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A little something from my camera roll

Look at this…crab claw?…in the long grass miles from the sea. Enigmatic.

It reminded me of this picture. Only, you know, my one is stupid.

Oh, c’mon. Yesterday I got buzzed by the Goodyear blimp! How am I going to follow that up? I’m just not.

Good weekend, everyone!

Comments


Comment from Stephen Falken
Time: July 2, 2021, 9:39 pm

The picture you linked to is a painting named Trodden Weed. You could name your picture Crab Grass.


Comment from durnedyankee
Time: July 2, 2021, 10:34 pm

Trodden Weed – isn’t that the Witcher’s boots?

We often find the odd rabbit leg laying around the yard, and try not to speculate, but there are a fair number of Red Tails hereabouts.

Certainly can’t blame it on the crew of the Goodyear Blimp.


Comment from gebrauschund
Time: July 2, 2021, 10:49 pm

Behind my house is a large field of grass and sagebrush, on the other side of which is an inlet of a large reservoir. Some years back I (or rather my dog) would occasionally find fish (usually trout) at random locations in the field, always with their heads smashed.

I was completely baffled by this until one day I saw an osprey catch a fish, gain significant altitude, and then apparently lose its grip and drop the fish. The streamlining of the fish caused it to assume a head down position and torpedo straight into the ground.

Mystery solved!

I have no idea how this might apply to crab claws. Or blimps.


Comment from durnedyankee
Time: July 3, 2021, 11:08 am

@gebrauschund – there was an article several years back about the wildlife departments restocking lakes from the air, presumably based on the principle you noted.

With a paragraph of obligatory screams of ‘cruelty’ from the ‘humans (except for us of course!) are mean and evil’ tribe.


Comment from Uncle Al ʘ
Time: July 3, 2021, 2:07 pm

Finding a crab claw miles from crab habitat certainly seems odd, but I’d bet it was simply a more benign than usual bird dropping, an accidental one in this case.

I’ve watched gulls drop clams on rocky surfaces and then land hoping the shell had cracked open enough to eat the innards. A quick search turned up an interesting and relevant article on Audobon.org, which says:

…species including gulls, crows, and eagles take advantage of rocks and pavement to crack into nuts, mollusks, and other hard-shelled food. It’s a clever technique birds use to extract otherwise inaccessible calories, and one that involves more sophistication than might be apparent.


Comment from BJM
Time: July 3, 2021, 5:20 pm

@durned We have red-shouldered hawks…much the same as red-tailed just a mite smaller. At the moment we have a nesting pair and three teenagers…nothing dares move across open space.

I may have posted about their mating ritual previously. The female arrives first in early March and tarts up the nest, feathering it with mousy fur, blue jay feathers and whatnot. The male swoops in a couple of days later and tentatively perches on the side of the nest. The female will have nothing to do with him unless he presents her with a tasty morsel. The male then stretches out one wing and then other showing his splendid flight feathers fanning the female into a sexual frenzy (re the Sally Rand fan dance in The Right Stuff). Then he’s hooked for the season, fetching food, listening to the missus screeching and the youngin’s squabble…which reminds me of this classic.


Comment from durnedyankee
Time: July 3, 2021, 9:25 pm

@BJM – last summer we had a family of 5 Mississippi Kites that would swoop down the creek line and land in the trees in back of our house, we’re the only house that has a decent set of what I call “barbwire line” trees.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mississippi_Kite/overview

Haven’t seen them for a while now, but they were outstanding and different than the normal slightly larger red tails usually seen hunting from their power pole perches on the far side of the creek overlooking the greenbelt.


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: July 4, 2021, 10:21 am

As far as I’m concerned, dropping clams from a great height to break into them is tool use.


Comment from OldFert
Time: July 4, 2021, 8:03 pm

Happy Independence Day, America!

Gee. Even with the knuckleheads running Washington, it’s still great to be an American.

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