Baldies abound!"Life forward" update: Matty has an interview on December 5 at Sonoma State! He's one of five candidates being interviewed. They've asked him to stay the weekend as well so he can look around--which means they really want him! He's very excited, and so am I! I'm not out buying a field guide for western birds just yet, but this could really happen!
I was checking the weather there this morning, after coming into work in 22-degree cold:
Not bad, not bad at all! I could certainly deal with such mild winter temperatures. (Actually, I really don't mind the cold as long as it's snowing. If it's gonna be wintry and cold, bring on teh snow!) It's probably not very humid out there either. Wonder how hot it gets in the summer--any West Coasters out there?Meanwhile, a friend of mine is suffering a bird-related problem: a mockingbird has taken up a perch right outside his bedroom window. And the mocker sings all night. Poor David looks sleepy all the time now, and he's threatened to buy a gun. When I looked aghast, he claimed it was "just to scare him!" Uh-huh. Any suggestions?
I just got invited to a winter birding trip with my atlassing friend Roana and her birding parents as well as some other people in the State College Birding Club. We'll be going to Ocean City, MD, and the Delaware area. It's not until February, so I'll be able to take some vacation days (mine for this year are all used up!) and relax, leaving Friday and returning sometime late Monday. Maybe I'll even be able to hook up with my friends Liz and Jeff Gordon in Delaware! However, I don't think I'll be driving, so it'll be a matter of where we are and when. More about this trip as it gets closer.
Meanwhile, not a lot of bird action, but we've definitely been having the cold. Here's a snowcloud snowing at sundown onto downtown State College, as seen from near my workplace in Pleasant Gap:
I took this with my phone camera from my moving car, so pardon the quality. Right at the base of the snow, you can see the lights of Beaver Stadium.I tried to pull over for a better photo, but a bunch of cars were behind me and they didn't seem to get that flashers mean "go on by!" I didn't want someone to stop behind me and come to my window and say, "are ya broke down there, little lady?" (I HATE being called "little lady"--that's the fastest way to a swift kick in the crotch from me), so I slowed down a little, opened my window, and shot a couple of photos. Still it was a cool scene, watching the snow in the sunset. It almost looks like a huge tornado, doesn't it?
15 comments:
Hi Delia--
Keep us posted about February--hope it works out!
Jeff
Your snow cloud picture is a fine picture--and yes, it does look like a tornado formation.
Well, you'll be a traveling soul, won't you. I was going to say--a traveling little lady, but didn't want a crotch kick, even though I don't have the balls for it.
Oh, but the cold is great for hawk banding. All that cold weather in your area is sending the red-tails down to us.
Ocean City and the Delaware coast can be very good in February. Check those jetties at Indian River Inlet very carefully for harlequins.
Hi Delia,
if you should end up in Northern CA, email me at fholbrookatcableone.net and I can put intouch with a really great group of birders in Western Marin Co.
Ooooh. California would be nice! I got in trouble this morning when I was taking pictures out of the moving car window. I rolled the window down and told Resident Evil that I would take only one picture. (she was hollering about the cold.) I took two pictures instead of one.
She still hasn't forgiven me.
I love this, Delia.
NO ONE actually called you "little lady" and you are still bitching about it. My kind of gal.
Know what I hate? People calling me "honey". Waitresses, clerks....I want to grab their hand and say, "You want to lose some of your fingers, f***er?"
But I digress.
Sonoma....tell Dr. Matty McMatterson I am hoping he lands a BIG ONE. But....sniff...it's so FAR.
That's a Western Bald Eagle .. you don't have any Coho Salmon out your way! It's an omen ....
Sonoma can get warm in the summer but generally it is good. Besides, too hot? Head for the coast.. you got an invite to west Marin County .. it does not get better than that.
I know I should make a comment that is bird-related but I just had to add my 2 cents to the being called "honey" thing. So:
I absolutely cannot stand the latest trend of people, including strangers, calling me "honey, sweetie, or dear". I know they mean well, but it's all I can do to not blow. For us women, we get a double whammy of it from both sexes. At least the guys only have to hear it from women.
Just when I'm finally beginning to feel like an adult some clerk twice as young as me calls me "Hon".
Whew. Thank you.
I love that bald eagle shot at the top of your post.
And good luck to whereever you move.
After working at a gay bar in Oklahomo, I got in the (admittedly, bad) habit of calling guys "Hon" and "Sugar". I never quite got into trouble after leaving the gay bar world, but there were a few close calls.
Jeff--will do--I'm really hoping I get to see you both.
KGMom--thanks, and lol!
John--glad to help you out!
Rick--thanks! I'll keep you in my address book. I'm going to have to learn so many new birds, though--I'm a little scared!
DCup--Tell ResE it'll build her character, toughen her up. That sweet little evil cupcake!
Susan--hee hee! There's always something to bitch about! I don't even mind "honey" and "sweetie" most of the time--it's just "little lady" that drives me into a kicking rage. I know it's far.... sniffle!
Rabbits' Guy--cool! it's a sign! And thanks for the invite--we could have a bunny play date!
EHunter--I hear ya, sister. It's just so demeaning.
Earl--Oklahomo!? LOL!!! First I thought it was a typo, then I read it again! Wow. Well, being called "hon'" by a cutie like you wouldn't make me mad.
You make me laugh, Delia. Yeah, kick'em!
You won't believe our record-setting lows down here. We expect teens overnight this weekend. I feel like I'm up north again!
Lots going on - enjoy your trip!
Mary
If y'all actually make it to CA, I will buy you birding books as a welcome to CA/housewarming gift.
As far as the little lady comment goes, I have lots of Southern family, so I've learned to look at the context of little lady/hon/sweetiepie usage before I nutpunch someone. Knowing is half the battle (or so GI Joe says).
-Christine
It doesn't get that cold in Sonoma, and it very rarely snows. Once your blood thins and you get used to California weather, 40 degrees will seem intolerable and actual freezing weather is apocalyptic.
I gots fambly up in that area.
We have lots of bird action down here now that all the northern birds have returned for the winter or are stopping off on their journey down to South America.
We are seeing a bald eagle over our house on a fairly regular basis. Maybe next spring we'll have a nest near by.
As for you friend and the mocking bird. Maybe try one of those plastic owls somewhere near by. It might work but I don't know.
Mary--brrrrr!!!
Christine--you know, it's weird--I can stand "hon'" and "sweetie" and all that; it's just something about "little lady" that steams me. Maybe it's because I'm so tall?
Matty Boy--no doubt, I'll become a thin-blooded person in no time. I've now become so cold-tolerant that I can wear shorts in 50-degree weather up here. But I'm sure that will change in CA.
PoP--no doubt you're getting great birds in FLA now! I'll tell David about the plastic owl. Maybe that will help. Better than bullets!
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