The clouds are dispersing after a day of rain and storms. A thin crescent moon is rising and the stars are shining through. It's been warm here the past few days with a strong south wind. It feels like late March instead of mid-January, though that's supposed to change tonight. The mild weather has made the woods a lot livelier. The deer have been up early, and now that the mating season is over, they're moving around in big single sex groups. Does seem to hang together throughout the year, but bucks are solitary most of the time when they're not chasing a girlfriend. There's just a brief period in winter when the bachelors socialize, and I can't help thinking they look like a bunch of guys trying to figure out how to entertain themselves without the possibility of sex to distract them.
The squirrels always seem to be out no matter how cold it gets, but the fake spring has really got them riled up. Yesterday they were squealing and chasing each other like crazy--sure looked like squirrel love to me. It was pretty entertaining, but I was careful to keep my distance. As you know, I've had my problems with squirrels.
I haven't seen any sign that the songbirds are getting a jump on their mating season, but they've also been out more, so the woods are full of their music. A mockingbird was giving it all he had this morning, and there were lots of winter wrens--adorable little guys--who always make a lot of noise for their size. (You can hear their song at their Cornell Lab page.
When I got back from my walk this morning, I found an email from fellow nature lover Michael Sims with a link to this fun page, which gives all the collective nouns for birds. Remarkably, there's nothing for wrens or mockingbirds. It's not that surprising, I guess, that the great gray warriors are left out, since they don't really mob up in a serious way. Wrens do, though. I've seen a dozen or more fluttering through the brush together as they look for goodies. They move so quickly, your eye can hardly keep up. So how about a "twinkle of wrens?"
Crescent moon photo from Moonsighting.com
Winter Wren photo from Wikimedia Commons
7 comments:
Catching up on your past several posts, M. Life has been more hectic than usual this week. We've had freakishly warm weather here as well...some of the tree branches are forcing buds. I love, love, love the bird pics you share! What a fun link that was; my fave is a 'charm of finches'.
I'm loving the sky, and the birds.
And those batchelor bucks.
We've been through that squirrel thing...how LONG do you have to hold a grudge ?
SHEESH.
[Give ME the f'in' squirrels, OK ?!]
Love you.
There's a book of collective nouns written about 40 years ago by James Lipton (yes, the same tedious fellow who hosts "Inside the Actors Studio"). I'm sure the book's long out of print, but I still have a copy around here somewhere. Lipton calls the practice of finding (or coining) collective nouns "venery", from the Latin "to hunt", and he has some wonderful examples like (as best I can remember) "a kindle of kittens" and "a skulk of foxes" and, one of my favorites, "a crash of rhinoceroi." Of the terms listed in the link, I guess my favorite is "a parliament of owls." Good fun.
And, by the way, your post today made me smile. It's very good.
"A twinkle of wrens" is perfect! and pictures of the moon always get my vote.
Thanks for the beautiful pix, Gracie! You made my heart sing.
Bozo, I know the book you mean. I love the title, "An Exaltation of Larks."
I'm so glad you guys enjoy the nature reports. Gives me a great excuse for the morning walks. I love that winter wren shot, too. Thank heaven for the generous, talented folks who put their stuff up at Wikimedia. I'm lucky if I take one good picture a year.
One of these days I've got to see that James Lipton guy--he does seem a bit tedious when he's on NPR. but he's such a fixture of movie culture at this point, it seems ridiculous that I've never seen the show.
Chaya, I'll seek rapprochement with the squirrels when they show a good faith effort to make peace. If I get through my next birthday unscathed, then we'll talk.
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