Rang up Mother, today, for her birthday, and the mystery of the regal brown birds may be solved: CORMORANTS! They were cormorants! Specific variety possibly to follow, if Mother can identify it from pictures. “Regal” isn’t a word I’d ordinarily associate with a cormorant — nasty, boaky birds that they are — but I’m proper jealous. I haven’t seen any cormorants. And I’ve been looking every day for anything regal and brown.
Today, I’ve only gulls and crows to report: badly-behaved gulls and crows.
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF “I KNOW IT WAS YOU, FREDO! YOU BROKE MY HEART!”
The crows are still messing with my ornamental stones.
A decorative stone from my planter, now on the roof of an adjacent building, thanks to crows.
Was it you? I KNOW IT WAS YOU!
One day, I’m going to catch a crow in the act, flying off with a stone in its claws. I’ve seen them do it, but I’ve never managed to time it just right, with the camera. They seem reluctant to steal when they know I’m watching. At first, I thought I was anthropomorphising, with that, but no joke, they’ll eat just fine when I’m sitting on the balcony, and hang about sunning themselves, but they won’t mess with the stones, or leave anything unsavoury. They wait till my back’s turned, for that.
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF “SHOO!”
These are the feet of a greedy, greedy gull, raiding my feeder.
Look at the light shining through those chapped, scaly legs! You can see bones, blood vessels…essential gull parts.
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF NOTHING IN PARTICULAR
This gull isn’t being annoying. It did squawk loudly for a while, but at the time this picture was taken, it was just lurking on the railing, letting the breeze ruffle its feathers.
Anyhow, the search is on for cormorants. If Mother gets to see them, I should, too. She’s not even a birder! Unfair.
