When I work from home, I take a break and go for a walk around my apartment complex to see what there is and to get some air and sun. This morning, the grackles were in rare form. As you may know, a mere few can create a din — like drunks fresh out of a bar on a Saturday night during the wee hours. If you’ve ever heard their screeching and observed their dive-bombing, you know what I’m getting at.
Overall, we don’t get anything fancy here at the property in terms of feathered visitors. We do see American robins at times, like the few I spotted a couple of months ago, With their debonair appearance and beautiful calls and songs. Lately we’ve seen more mourning doves, which are ordinary, it’s true, but definitely classier than rock pigeons. Mourning doves are low-key and have more refined eating habits, not to mention their lovely 5-syllable calls.
Other common critters around here are pretty much the usual suspects: mockingbirds and house sparrows/ house finches. And every so often, a Cooper’s hawk stops by for a bite. They always take off promptly if I don’t keep a distance of at least 15 feet or so. They otherwise perch openly on mid-level branches, from what I’ve seen. It always surprises me that a species so daunting in the bird kingdom can be so skittish. But I can’t blame them for being like that around humans.
the prickly pressed 