Capital Giraffe – adventures of a washingtonian – Page 6

Birding at Home

February 19th, 2019

Hector and I had promised Louisa that we would take her to the National Arboretum on Saturday to do some bird watching. Unfortunately, Louisa got the flu, poor kid. She was very unhappy about having to cancel our outing.

I tried to comfort my sister by promising we would go as soon as she was well again, but Louisa would not be comforted. She whined in that pathetic, stuffed-up, nasal voice one has when one is sick and complained that everything was HORRIBLE and that she was SO DISSAPOINTED she might DIE.

Then I had an idea and it was brilliant, if I do say so myself.

“What if we could go birding in your room, Louisa? Would that make you feel better?” I asked.

She thought about that for a minute.

“Are you bringing me a pet cockatoo?” Louisa asked in response, sounding pretty darned excited all of a sudden.

“Er… no,” I answered. “But I have an idea. Gimme an hour, okay?”

I got to work and ran over to Auntie NuNu’s house. I asked NuNu if I could borrow her tablet. Auntie NuNu said sure and got it all set up for me. Then I went to my parents’ place and set the tablet up in Louisa’s room.

“That’s not a cockatoo,” Louisa whined miserably.

“I told you I wasn’t bringing you one, silly. But this will be fun. I promise.” I kissed my sister’s feverish forehead and told her to watch the screen.

“What is this? This stinks!” Louisa screeched as we watched an empty bird’s nest wave around a little in the breeze.

“It’s the National Arboretum Bald Eagle Nest Cam! We can birdwatch right here in your room! This is awesome. Trust me. Two Bald Eagles live here,” I said as I pointed at the screen. “Just keep watching. The eagles are fixing their nest up and preparing for the arrival of some new chicks. They’ll be home again soon, I swear.”

The livestream was, admittedly, pretty dull just then as the eagles were not home. The show doesn’t get really good until the chicks hatch and as of now the eggs haven’t even been laid. But it was birdwatching and we were in her room. Louisa harrumphed then watched the screen.

Alas, it was a while before anything of interest happened. Then one of the eagles finally came home with a fish and settled down to eat it. I looked over at Louisa to see what she thought now that one of the birds was home, but she hadn’t noticed. Louisa had fallen to sleep.
Immigrants Just Like You and Me

February 12th, 2019

My great-great-grandparents moved here from Africa. If you live in the United States, chances are your ancestors moved here from another land just like mine did.

The European Starling, which one sees with great frequency here, was brought to this continent by a Shakespeare enthusiast in 1890. Shakespeare was a human who wrote plays a long, long time ago. English-speaking humans revere him and apparently Shakespeare mentioned starlings in one of his plays.

European Starlings have flourished here and they now live from sea to shining sea. You have probably seen one yourself: they are about the size of an American Robin, but are a glossy black with a metallic sheen that, depending on the light, looks green or blue or purple to my eye.

The other day, just as the sun was going down, I passed a massive flock of European Starlings settling down for the night in the branches of neighboring oak trees. What a cacophony they made! I rarely hear such a ruckus. They seemed to be having quite the party and they sure did look like they were having fun.

Their camaraderie put me in the mood to go have fun with my own friends and family and so I asked Hector if he wanted to go to my parents’ place for dinner, which is just what we did.
The Carnivores – Part Two

February 5th, 2019

As promised, I went to Auntie NuNu’s to try to see the bird of prey she claims is menacing her little dog, Ava. My strategy was simple: I took Ava out into the yard to act as bait. While we waited for a bird of prey to show up, I tried to enjoy what is left of the formerly-fantastic birding in Auntie NuNu’s garden.

Ava spent the whole time we were outside terrorizing house sparrows. As soon as she scared one off, the puppy was off like a shot to chase another one. Occasionally Ava sat on the grass to catch her breath, her pink tongue lolled out of her mouth and panting. But even then she did not stop hunting – it seemed to me I could see her mind working to figure out how to get up into the tree branches in order to continue the chase.

We were outside for quite a long time without seeing any birds of prey. But then, at about 4 pm, I saw a red-shouldered hawk soar into view. I wondered if that was the bird Auntie NuNu was worried about as I watched it fly right on by. That was the only action I have to report.

I informed NuNu that if she was worried about that bird, there was no need. My understanding is that red-shouldered hawks cannot carry more than their own body weight, which is a mere 1.5 pounds. Ava may have been an appropriate dinner for a red-shouldered hawk when she was closer to newborn status, but she now weighs ten pounds, which is too much for the bird to be able to fly off with.

I have no way of knowing if the red-shouldered hawk I saw is the bird Auntie NuNu is worried about. Perhaps the next time I go to her house I will see another kind of bird of prey. I will let you know if I do!

XOXO,
Bernice
The Carnivores – Part One

January 29th, 2019

My assistant, Auntie NuNu, has a teensy dog named Ava living with her these days. NuNu, Grandma and Granddad, who live just outside the city, absolutely love the little 17-week-old carnivore.

Ava is awfully cute, but I am not a big fan of hers as she is absolutely ruining the birdwatching in their garden. The garden used to be a suburban bird paradise. There are plenty of trees, many of which produce berries that last throughout winter for birds to eat. There is a fountain to bathe in and to drink from. There are something like 200 birds’ nests in the trees there – which speaks to just how idyllic the garden was.

Was – past tense – because the new resident of the house sees a bird and thinks: lunch.

Ava is a little terror. She is a Scottish Terrier. Does the word terrier come from the word terror? That seems likely to me, but I do not know. I will look it up. I’ll be right back!

Okay, I looked it up and terrier does not mean terror. Le sigh. It’s from the French: chien terrier, which means dog of the earth. To be fair, that is also an appropriate name for the little dog as Ava is a digger. She adores digging holes in the dirt.

But I digress.

Auntie NuNu told me that Ava is being menaced by a large bird of prey. I confess that when she told me about it, I thought turnabout is fair play, but NuNu loves the little beast and is quite worried. I told her I would come over and monitor the situation. I figure I will be able to either put NuNu’s mind at ease or warn her that Ava is indeed in danger.

I’ll let you know what happens in my next post.

XOXO,
Bernice
Home Sweet Home

January 22nd, 2019

The weather has been absolutely frightful and I found myself craving a good gallon or two of steamy-hot, green tea. I picked up my favorite kind and decided to go to my parents’ place to see if they would like some too.

As luck would have it, my parents were making my favorite salad for dinner. They had purchased a few hundred pounds of acacia leaves earlier in the day, so there was enough to go around. For a couple of days anyway.

Louisa, my much-younger sister, was super excited to try the special giraffe’s blend of tea I brought so we made that while my parents prepared the salad. Louisa grimaced after she took her first sip and said she did not like the tea AT ALL. I told her it was an acquired taste and suggested she try it again.

At the moment Louisa’s favorite word is NO. And yes, that’s NO in capital letters. My sister speaks many words in all caps these days. My sister told me she thought the idea of acquiring a taste was just plain-old SILLY and that she had absolutely NO intention of liking the tea EVER.

“Alright, alright, settle down, missy,” my dad said to her with a smile.

“It’s time to eat your dinner, Louisa,” my mom added.

Three of us filled our tummies with salad and tea.

One of us just had salad.

We were all satisfied.
Appearances Can Be Deceiving

January 15th, 2019

Hector and I were out for a walk, noshing appetizing leaves we saw along the way. We moseyed with no particular destination in mind, as is our wont.

After a while we came upon a tree that was covered in berries even though it had lost all its leaves for winter. There were something like one hundred American Robins perched in the branches, busily eating the fruit.

“How huge they are!” Hector said to me, admiring the robins’ portly physiques. “I’ve never seen such obese birds. These robins must have fattened up for winter, don’t you think, Bernice?”

The robins did indeed appear quite heavy, but appearances can be deceiving. I explained to Hector that the birds were not fat at all – they had puffed out their feathers to keep warm. Did you know that birds do that? Birds use the heat from their bodies to warm the air between their feathers. Isn’t that interesting?

It seems like such small creatures would not be able to stay warm when it is very cold outside, doesn’t it? However, air is an excellent insulator and those of our feathered friends who choose not to travel south for the winter are indeed able to keep themselves warm.

Hector and I stayed by the tree for a while and admired the robins’ rust-colored chests. Then we decided we had better get back to fattening ourselves up for winter!

It sure is cold here in D.C.! Is it cold where you are?
Giraffe’s Eye View

January 8th, 2019

I am sure it will come as a huge surprise that I find baby birds absolutely adorable. I know… I know… kittens, puppies, hatchlings: it’s so unusual to find these creatures cute! I am a real outlier here, folks!

I am sixteen feet tall, did you know that? My height gives me a big advantage when it comes to finding and observing baby birds. I am often able to see right into nests. Some birds build their homes way too far up in the treetops for me to see into, but an awful lot of birds build at or below my line of sight.

The other day I stopped by a pine tree some blue jays nested in last year. The nest is still there, though it is not occupied at the moment. I wonder if the blue jays will return in the Spring? I’ll keep you posted!

Last year the mama blue jay laid four speckled eggs in early May. I stopped by every day for almost three weeks to see if the chicks had pecked their way out of their shells yet and then one day they finally did! There were four naked, shaky, teensy baby birds huddled together where the eggs had been.

The mama and papa brought food to the nest many times a day to feed the hatchlings. Blue jays love nuts and insects. I watched the papa feed his chicks a few fat caterpillars one day.

Blue Jays grow quickly. After a few weeks their feathers grew in and the hatchlings were easily recognizable as the blue jays they were. They all left the nest three short weeks after they hatched. But what a glorious three weeks those were! I was lucky enough to be able to watch them grow into strong birds who were ready to spread their wings and fly.
New Year, New Blog

January 1st, 2019

Happy New Year! It’s hard to believe it’s 2019. Remember when everyone was talking about Y2K? No? You weren’t born yet, you say? I see. Well, don’t worry about it. That was a whole lotta fuss over nothing. But I digress – back to the present!

Hello. My name is Bernice and I have decided to start a blog so that I can share my adventures with the world. I love to explore and I am a passionate birder, so you can expect me to blog a lot about birding. I love my hometown of Washington, D.C., but I also love to travel.

My best friend is named Hector. He is not a passionate birder, nor does he love to travel, but he is passionate about me and so he usually tags along on my adventures. We had a great New Year’s Eve celebration last night. There was a crescent moon. Did you see it?

I just thought I would introduce myself today, so I’ll keep it short for now, but before I go: I would like to thank my dear friend, Auntie NuNu, for her typing and illustration assistance on this project.

Finally, this blog is dedicated to Ella and Abby, two very special humans who warm the cockles of my heart.

XOXO,
Bernice