6 Likes
That eye.
At the summer cottage my mother rents out on Eastern Long Island, there’s a few large bushes in the back off the deck. Some gardeners had come around and trimmed the bushes, around the last week of June. They’re supposed to be very careful at that time, due to bird nesting that tends to happen during that time. Well, the ignoramuses sheered off this large bush and exposed a mockingbird nest. Three chicks were in it. When we came to the house on July 1st, I spotted the exposed nest. The chicks didn’t even have their eyes open at that point, but mouths were gaping wide open, eager for food. Despite the destruction of their shelter, the parents worked feverishly to keep the chicks fed. I had my binoculars and could see stunning detail. The assortment of bugs caught was amazing, but grasshoppers seemed to be the most commonly hunted. Then it rained. Hard. You could see them getting wet. The mother tried her best to shelter them. She wouldn’t be at the nest at night. The parents go somewhere else and the chicks huddle down low.
Within a few days, the chicks had their eyes open. About a week later they were getting bigger and the nest was crowded. A few days after that, I’d spotted one chick out of the nest, huddled in a bush outcropping adjacent to the nest. Within a few days after that, it looked like they were beginning to test their flying. I had used the grille and it made a bit of smoke, some of it wafting to the nest area. The parents somehow got the chicks to relocate to low leaf-heavy tree. In time, they’d scattered a bit, so not only did the parents have to keep hunting for food, they’d then have to work to track down their chicks to feed them. Crazy!
A few more days after that, and it looked like they were gone. The parents did keep visiting the area. I kept a birdbath cleaned and with fresh water periodically, which they utilized (and at times chased other birds away!).
After the nesting was long over, I removed it. The detail in it was amazing. How the birds select various twigs and dried grasses for different purposes in construction… really impressive. Birds are a lot smarter than the credit they’re given.
A short walk away from the cottage is a peninsula that juts out into the bay and at the top portion is a lot of worn stones and broken shells. At low tide you can see numerous seagulls grabbing shell bound sea life from the water, raising it up high into the air, then drop them onto the hard stones below. As they drop they also dive, to catch up. Birds will steal from each other, so they have to be vigilant. But the dropping eventually can crack the shells enough for the bird to gain access to the creature inside to feast upon. Not always, though. I once saw a seagull struggle with a welk shell. It just couldn’t get enough impact for a hard enough cracking of the shell. The bird abandoned it… so I went over and took a look. The shell had been cracked but it was thick enough that the seagull couldn’t work it out. Well, there was enough damage that I expected the snail inside wouldn’t survive, even if I threw it back in the water. So I smacked it hard on a rock that finally broke it open. I walked far away and watched… and unfortunately for the bird who tried so hard, another bird beat them to the punch and grabbed it. Vicious nature! 
7 Likes
rabbit hole material: Mechanics of randomly packed filaments—The “bird nest” as meta-material | Journal of Applied Physics | AIP Publishing
2 Likes
Nature’s nano-tubes?
That’s some notable mileage there. What car make/model is it and how long have you owned it?
I recently hit 100,000 miles in my 2007 Audi, owned since new.
4 Likes
Jeez, my 2014 SQ5 is up around 105,000. Drove it all around Texas for golf for 6 years, tho.
2 Likes
Those are kilometers, so about 130.000 miles.
It’s a late 2014 Ford Focus mk 3 facelift, wagon, diesel, manual. Ex company car, bought it used in early 2019 with 165.000 km on the clock. I’m only driving around 8000 km per year.
I actually wanted to do the photo at 99 km/h, but by the time the last 9 fell into place I was in a city…
1 Like
That’s a great car. The Ford Escort and Focus made for Europe were better than the US counterparts… especially the RS models. There was a sport model Focus made in the USA that had good specs and is sought after, the ST version. But unfortunately is had been retired.
At the time I bought my Audi I was commuting a lot and often stuck in traffic… where manual shift is such a chore. So I opted for automatic, the DSG setup with paddle shifters. I still miss manual shift, but this is a very good compromise. My only beef is not getting better gas mileage for a car this size since it’s a 2.0 liter engine. But I don’t drive daily and so fuel cost impact isn’t significant.
1 Like
Alas they never made a wagon RS. Someone at Ford decided that salesmen and dads can’t have fun.
1 Like
At least Audi they understand. The RS6 Avant… wow… what a dream! Too expensive brand new, though.
I’m not a dad but I’ve found a sporty looking estate / wagon is such a great convenience. I can haul a good bit in mine, while at the same time it looks very respectable.
2 Likes
