The watch the birdie MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

Alright…wasn’t sure if I wanted to share this or not, but decided what the heck.

Big caveat that I am in full agreement about-no way to be sure that it is the same individual in question, or not…the below narrative will assume it is, just for the sake of streamliningness (if that is a word)…

Essentially, I’ve been seeing a great egret around town over the past two years, one which I can readily identify by its habit of hunting for lizards (anoles) on dry land while wiggling its head from side to side, several times in the same locations to boot. I have found some Youtube videos of other great egrets hunting in this manner, FWIW.

I first noticed it almost 2 years ago in a parking lot near where I live, then in front of my work 1 block away. Finally, I go out to have lunch with some relatives, leave my place (which is right across from my work), look to my left for traffic, only to see this white shape fly right towards me.

It lands right in front of my car, appears to look in at me through the windshield, walks around the front of my car to the stop sign, and grabs a lizard.

I’d see it around my neighborhood for about the next two months, usually on the highway median. Then I didn’t see it for a month…

…until I was having lunch at one of my usual haunts at the beach, 8 miles as the egret flies from my apartment. I see this great egret land right outside the window and start doing its thing. Would see it there for the next several weeks, often striding across lawns in search of its prey.

One day mid-spring 2013, I am about to go home, when I get a strong intuition to go to my old house on the river, 25 miles from my apartment. Go out in my old back yard, and yes see a great egret in the water. Strangely, it tries to grab something on an overhanging tree branch, then after I startle it, flies up onto the seawall, wiggles the head, and snags another lizard.

Saw it again almost a year ago on my current street.

And saw it again 3 weeks ago at the beach, same block where I saw it there before. walking down the sidewalk and wiggling its head in both cases.

No real idea of what it means (if anything), but since it fits the thread, thought I’d mention it. Wildlife can often amaze us if we keep our eyes open a bit.

22

I love great egrets. Such majestic birds. :smiley:

23

Regular ol’ egrets need love, too!
:slight_smile:

24

Staying here one more day.
Tomorrow my niece and her bf are going to help me move. They are driving out with my mother so my mother can see the house and they will ride back with her so I don’t have to bring them back.

My pills run out tomorrow so I have to go home then anyway. It’s supposed to be nice and warm tomorrow, a good day for moving.

25

Howdy Y’all! Moanday is over and an early dindin of sketties and meatballs with angelhair pasta, sallit and garlic bread has been consumed. OYKW had to eat and leave cause he’s got paperirk stuff to deal with this evenin’, poor thing.

I do encounter a bear from time to time, but he’s mostly tame. :smiley: Also, my “pet” backporch lizards count as wildlife I reckon. Jester (I declare that to be your Mumper nickname) cook story about the great egret!

{{{Wetone}}} prayers and good thoughts headed out for a successful surgery and a quick recovery.

26

Survived work. Feeling a tad better.

Welcome back, Spaz! Bummer about the foot.

{{{{{WetOne}}}}}

[Frank Sinatra]Egrets, I’ve had a few. But then again, too few to mention…[/Frank Sinatra]

swampy, you didn’t mention Liz, Ard and Fred this year, swampy.

27

I fried up some chickie tit strips, baked some cornbread muffins, and nuked some peas-n-carrots - a very filling and yummerrific supper! **FCD **is doing the dishes and I’ll load the dishwasher when he’s done.

We’ll head out early tomorrow - first stop is Mom’s, then to my sister’s to pick up her scooter. **FCD **is going to paint it for her - lime green with goblins and such on it. We’re dragging the trailer because it’ll be easier than trying to hoist it into and out of the truck bed. So I don’t know if I’ll be able to post in the morning - we shall see. :smiley:

28

It means you can come home from work, change, relax, & be at the beach before I can do any one of those things. :mad:
I was over my friend’s house yesterday for the first time in a few months. My 4-legged ‘girlfriend’ wanted no part of my lap; as soon as I pulled her up, she’d jump off. I accidentally left something there so I went back to get it this morning. Guess who’s trying to crawl up into my lap the second I sit down. At one point, she was literally sitting on my lap, rump down on one thigh, & front legs up on the other one, totally blocking my view of what I was trying to look at. When I’d boot her off, she wouldn’t stop barking until she was able to climb up again. Crazy kookamonga dog! Of course, when I got up to leave, my nice white shirt looked more like a zebra with all of her black fur on it. :smack:

29

I came across a thread yesterday that mentioned different kinds of bears to refer to gay guys. Is your username a pun that I don’t get?

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YOU MEAN swampy’S GAY?:eek::dubious::smiley:

31

No, he’s GRAY, and there is only a letter difference, and I thought Swamp Bear might be teased about a gay term involving bears, so he would know.

32

Waitaminit! Swampy’s GAY???*

Would you believe me if I told you it took me until now to realize the reason the MMP wasn’t popping up in my subscribed threads is because last week’s is done and I hadn’t gone looking for the new one yet? :smack:
So, wild animals, huh? Do crows and squirrels count? because on separate occasions, I’ve had on of each enter my home through some unknown passage.
The crow: I came home from work and heard a weird sound from the bedroom. Smokey was just sitting disinterestedly in the hall. There was a crow on top of my TV! I opened up a window and its screen and managed to chase the bird outside. Smokey just watched me and yawned.

The squirrel: I was sitting at my computer when a grey blur came whizzing into the room and onto my desk. I thought it was the cat at first, until she came running in after in and chased it around a bit. Between the two of us (me and the cat) we managed to chase it to an open window, and it jumped out onto the tree in my front yard.

That’s it. Other than viewing critters in a zoo, I have not encountered and wild animals, other than my friends, that is. :smiley:
*it just doesn’t get old.

33

Wait! What? I’M GAY??!!

The classics. They. Just. Never. Get. Old. :smiley:

doggio Liz, Ard, Ethel, Fred, Edith, and Archie are alive and well.

flytrap I am a bear, i.e. large, hairy, gay man. I live in (ok, near) a swamp. Hence swampbear. The second largest swamp in Jawja, The Swamp of Toa.

34

Howdy all. mooomm I had a birthday in Sept and forgot to renew my registration. Since it was less than 30 days I had no late fee to pay. I rushed to DNV as soon as I realized I had forgotten.
We wound up driving 577 riders on the Fantasy Fest shuttle. At 3$ per trip we collected 1732 dollars. After fuel expenses and overtime pay for 3 of the 4 drivers and comp time for me there is a little over $1000 of profit. Best news was no pukers on the buses.

Hubby is cooking a fine meal of poke tender loin with roasted veggies. Smells so good.

Peedin best of luck to you. Back later.

35

I left the building for lunch Wednesday, and there was a murder of crows, well, trying to murder another crow. He was on the ground and they were all pecking him. I walked over and the bullies took off. I thought the guy was badly injured, his wing was held like killdeer that fake a broken wing and run away t lead you away from their baby. He straightened his wing, shook himself and flew away.

The killdeer that did the broken wing thing-her offspring did not co operate, running about, hollering, “Mommy! Where are you going?”

Oh! Double points! A very recent wild animal encounter, and it was a bird!

36

Lord, I’se tahrd. I didn’t sleep well last night and I spent most of the day on my feet schlepping files and stuff. Then I got stuck in traffic on the way home so I was later than I would have liked. Dindin was broccoli and onion pizza and taking the sprog to Boy Scouts. I’m going to go home and go to bed.

One thing. Swampy is gay? Why was I not notified? :smiley:

37

“Spiderman, Spiderman,
Screws up more than a spider can.”

38

I never really realized how much mayhem happens to us in a day until just now when I was scanning the logs from the department that coordinates repair of technological mayhem.

Two ordinary power failures, one exploded power transformer and subsequent building evacuation, a dug-up fiber optic line, two unspecified network failures and a handful of software snafus. And that’s just for today.

Apparently I wanted a snack later on… I was eating some goldfish crackers this afternoon, and unknown to me, one of the little cheesy fishies was hiding in my beard.

Is it Friday yet?

39

Went to see my Gastro guy today. Officially, my colonoscopy was clear, and I have no active ulcerative colitis.

Lots of medication talk, with me being taken off one, and a couple others adjusted. He’s happy with my blood sugar right now. He also approves of my plans with the local gym to rebuild muscle mass that I’ve lost.

The big new development is that I have an official referral to the transplant team at Georgetown, and I am supposed to get there ASAP for a get acquainted and a transplant scoring.

40

Just got back from class, munching nachos (living near a decent Mexican place does have certain hazards (grin)). Trying to motivate to put together that 20-slide PowerPoint.