I found a twittering of bushtits today, in the shrubs outside my building. They were flitting from stalk to stalk, and up and down between ground and foliage. I pointed my camera at them, but every time I caught one in my sights, it took flight. I followed them all the way to Stamps Landing, and down towards the water, from one stand of greenery to the next, but I never got a picture. I’d have followed them even more, but they took off in the direction of the Cambie Bridge, and I wussed out. Next time, perhaps.
In the meantime, finches and flowering trees:
This is a house finch. She is eating sunflower hearts. You can see her tongue a little bit, if you look closely.
While I was examining these flowers, a dog snuck up and tried to a) bite me, or b) smell my shoe. I’m not entirely sure which. I nearly tripped over myself, trying to get away from it, and ended up doing a foolish foot-to-foot dance, trying to keep my balance. It didn’t work. I fell in a bush. Birds flew out. FAIL.
I saw the biting/sniffing dog again, while examining this tree. I think it was following me. Dogs shouldn’t be allowed to wander about, all wild and unfettered. Somebody might bump into them with a car. Or they could bite me. Dogs love to bite me. I’ve already been bitten by two and a half dogs. (The half represents a dog that snapped at my face and missed, not, you know, half a dog.)
I was free to examine this tree in peace: I was five floors up, and safe from marauding mutts.
