This morning, as I drove down the on-ramp for I-95 south on my way to work, I noticed a flock of birds on the other side of the interstate. Then I noticed that it was a long flock of birds. Really long.
I think the birds were blackbirds of some variety, but I am not really sure because they were silhouetted. And when I say the flock was "long", I really mean it. The shape of the flock was not a blob, or roundish. Instead it was like a long tube, or river, of birds. In other words, it had height (thirty to fifty birds tall) and depth (about the same as the height) and extreme left-to-right length.
They were flying north. As I exited onto I-95, I was pointed east, but turning to the south. I had a chance to look over my shoulder to the north, and I was amazed that I could not see the beginning the flock. That "river" of birds just kept going as far as I could see. As I got onto I-95 south, I kept looking to my left. That "river" of birds was on the other side of the interstate. I could see it through the trees. I drove half-a-mile south before the "river" bent far enough away from the interstate to where I could no longer see it anymore.
I had never seen anything like that before. That river of birds was at least a mile long! It was amazing.
Squirrel Nest
I have a shed in my backyard that houses a few tools, a lawnmower, bird food and such. I keep it locked up just in case anyone feels like "inappropriately borrowing" something. While I am probably in there for some reason a couple times a week when it is warm out, the winter months usually see the shed lonely and locked up for several weeks at a time.
The last time I was in the shed was a few weeks back. I was in there to get at the bird food so I could refill my feeders. It had been quite a while since I had been in there. I noticed that there were lots of leaves in the back corner of the shed and I had a suspicion that the damage caused to the shed when Ernesto came through last summer was allowing squirrels to get in and out of the shed very easily. Since I keep my bird food safely stored in containers that the squirrels cannot get into, and there is really nothing else in the shed they can mess with (not since I returned Richie's lawnmower), all they are really doing is piling up the leaves.
Today I once again refilled the bird feeders. This required me to go into the shed. When I unlocked the door and opened it, I scared a whole flock of squirrels out of that big pile of leaves. I purposely made a bunch of noise when I stepped into the shed. One at a time, the squirrels came out of that pile of leaves and ran frantically up the wall and out their new special Ernesto-entrance. I could imagine one of them saying "I thought you said this place was safe?!?!?" as they ran up the inside wall of the shed.
I counted five squirrels in total running out of there. That was about four more than I was expecting. I think tomorrow I might go out there with my camera in hand, barge in on them again and see if I can capture the "Flight of the Squirrels" on film.
The last time I was in the shed was a few weeks back. I was in there to get at the bird food so I could refill my feeders. It had been quite a while since I had been in there. I noticed that there were lots of leaves in the back corner of the shed and I had a suspicion that the damage caused to the shed when Ernesto came through last summer was allowing squirrels to get in and out of the shed very easily. Since I keep my bird food safely stored in containers that the squirrels cannot get into, and there is really nothing else in the shed they can mess with (not since I returned Richie's lawnmower), all they are really doing is piling up the leaves.
Today I once again refilled the bird feeders. This required me to go into the shed. When I unlocked the door and opened it, I scared a whole flock of squirrels out of that big pile of leaves. I purposely made a bunch of noise when I stepped into the shed. One at a time, the squirrels came out of that pile of leaves and ran frantically up the wall and out their new special Ernesto-entrance. I could imagine one of them saying "I thought you said this place was safe?!?!?" as they ran up the inside wall of the shed.
I counted five squirrels in total running out of there. That was about four more than I was expecting. I think tomorrow I might go out there with my camera in hand, barge in on them again and see if I can capture the "Flight of the Squirrels" on film.
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