vs. lol-bun:
Friday, September 26, 2008
Lol-bun off
vs. lol-bun:
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
I go bald!
So of course I yanked the car over to the shoulder and started snapping!
I hoped I could get him taking flight, but he just perched there, looking majestic.
These are my first-ever photographs of a bald eagle. I've only seen one in the wild a few times, usually way too far away to get a photo. I'm getting all tingly just thinking about it.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Around the town, Part 1
Looking down Allegheny Street from the Brockerhoff House:
The Bellefonte Courthouse (Bellefonte is the county seat):
A really cool architectural feature at the corner of High St and Spring:
The corner of Allegheny and High Street, with another cool little spire thingy:
I'm doubtful that this stone was laid in 1710, but who knows?
It was laid into a stone staircase for this building:
And here's the info on the building; how (or more importantly, WHY) did a women's temperance organization erect a building?
Looking back at the corner of Allegheny and High:
I went into a neat old antique mall that is housed in a former theatre called The Plaza. There were movie posters everywhere--for Doctor Zhivago, Hello Dolly, West Side Story, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. You've all seen those things, so I focused my camera on some other highlights:
The animal kingdom was well represented...
...as were the seedier members of our society:
There were even some gifts for a certain blogger who's always wanted one of these:
A history book that McFossil is probably in, as he invented the Blackberry and all:
And a photo of a guy who's just had it:
Here's where I'll be on Friday night:
Sadly, this moron will not be there:
I wanted to pull a Matty and spit on the car, but I refrained. (And yes, that's Dr. Matty McMatterson, recent PhD in Social Psych, who spits on cars with offensive bumper stickers on them. What can I tell you? We don't call him the Gay Tasmanian Devil for nothing.)
Monday, September 22, 2008
The first day of fall
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Finally! Fotos!
So -- I finally have some pics of the new homestead. First of all, here's the Nibble eating his dinner:
Here are the various rooms in my apartment:
my big-ass kitchen:
my study:
The cool thing about the study is that it has these doors
so Niblet can't get in there and chew every single guitar and computer cord into little pieces! He's rather frustrated with me when I go in there, and he stands at the doors and scratches on the glass with his claws.
The bathroom:
My very dull bedroom:
I need some framed bird prints or something in here!
Thus endeth the inside tour. Here's some outside pics:
looking down the steps outside that lead to my "patio" of broken concrete
So--my revised bird list thus far:
American Goldfinch
House Finch
Carolina Wren (haven't heard him in a few days)
Starling
Mourning Dove
Turkey Vulture
Chimney Swift
I'm planning to wander around our quaint little downtown this weekend and show you what that's like.
Preliminary New Yard Bird List
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Welcome to the Songstress Dictatorship!
WHAT? you ask. We voted! We elected someone else! Judy freakin' Garland didn't even get mentioned, not even once! She didn't make the cut! This is ridiculous! you say, your little fists all balled up at indignity and unfairness of it all.
But I tell you, my little fledglings, my eyes have been opened. I--your fearless and supreme bird leader!--have seen, I--the greatness of me--have heard, and I--the leader of the world!--have decided!
Judy Garland, you little Frances Gumm you -- you are the best singer of all time!Judy singing The Man That Got Away
Judy singing Smile (if you don't cry during this one, you have no soul!)
and of course: Judy singing Over the Rainbow
(Sorry, I can't embed the yootoobes. Such technology is beyond the firewalls your fearless bird leader lives behind while at work.)
Remember, little songbirds: Judy Garland. She's the best. Period.
P.S.--this post composed after reading George Orwell's 1984. Perhaps that had something to do with it...
Monday, September 15, 2008
My first hawk watch
Sadly, I didn't have time to charge it up, so I'll share this photo that a fellow watcher took:
We saw almost 300 of these broadwing hawks in the time we were on the mountain! Local birder Chet Gottfried took this pic with his Pentax and humongoolous lens. I wish he'd sent a pic of the view from Jack's Mtn into Ferguson Valley, because it was breathtaking.
I went with a few people from the bird club, including my atlassing pal Roana. We got there a little after 10 in the morning and stayed until about 1 p.m. It was freaking HOT out there--about 90 degrees with high humidity. We saw a ton of broadwings, plus a couple of ospreys and sharpies. The view was spectacular, and aside from the indignity (not to mention the whole germy thing) of having to pee in the woods, it was a really great way to spend a Sunday!
Ron Singer, the official counter at the site, said that was the best day so far this year, though he was expecting even MORE today and tomorrow. Amazing. I'd only ever gotten a glimpse at a broadwing back at Cape May last fall with the Flock, so to study these guys as they soared and kettled on the thermals of Jack's Mountain was really a treat.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Still alive!
Niblet and I will be back on Ted Stevens' (Series of) Intertubes soon!