A second after my catr and I read above, we saw our first robin!! woooohooooo! How fun is that! (my little ceramic bird cracked a long time ago, just like her owner. thank god for cocktails)
The country has been such an unexpected gift in the way it requires us to shed our city life that now seems so constricted. I think the hummingbirds were the firt time I realized it!
A bird history lesson for sure. We had parakeets for a while. They were “love birds”. When the cage was being cleaned by Rocco, of course, they would sometimes escape their home. You would find me huddled somewhere with a pillow over my head terrified of these flying beauties around my ceilings. Ever since I saw the birds I have been terrified of crows in particular. When I left the movie house in Brooklyn while walking home some small birds flew over my head in a swooping pattern. Of course I started running and fell upon the cement step that was an open patio type platform next to my brother’s cleaners in Park Slope on 7th Avenue. What a spectacle I made squatted on that step, both arms over my buried head self protecting my eyes from The Birds! Your story reminded me of my own! As always Thank you! Your writing is superb!
Rocco was patient and would hold a little stick close to where they would stop flying and ever so slowly bring them to their cage and gently place them on their perch. My son or I would be nearby and close the cage door as soon as Rocco was removing the stick. It was generally hours before that was accomplished. I was always grateful he had taken lessons in a form of Kung fu called “Shor-ran-ru” (?) which taught him patience and control. We all benefit from those unforgotten lessons till this very day.
I love your writing and your stories, Pat! This one transports me straight to a wood (or garden) filled with chirping, buzzing wildlife, nothing like my Cali beach life--though "The Birds" was filmed in Bodega Bay in Sonoma County, CA. It's so strange and interesting that pie crusts used to be called coffins and were meant to contain the filling but never eaten. I do remember my mother singing me "4 and 20 blackbirds baked in a pie.." when I was but a wee girl. No birds were ever harmed in the pies she baked though. P.S. That owl video is a hoot! (sorry, couldn't resist!)
Think of the worse crust you every had, then add a brick-like hardness. They were like clay pots. Crazy but ingenious. PS love that owl evcen if it kept me awake--and slightly scared!
Year round, we hang 4 white millet feeders and 2 sunflower feeders, with corn on the ground for the wild turkeys. Plus 3-4 hummingbird feeders March-late November. Fun to read about your birding adventures--and about that medieval pie. That "coffin" crust must have been board-stiff to make that pie work. But such fun to read!
What happy birds you must have! The crusts were really like clay pots to cook in rather than to eat. I forget whoever--or whenever--the idea of making crusts edible came about. If I'm telling the truth, some of my crusts could be called coffins!
Love your comment!I think I heard 350 birds yesterday on the inleaved trees arpund this property! Even thought the day was Bleak, it was wonderful to hear the birds like never before!
The city birds, the four-and-twenty-blackbirds, the app, what a great post, Pat! (I have a ceramic pie bird 🐦 for venting — the pie, not myself 😆)
A second after my catr and I read above, we saw our first robin!! woooohooooo! How fun is that! (my little ceramic bird cracked a long time ago, just like her owner. thank god for cocktails)
😆❤️
Fascinating story about your country and city birds! I can't imagine seeing all those hummingbirds.
The country has been such an unexpected gift in the way it requires us to shed our city life that now seems so constricted. I think the hummingbirds were the firt time I realized it!
A bird history lesson for sure. We had parakeets for a while. They were “love birds”. When the cage was being cleaned by Rocco, of course, they would sometimes escape their home. You would find me huddled somewhere with a pillow over my head terrified of these flying beauties around my ceilings. Ever since I saw the birds I have been terrified of crows in particular. When I left the movie house in Brooklyn while walking home some small birds flew over my head in a swooping pattern. Of course I started running and fell upon the cement step that was an open patio type platform next to my brother’s cleaners in Park Slope on 7th Avenue. What a spectacle I made squatted on that step, both arms over my buried head self protecting my eyes from The Birds! Your story reminded me of my own! As always Thank you! Your writing is superb!
I'd be with you under the pillows! How did you get them back?? I think you have to tell us your bird story now!
Rocco was patient and would hold a little stick close to where they would stop flying and ever so slowly bring them to their cage and gently place them on their perch. My son or I would be nearby and close the cage door as soon as Rocco was removing the stick. It was generally hours before that was accomplished. I was always grateful he had taken lessons in a form of Kung fu called “Shor-ran-ru” (?) which taught him patience and control. We all benefit from those unforgotten lessons till this very day.
Oh, good! What a situation! Patience and control are in short supply over here...I should try it!
Love this story and of course the small birds in the pie, too.
I guess animal pertection would come after us, won't they?
I love your writing and your stories, Pat! This one transports me straight to a wood (or garden) filled with chirping, buzzing wildlife, nothing like my Cali beach life--though "The Birds" was filmed in Bodega Bay in Sonoma County, CA. It's so strange and interesting that pie crusts used to be called coffins and were meant to contain the filling but never eaten. I do remember my mother singing me "4 and 20 blackbirds baked in a pie.." when I was but a wee girl. No birds were ever harmed in the pies she baked though. P.S. That owl video is a hoot! (sorry, couldn't resist!)
Think of the worse crust you every had, then add a brick-like hardness. They were like clay pots. Crazy but ingenious. PS love that owl evcen if it kept me awake--and slightly scared!
Year round, we hang 4 white millet feeders and 2 sunflower feeders, with corn on the ground for the wild turkeys. Plus 3-4 hummingbird feeders March-late November. Fun to read about your birding adventures--and about that medieval pie. That "coffin" crust must have been board-stiff to make that pie work. But such fun to read!
What happy birds you must have! The crusts were really like clay pots to cook in rather than to eat. I forget whoever--or whenever--the idea of making crusts edible came about. If I'm telling the truth, some of my crusts could be called coffins!
More about coffins: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/who-made-first-pie (And I know about hard crusts!)
Love your comment!I think I heard 350 birds yesterday on the inleaved trees arpund this property! Even thought the day was Bleak, it was wonderful to hear the birds like never before!
I can't believe I never paid attention to the birds around me--it took living in a crumbling cottage so late in my life to realize the beauty of them!