sweasel.com

Her Ladyship neglects to inform fellow minions of the best bit (of course).

Blackbirds and thrushes are members of the genus turdus and are in the family turdidae .

Which, if you ask this badger, is a pretty shitty thing to call a bird.

And don’t y’all call women ‘birds’?

And why can’t SOMEBODY put out a bird book with the birds separated by color? I saw the neatest blue bird last week, but couldn’t find him by genus in the bird book that I have.

I mean, seriously…have them in there by genus, and then…’birds that are predominantly blue’…’birds that are predominantly yellow’. Etc.

Oh, and Uncle B swears he saw blue tits on the seed feeder

He needs to cut back on the Smurf porn…

And don’t coots follow tits?

🙂

O dear. Poor Rachel.

My parents live less than 6 miles away from me, and yet their birds are TOTALLY different. They’re that much closer to the coast, so their neighborhood has mostly seagulls and sandpipers and pigeons and grackles. My neighborhood has mockingbirds, cardinals, blue jays, hummingbirds, etc.

Actually, now that I think about it, my neighborhood has a lot of mature trees, while theirs is newer and has mostly little saplings. So that might be the real difference. Seagulls don’t nest in mature trees. (At least, I don’t think they do. I don’t know from birds either.)

Also, I seem to remember reading something a while back about people going on nature excursions in Texas to spot cranes. Shoot, walk out to the backyard of our old house and you can see a crane any old time.

Ha, we have *bush* tits here in the recently thawed Pacific Northwest! Aside from the giggle-inducing name they are the sweetest, teeniest little birds that always zoop around in herds of 10 or more, wittering away as they nibble on even teenier bugs. During the glacial interval they would come to my suet feeder. The whole gang, at the same time. It looked like the suet had been upholstered in little bird fabric.

In Florida seagulls nest everywhere. Or at least they sit everywhere. And poop on everything. And even though Orlando is about 50 miles from the nearest coast, seagulls are all over the place here. Well, Florida is basically a bunch of water connected by some roads and some swampy bits of land.

Nothing to do with anything-
saw this and thought of you…
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=cat1_gallery_6&listing_id=19375026

I’d be curious to know what observations lady weaz has about the tit in Vail……. 🙂

Ver-y nice, Jess. Didn’t there used to be a “things you really shouldn’t knit” blog? I seem to remember a knitted fetus changepurse. Ah yes.

What the Brits call tits, we call chickadees — which is a MUCH cuter name, if you ask me. I got mobbed by a whole bunch of the little bastards in the woods once. Which was the cutest gang hazing ritual EVAR.

Pretty sure I saw a kiwi at the feeder this morning.

Just drove through a “flock of seagulls” here in PA, fairly far from any sea. Is it a conspiracy? Hitchcock would be proud.

Hmmmm.

“Oh, and Uncle B swears he saw blue tits on the seed feeder, but he sees tits everywhere. I’m worried about that boy.”

Every guy has that issue. It’s like the movie “Sixth Sense” where the kid announces that he can “see dead people”. We men have a “seventh sense” where we can see boobs everywhere.

*shrug* it’s a gift from God.

We have seagulls here, too.
They always seem to show up in the winter.

Birds is stooopit.

🙂

I live in the frickin’ desert and this time of year I can’t even find a single pidgeon… they’ll be back with a vengeance come March I assure you but until then we are blissfully absolved of their presence.

Then again, aside from buzzards and roadrunners, pidgeons are about all we have out here as far as birds go. I’m not too sad to see ’em all go south for the winter.

I do miss that about Texas. Much better-looking and nicer-sounding avian fauna down there.

Nicholas:

Any recommendations on places to live in Texas? The Boss and I have just about had our fill of digging our way out from under the global warming dumped on us every winter (we’re in Colorado).

We’re ready for some relatively hilly place with moderate temps; trees with enough self-respect to lose their leaves in winter; pastures full of grass instead of yucca, sage, and ant hills; and driveways I don’t have to spend a couple of hours every winter day clearing.

Oh, and I’ve lived in Beaumont, so don’t even think about mentioning that hellhole. Trading three foot of snow for three foot of water is not my idea of a good deal.

Sounds like you’d be perfectly happy at home where I grew up. The worst we got as far as winter weather went was sleet and it melted off by noon (if not far sooner!) nearly every time, and rarely came in more than two days straight. I can count the number of days it snowed in my 15 years growing up there on one hand. Never been to Beaumont myself, except I think once for a football game in high school… but I digress.

I grew up in a small town outside Victoria. Draw a triangle between Corpus, Houston, and Austin… we were right about the center. Two hours from any major city in that zone (those three plus SA), about three to Dallas/FW.

Happy hunting.

I like the relative isolation, Nicholas, but that’s too close to the gulf for me. Had my fill of hurricane parties (and hurricanes) when I lived across Lake Pontchartrain from Nawlins. I’m thinking somewhere east of Amarillo-ish if there’s a hill anywhere near there not constructed (and inhabited) by ants.

Never had much trouble with the hurricanes, but then again never had a big one hit while I was living in the area so I wouldn’t know. Sadly I never lived much further west (born in San Marcos, then moved to Fort Worth, then Austin, then the Victoria area) until I moved out here to Arizona, so I can’t help you much more than that.

We’re plenty dry out here, though! We fail on every other aspect of your goal but we’ve got that at least! 😉

The Audubon bird books are set up by color.

Sarah! Thanks VERY much!

Got friends in Arizona, and I’ve driven through it often enough to at least consider it, but desert is desert. The one thing I like about cold is that you can always put more clothes on. In the desert, once you’re down to carefully fanning your naked, sweaty direct objects with a two-year-old copy of Us you stole last week from the dentist’s office, you’re kinda out of options.

I think what makes AZ tolerable for me is the fact that I’m a night owl on top of being rather unsociable. I rarely go out at all, and when I do it isn’t during the day (save to and from work) and that’s on an freezing-cold bus both ways (unless that goes out, then yeah I’m sunk). Otherwise I’m content to sit in my apartment with the fans blasting and the AC cranked down to the 70s. Somewhat expensive, but not uncomfortable.

But it also helps that I’m naturally cold-natured and would rather roast than freeze regardless of the amount of clothing involved 😉

Regardless, best of luck on your search… I have enough family living north of the Masie-Dixie to know I want nothing involved in that white powdery stuff that people say is required for a traditional Xmas season. I’m happy with my tinsel-strung saguaros, say thankya.

And now that we are sufficiently off-topic…. 😛 Sorry folks 🙂

After reading this last night, I went to sleep with Blackbird going through my head. Woke up this morning still singing it. Now 3 PM, and it’s still there – Behold the power of Weasel!

iam, it could be worse…it could be Frosty the Snowman, which has been stuck in my head all day.

>>sigh<<

I caught a youtube segment of Oliver! the other day and I’ve had “…Ya gotta pick a pocket or two!” rattling around in my think-noodle ever since. But it has not been completely unpleasant, for once. I actually went to see if I could find the DVD of the musical (the one with Moody in it); no cigar.

that’s too close to the gulf for me

Wow, different perspectives. To me, that’s far enough inland that I would feel dubious about ordering seafood. Maybe Temple? Still in the hill country, but pretty far inland. (It’s between Austin and DFW.)

And speaking of different perspectives, there is no way for me to put enough clothes on to be warm. I’m cold in 80 degree weather with a T-shirt and jeans. The best part of my day in the summer is that moment when I get into my car and am finally warm. I heave a huge sigh of relief as my muscles relax for the first time all day.

Wow. 80 degrees and cold, Mrs. Peel? Anything over 50 degrees with no wind is summertime for me. A room warmer than 68 is too hot.

Yeah, and anything within two driving hours of Galveston is definitely too close to the Gulf for me.

Because of hurricanes? I’m less than 20 miles from the coast, and I didn’t take any damage from Ike (except for a tree and a few limbs). The water didn’t even come up in the street, much less get into yards and houses.

If the sun’s out and it’s 80 degrees and there’s no wind, I’m ok. But in the shade, or if there’s wind, miserable. And that moment of sliding into the car that’s been baking in the sun all day? Bliss.

I caught a youtube segment of Oliver! the other day and I’ve had “…Ya gotta pick a pocket or two!” rattling around in my think-noodle ever since. But it has not been completely unpleasant, for once. I actually went to see if I could find the DVD of the musical (the one with Moody in it); no cigar.

McGoo: I just bought that DVD from Amazon last year – it’s a fave of mine. I loaned it to my little sister (26/adopted/handicapped) and she loved it, so I bought her one for her next birthday. Great music & performances.

iamfelix – I was hooked on it in the first 30 seconds.

You’re very nice to your li’l sister. She’s a lucky lady to have you.

McGoo: I have 3 swell little sisters, and they’re all pretty nice to me, too. Also a perfectly great li’l brother (I’m a lucky gal).

Ron Moody is so great in Oliver! In fact, the whole cast is really strong. And I love the music (and dance numbers). The “extras” on the DVD show the difficulty in staging/choreographing them – pretty interesting.

Was it here that I ran into the Oliver! link? And you that praised and recommended RM?

Well, your comment had its desired effect. I’m hooked, and I WILL own that flick (with RM in it), even if I have to Amazon it.

Fambly of five kids? Me too.

Hmmm.

“And why can’t SOMEBODY put out a bird book with the birds separated by color? I saw the neatest blue bird last week, but couldn’t find him by genus in the bird book that I have.”

That is the best idea -ever-!

I’d buy one.

Mrs. Peel wrote:
And speaking of different perspectives, there is no way for me to put enough clothes on to be warm. I’m cold in 80 degree weather with a T-shirt and jeans. The best part of my day in the summer is that moment when I get into my car and am finally warm. I heave a huge sigh of relief as my muscles relax for the first time all day.

My sentiments exactly! There’s a reason I live in Phoenix! 😀

115-Degree weather and I’m still wearing the T-Shirt and Jeans combo (or more likely short-sleeved polo or button-front and khakis for work). You won’t catch me dead outside in shorts no matter what time of year it is.

Come December and the first “High of 50 or less today” though, out come the big jackets.

Re the Arizona desert–unless you have an outdoor job (not recommended), the heat is not a big deal. You stay in the air conditioned indoors all day and the evenings are tolerably warm. The worst is the monsoon season (July-August) when the humidity rises, but that only lasts about 2.5 months.