaten. There is many an animal in the woods who would make a quick snack of Henry or even me. But to be present at the dispatching is a little troubling. Was it cruel? No, it was swift and sure. It was also all instinct on his part. Food presented itself and he partook. I ,too, am a meat eater and understand that it means one less sentient creature in order to stoke my body. It is just one of those thoughts that rolls around and around in my head, not making sense.

And then I had chicken for dinner.

More Painting With Words

This is an amended post. No point in doing another when I am only expanding a thought. 1/23/2009

• I saw 4 Sandhill Cranes this morning hanging out at a street corner, like they were waiting for a bus. It was pretty exciting as I haven't really seen that many since I lived in New Mexico. Even funnier- they were waiting to take their turn at a bird feeder in someones backyard. They are very polite eaters. They look like they are wearing a bustle with their flight and tail feathers all bunched up in the back. It must be difficult to look so noble and goofy at once.
• It is a little disconcerting to be walking through a landscape, no matter how domesticated, where there are giant lizards who would like to eat you.
• Saw a Moorhen (Gallinule) this morning. Yesterday I saw a Wood Stork, Bald Eagle and Osprey with a fish in its talons. And I might have seen a flock of White Ibis, but I am not sure. Apparently they are common here, quite social (thus a flock) and have black tipped wings. They were flying over head and gave me a good look at their black tips. Such flirts!
• Spent a little time on a small bridge over the canal system here, watching the waders feed. A Little Blue Heron was patiently fishing in the reeds and muck. It slowly lifts its legs and slowly places them back down. Its head craned forward away from its legs, going side to side to better see movement. With a quick dart of its beak it snapped up a shrimp. A Snowy Egret nearby splashed over to check out the action. It moved too quickly and followed the Heron everywhere until the Heron finally gave up and went someplace else to fish. It reminded me of doing something that requires patience with a three year old- impossible!
• Pelicans are not so much birds as aircraft. They seem too unbalanced to ever get in the air, but once they are up, they are imposing. They fly in formation, wing tip to wing tip like a military squadron. Then they peel off to make a dive at a fish. The seagulls come around to harry them. Hoping to make them drop the fish. They go so far as to land on the backs of the Pelicans. I love to watch them.

All these birds- I miss my dog!