Embarrassed? Naaa...

Have you ever felt like you should be embarrassed but you didn’t feel embarrassed at all? I have, on many occasions. This will be short and sweet because it’s Friday and my wits are leaving me fast.

It all started on my lunchtime walk. Only one other person was on the trail for my thirty sacred minutes. He was a man about my age with a windbreaker tied around his waste and it was maroon and orange. I guess he might have been a VA Tech alum or had children there. He was power walking and I was just strolling. I’ll call him “VA Tech Man”. Perhaps he needed some stress relief, bless his heart.

Lucky me, I came upon birdsong that was deafening on a dark part of the trail. And I stood there, looking up. Camera ready. It was like I was suddenly in an Alfred Hitchcock movie with birds darting overhead faster than lightning. My eyes were wide, only seeing flashes, shadows, and blurs but I knew something was happening. Blue Jays and Cardinals and Crows and Sparrows were all around me BUT I COULDN’T SEE THEM. My hot hands were holding the camera as I stood in one spot and repeatedly did military about faces, right faces, left faces, over and over again and then I dashed from one set of trees to the other. I stood motionless and listened again. Then the VA Tech Man rounded the bend coughing his head off. It’s only a .3 mile track and I think he hacked and coughed and spit the entire time.

I wanted to yell at him, “Don’t you have any freaking cough drops, man?”

The sun was glorious but when I was seeing blue flashes soar right over my head, an enormous white cloud covered the sun’s rays. Great.

This is the type of photo I took today. Arrrrgh! See a patch of blue in the middle? A flock of these birds teased the living daylights out of me. I fumbled with the camera which was too darned slow for the action. I held my breath. I cursed. I ventured into the woods, backed up to get a view, put my camera on the low light mode, then lost my footing on pine straw and fell backwards on my bum. Pine straw is too darn slippery. The VA Tech Man was rounding the bend again, coughing his lungs out, and smiled at me as I was pulling dried pine straw from the back of my pants. I know he saw me land in the hole. He inquired if I was OK and I graciously replied, “Oh, I’m fine. Thanks.” But I wanted to say, “Screw you, and mind your own business. And thanks for scaring the birds away, you fool. Take a drink.”

HELP! Can anyone ID this bird? My field guide can’t. Bad photo, I know… Blue, yellow, black.

On my way back to the office, I cackled. I couldn’t stop laughing. That man probably thought “I” was an idiot. HA! No, but I do like the sun shining on the wings of bumble bees.

This is the Chipping Sparrow photo I wanted to post yesterday but I made a mistake and posted a Field Sparrow instead. I didn’t know it was a Field Sparrow but the Science Chimp caught it right away! A Chipping Sparrow visited my yard AND a Field Sparrow! I love both of them. Small and sweet.

He doesn’t need a better set of lungs. Here, he’s singing and raising himself UP. The loudest bird in the group tonight. You Go!

It’s been a very long week and I’m glad it’s over. I wanted this post to be short and sweet. Maybe next time…