Love Is In The Air

Spring is most definitely in the air. There might be something in the water, too, because it seems like everywhere I turn these days I'm watching wildlife copulate. Specifically, as it turns out, woodpeckers.

Last Sunday, after dinner at Mandi's parents' house, she and I went for a walk to Latta Park, where I hoped to see some good spring migrant birds. I think we saw 2 squirrels total and, ironically, one male Downy Woodpecker. I was disappointed, but as we walked back I heard an exceptionally loud call from a tree in front of me. I looked up, focused my binoculars, and just as I did I captured two very loud Northern Flickers making whoopee on a branch. Did I say very loud? These two birds were LOUD.

Then, as a little change of pace for the story, Mandi, Lily, and I went to Frank Liske Park for a picnic lunch on Thursday afternoon. As we approached the pond, there were two different pairs of Canada Geese leading little goslings around the grass and into the water. Baby ducks and geese are as much a true sign of spring's arrival as this Iris is, which blossomed in our back yard this week.


As it happens, there was also a female American Robin sitting on her eggs in her nest almost directly above the shady spot where we chose to have our picnic. She was aware of us, but not intimidated. She turned methodically from one direction to the other, both watching for predators and keeping even warmth on her clutch. Mercifully, she did not poop on our lunch.

Last night I took the girls to a park in Highland Creek where I was planning to play basketball with some friends. We got there early because Avery wanted to go for a walk in the woods behind the playground, and as we traversed the fallen trees we heard more boisterous bird calls from above. I looked up to find a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers doing the dirty-dirty on the outstretched limb of a pine tree, and I was thankful Avery was looking innocently at a half-built nest in a tree in the other direction. As much as I think she's too young for the birds-and-bees talk, it would have somehow been appropriate to have had the subject come up over actual birds instead of people. Maybe the woodpeckers are trying to gently coax me into having "the talk" with her. That, or they're just especially horny this time of year.

My Way . . .

. . . or the highway. Cliche as it is, that sentence does an exceptional job of summarizing Lily's outlook on life these days.

Case in point. Remember the Toddler Bed Experiment post? It ended with a story about her falling out of the bed and having a boo-boo on her behind to show for it. Let me say that since then, the sleeping situation has improved, albeit in a way so unique only Lily could produce it. But it didn't happen right away. The next few days ended in exceedingly tenuous confrontations over when it was bed time. The bottom line was that Lily was determined to exercise her will over Mandi and I, and that's precisely what happened.

I was over all of the fighting. Three or four nights in a row of knock-down drag-outs was all I could stand. Bed time with the rest of the family was not working for Lily, especially when (as it often is) the sun was not even all the way down yet. Then, one afternoon, it came to me. A method by which I could get her to sleep, and at the same time let her think that she'd won the battle of wits.

Having failed on numerous occasions to replace the naps she was losing with some "Quiet Time" spent alone in her room, I resorted to allowing her to just sit on the couch in the play room. If she'd just spend some time unwinding mentally before Avery got home from school I thought it would do her a world of good. She was surprisingly amenable to that idea . . so much so that she began to request her Elmo sleeping bag for the floor. Before I knew it, her regular afternoon naps were back, albeit on the floor in the play room.

Spin it forward a few hours, and my creative daddy brain was in high gear. After dinner and a bath, when I would usually begin "talking up" bedtime, I sent Lil to the play room to watch Diego. As I often do, I got the vacuum out so Mandi could experience that fresh mowed carpet feeling she loves so much. I told Lily to get up on the couch so she didn't get vacuumed up, and as she did I zipped her in to the sleeping bag. That was my Moment of Zen. I cleaned up, made dinner for Mandi and myself, and when we headed upstairs she hadn't moved from her spot. We gave her a quick kiss goodnight, and off we went. When I returned to the scene mere minutes later Lily was fast asleep. She did not wake up as I scooped her up and carried her up to her bed.

Since then, I've fully embraced Lily's newfound ability to just fall asleep on the floor. She doesn't seem to care for a pillow or a blanket . . a simple princess dress will do.

And Number 100 is . .

. . The Orchard Oriole. A pair of them, to be exact. I walked the Nature Trail here in Moss Creek this afternoon and saw a really good variety of birds. The one and only new bird, however, for my Big Year list is this pair of Orchard Orioles I came across on my way back. They were chittering around in a small shrub near a new bridge on the trail, the black-and-chestnut male preferring to stay a little more hidden than the mostly-yellow female. The Orchard Oriole is also a "Lifer" for me, meaning I can also add it to my Life List. You can figure out what that is, can't you?

So, 108 days into the year I've positively ID'ed 100 birds. My original goal for the Big Year was 150, and I truly think I can eclipse that with no real struggles. Keep in mind that I still have trips to New York and Florida planned for later in the summer, as well as Hilton Head for Thanksmas. Sorry I don't have a photo of the orioles, the big lens is out of commission currently, so I haven't been taking the camera with me when I go birding. If you want some photos, go back and look at the baby ducks. They're really cute.

Bass Ackward

You'd think cats would be smarter. 10 minutes ago I scooped the litter box. I just watched Cheeks (arguably the dumber of our two cats) walk into the laundry room, drop a righteous deuce, then come out and immediately start eating her cat food. The food is, due to space limitations, mere feet from the litter box.

I guess it was emergent. I totally understand when it's eminent. Time to go equals time to go. I'd like to think though, that given the chance, she'd have chosen to reverse that sequence of events.

7 New Recipes

I have been unbelievably lazy about typing in and posting new recipes. I freely admit this and apologize for it. The truth is, this trend would undoubtedly have continued ad nauseum had I not faced relentless nagging from Mandi to get some of them typed in. So I did 7. Just do me a favor and act like that's a lot.

The new recipes are somewhat thematic . . 2 Piccatas, 2 shrimp dishes, et cetera. The Tilapia Piccata is one I would recommend were someone trying to, say, make dinner for a group of 4 or 5 friends. You know who you are. It's super easy, fast, and tastes very fancy. It's not, but they don't have to know that. The Shrimp and Couscous Jambalaya is another quick and easy one that will make you feel good about your cooking skills, even if you don't have any. If you can chop some veggies and remember to pre-boil the shrimp, you're in there. Finally, those trying to sneak extra vegetables into their kids' diets will appreciate the Beef, Cheese, and Noodle Bake. The trick is to put the onions and carrots into the food processor before cooking, causing them to essentially disappear into the sauce of the finished product. Consider omitting the small amount of ground nutmeg if your kids are particularly picky eaters. If they're not picky, can we trade?

As Promised

Mama Mallard is not a fan of the paparazzi. When the flash bulbs commence to popping, she heads for the cover of the reeds. She is not a typical Hollywood Mommy, prone to parading her babies out for all to see. That being said, this photo, while not great, should command hundreds if not thousands of dollars on the open market. Its quality isn't great, and it doesn't really do the ducklings justice. They're a lot cuter up close and in good light than this photo portrays. But it was the best I could get, so enjoy it.

I Hate Sparrows

Ok, so that might not be entirely true. I'll revise. I hate not being able to readily identify sparrows. These little buggers are daunting creatures to identify for a few reasons. First, there are about a hundred different species. OK twenty. However many it is, the problem for me is that the differences between certain species are so minute that you really need to have the entire bird memorized in order to accurately ID them. A few have easily distinguishable traits that make them stand out. The White-throated Sparrow is a good example. In addition to its namesake white throat, it's got bright yellow lores and a bright white supercilium. That's the stripe above its eye for you non-birders. Others are not so conveniently named. Take for instance the Song Sparrow. If the pattern of nomenclature followed that of the White-throated Sparrow, the Song Sparrow would instead be named the 'Mostly-brownish streaked with a messy spot on its breast Sparrow'. That probably wouldn't fit on the pages of the field guides, though, so I guess they just picked something that sounded nice, like "song". Thanks for the help.

Well, it is with great shame that I have to admit that I identified a new sparrow today and added it to both my Big Year and life lists. The shame comes in the fact that it was the Chipping Sparrow, certainly one of the most common birds around. People I talk to see these things everywhere, in groups of like fifty. Until today at the park, I had never definitively been able to say that I'd seen one. Then, of course, I saw 6 more in the span of the next 15 minutes. That's just how it goes for me.

In other news, the girls and I went down to the Moss Creek Nature Trail this afternoon and just spent some time playing around. We took the butterfly net and the girls used it to catch Ladybugs. Not sure what they're gonna do with them, but they caught 6 or 7. I did a little birding, but only as much as I could do within arm's reach of the kids. I did manage to see a number of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers doing their best gnat-catching, as well as the resident Great Blue Heron and Red-shouldered Hawk. As we were leaving, I caught sight of one of the cutest things I've seen in a long time. From among the reeds in a pond near the entrance, a female Mallard emerged followed by 9 of the cutest little ducklings you've ever seen. She took them over to the other side, presumably so that none of the rocks Lily was throwing would hit her babies, and then she just watched as the youngsters dabbled for food among the plants. Their little yellow and black striped heads were so cute following behind the mom, all lined up neatly in a row as she led them to safety. I regret that I did not have my camera with me, but I will try to go back tomorrow to get a shot of the cuteness.