HEY! my friends are famous!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAHYHz_zpuw&sns=em

 This a video of dive buddy Fred's commercial for his scuba show!


Sorry, I couldn't resist adding this scuba troll! :-)

Patches & Charlie's "Man cave"

Charlie & Patches are really funny together. They are both males and are best pals together. They have their own little 'club house" under Patches's cage. They bring millet treats to snack on and work on "projects". They don't like it when any  of the other birds venture near their "man cave". It's their private place where they do "projects" such as tearing up paper.

 

You would think that two males would fight with each other but these two do not. I think because Charlie doesn't challenge Patches. He looks for his guidance.Patches has been trying to teach Charlie to fly. He will squawk and panic if Charlie is out of his sights. Fresh Baby (female cockatiel) will investigate what these two are doing and will get chased away. I guess it is a "no girls allowed" club.

I think it is cute how these two hang out together

Eric the budgie loves to stir things up and aggravate the flock.
As you can see he is ready to cause trouble by entering the man cave or he will squawk loudly causing all the birds to panic and fly around.
Sal is our "newest" cockatiel. He  shows a little interested in this man cave business. Sometimes both Charlie and Patches will enter Sal's cage to eat his food, play with his toys and just hang out with him.
Sal is a little nervous because he has never had another bird in his cage before but he doesn't seem to really mind too much.He will watch Charlie and Patches when they are in their man cave.
I think pretty soon Sal will be the newest member of their" little club."
Only time will tell!

let it snow...oh God! Just shoot me!

From the many previous 'winter" blog posts I have spent a great deal of time bitching about the weather.
I've tried to restrain from doing so this year  but, HOWEVER, last night was the "deal breaker".
 We were only suppose to get a 'few light inches" of snow (after getting hit simultaneously from two other previous snow storms.)
Last night's snow was heavy, thick  and icy.
A big mother plow came by and left an monster ice berg at the entrance of the drive way.
Oh how nice.
This was something the snow blower could not cut through. This was one freakin' big iceberg. It was big enough to sink the Titanic if it was afloat. We spent hours chopping at it to break it down to remove it by hand. Seriously, it was a big pain.
I shoveled off the back deck last night as the snow was turning into ice. I am fearful the weight will collapse the structure plus I like to make sure the outside birds get fed.. The bird feeders snapped off into chest deep snow that I needed to retrieve or they would be lost until the spring thaw. I chiseled the ice off, cleared off the railing (and deck) and tied the feeders down with re-enforcing wire.
I saw a body print of a squirrel in the snow. He must have fell off the deck into the snow below.
As you can see, (by looking at the above photos), the local "residents" were quite pleased with my efforts!
A couple of the thinner trees in the back folded over in half due to the weight of the snow.The big pine that houses families of goldfinches, thankfully, held steady.
We get lots of winter birds because I always make sure the feeders are full. "Teddy" (my ring neck dove) dances and serenades the mourning doves, goldfinches, blue jays and tufted titmice on his perch looking outside..
Last night, I was awoken by the sound of a large buzzing and a vibrating noise. This noise happened twice and then, we lost electricity. I think something happened to the transformer unit. Luckily we are on the same grid as the fire station so the outage was temporary.
Regardless, I CAN"T WAIT TIL SPRING!!!!!!!!!!!!

buscando para las aguilas

I went out again looking for bald eagles and I wasn't disappointed. 

As  I was driving on main street near the Merrimac river I looked up and saw a big beautiful white headed bald eagle just like the above photo. 

* I did NOT take this photo. I found this photo on the internet.

Although I've tried many times to get a photo  I ended up with either a blur, a tail only or a blank sky. There are only about three legal places to pull over to park on this street so I was watching this guy flying above me as I was driving down the street like a turtle.

I've got to tell you to see these magnificent birds in the wild is jaw dropping.

When I pulled over to park in a legit parking spot to scan the tree line for eagles with my binoculars I did find an adult pair camouflaged in the pines.They were across the river. 

I also found a belted kingfisher on a tree branch as pictured above.

*I did NOT take this photo either. I couldn't get a clear shot of him..I found this photo on the internet just to show how pretty these birds are.

I stood by the water line watching all kinds of different types of water fowl. I saw a blue heron and tricolored heron fly by. In the water, I saw scaups, cute little pied billed grebes, common golden eyes, loons, hooded mergansers (they are pretty with their tufted heads), and common mergansers.

*I DID take THIS photo of a common merganser with a fish in his mouth. He was trying to get away from the other mergansers who were trying to snatch his lunch away.

I knew if was patient enough and waited, a eagle would be interested in what this duck had in his mouth.

Sure enough, "WHHHHOOOOOOOOSH" like lightening an eagle grabbed the fish.

And of course. my camera froze at that exact moment when I thought I had "the photo of the year". 

It was bloody cold out and my muscles were getting fatigued.I had also trudged around Mosely pines in knee deep snow hoping I would find eagles up in the pines. Mosely pines is a favorite dog walking park so I was also dodging snow banks covered with "yellow' snow.

I snapped this photo of a gull going for a free ride on a floating chunk of ice on the Merrimac..

When I got home, "Charlie" was patiently awaiting for my arrival so he could watch "Judge Judy" on TV.
It is time to hunker down for the impending nor'easter snow storm.

la fiesta de aguila

February 8th was NBPT's annual eagle festival. 

This is the kind of event I would've traveled hundreds of miles to see because it was so cool and special. 

We were especially lucky this year because the eagles were plentiful and easy to find by the Merrimac river. 

On friday, I went out by myself and spotted at least 5-6 eagles flying around  along the Merrimac.

  At the NBPT town hall on Febuary 8th, they had Mr Ricard who is in charge of rehab for birds of prey in Massachusetts. He did a wonderful presentation featuring different types of hawks and owls who reside at the rehab sanctuary. This bird above is a turkey vulture.

 

This falcon was so impressive and beautiful I think he said this one is a gyrafalcon

  This little vocal guy is a screech owl.
During the summer months, I have one that lives in a tree near my house. At 3:00am sharp he would do this eerie "whhhhooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggh' sound. The owl sounds like a ghost.
Or at least what I would imagine a ghost would sound like

Here is a bald eagle in a tree at a distance. This one is a youngster because it did not have a white head. I had the worst time trying to get a photo of them.As soon as one would land in a tree, they would take off as soon as a pointed my camera., plus, my camera was not being cooperative either. 

Eagles like the really really cold weather and my camera does not. I actually had one eagle with a big beautiful white head land on a branch above me and that is when my camera froze and shut down. 

On saturday I counted at least seven different eagle sightings. 

I saw some brown youngsters and a few adults with the white heads. 

I could pretty much count on seeing them if I waited patiently by the shore line if  there were ducks hunting for fish. The eagles are kleptoparasites. They hunt by stealing food from other creatures. I saw one big ass eagle fly straight at me aiming for a merganser holding a fish in it's mouth. "Whooosh" it grabbed the fish from the duck. I did have some photo opportunities but my camera was not cooperating. 

Regardless, it was quite the show!

As I was aiming my camera in the sky in hopes to capture this grand eagle I spotted this squirrel shitting his pants in fear. At that moment, I slipped on the snowy slope at Deer Island and rolled down the hill like a giant snowball. OK,that was IT for day, as least, for today.

hot tub time machine 1900

I had rented a PBS DVD about a "reality show experiment" on a family re-living life in 1900 in England.
The producers of the show picked a "rising middle class" flat complex like the one featured above and they completely restored it to it's original 1900 interior.
 The apartment featured was exactly like the one  my sister lived  in Tooting, England. As I was watching this show I was jettison back in the hot tub time machine to 1900 to where my sister used to live in her rundown, rat infested, 1900's flat  in a scroggy part of London.
In the show, the producers struggled with restoring the apartment in order to make it authentic but also fitting it  to today's safety standard codes. In the 1900's, The wallpaper had arsenic in it. The paint was loaded with lead. The lighting throughput the house was "gas lights" which had to restored and retro fitted so that it did not cause a fire/explosion or leak CO.
My sister's flat still had the "original" wall paper on it but it was brown, flaking and torn. No doubt it was still loaded with toxins.Other rooms were painted over and over. A lot of paint was peeling and chipped. Some of walls had holes in it where you could see the horse hair plaster. This is where the rodents came in.The elaborate wood work was broken and chipped, and painted over in clumpy layers.The floor and tiles were covered over with what was a 1950-60's (I think at one time) a orange colored shag rug. It was completely disgusting. I refused to walk barefoot on this nasty stained rug.You could see underneath in spots remains of old broken tile.
The 1900's kitchen consisted of a iron stove. The iron stove was the most important element of the house which you had to tend to constantly because not only did you cook with it but it heated the house and heated the limited hot water supply. On the TV show, they had to retro fit the stove to make it "safe' because they could not use standard coal to fire it because of today's pollution standards. Also,these old stoves  tended to explode and had problems leaking CO. My sister's house did not have this type of stove but she did have a small fickle gas stove that was put in during the 1950-60's.The original wall boarding and area where the old iron stove was still evident.
The kitchen was tiny and she only had room for a tiny dorm room refrigerator. It was placed where a 1900's ice box was there before.I think the sink was also an original. It was a deep painted iron sink that took forever to get water out from the faucet.As you might guess life for women who tended to their homes was pretty shitty.
My sister's life in this flat  wasn't easy either. There just wasn't any modern conveniences like we have standard in most of our homes.
On the TV show the 1900 house's bathroom and toilet were separate. They had a claw foot tub upstairs with no toilet. Hot water was iffy if the stove wasn't heated up for hours. The toilet was a "water closet" with a upper chain pull flushing system. This room had no sink and it was situated outside next to the house.
In my sister's flat, she also had the original "water closet "with the upper chin pull toilet. There was no sink either. The "water closet" was connected to the house by makeshift plywood walkway.The floors were squishy from the rotten wood. The bathroom upstairs was no better. It still had the original tub. I'm guessing again, that the sink and toilet in the upstairs bathroom was installed during the 50-60's(maybe even earlier). The floor around the toilet was soft and it smelled like piss.
Electricity  in her place was iffy. You had to use a "key" for certain outlets to work. I think it would be safe to assume the electrical wiring was not up to "code". This flat would be an electrician's nightmare.
It was horribly cold and damp too.I went to bed with 5 layers of smelly quilts (Washing clothes was limited.Her washing machine was a tiny college dorm type of efficiency. It was the kind that you can only wash one pair of jeans at a time. And off course, she had no dryer) When I woke up in the morning my nightly glass of water I keep by the bed side had a skim of ice on it because it was friggin' cold.
In the TV show they managed to find many of the grand antiques consisting of furniture and details to decorate the house.I find a lot of those items art worthy and beautiful.
In my sister's flat an old couch was left there from the previous owners. I do not know how old it was but it was the most disgusting thing you can imagine. It had holes on it, the springs were broken and when you sat on it giant plumes of dusts billowed from it.I have no idea what color it was because it was so filthy. I told her to get rid of it for health reasons but her stupid (ex)husband "liked it".
I do, however, believe if that flat was restored (maybe original tiles, grand wood work and the hidden stair cases refurbished) and modern amenities updated it could be a beautiful place to live in with bits of history saved.
I did the find the TV show fascinating and interesting looking back on life in 1900. As beautiful as the clothes, manners and decorating was back then I am soooooooo glad I live in this century.
Thank you very much but I HAD a taste of life in 1900 when I stayed in Tooting.Bec!

hot tub time machine 1971-2

I had rented this movie called "Abe Lincoln vampire hunter".
It was completely absurd- but for some reason, I really enjoyed it.
The same goes with this TV series called "sleepy hollow".
 They are both fantasy stories comprised of super hero like characters in a  "cartoon" setting using historical characters in the mix.. In the story "Abe Lincoln vampire hunter", Abe Lincoln (we all know who he is) is a super hero slaying bad guys slave traders and vampires.The same goes for the TV show 'sleepy hollow" where George Washington is involved in saving the world from the evil underground demons during the American revolution.
Yes, it's silly and stupid -but it's FUN!.
I am now jettison back in the hot tub time machine back to 1971-2
As a kid I loved anything and everything that had to do with the American revolution.
 I thought it was the coolest shit ever. I was enrolled in the summer library's book club and read everything on the shelves about the American revolution.
Also at that age I spent hours with friends drawing and creating our own comic books.
We also all liked hockey and saturday morning cartoons too so you can imagine what our comic books were about.
When I think back at some of the stuff we did I crack up because it was so ridiculous..
But we all got along well together in our collaborations, we stayed out of trouble (at least for a little while) and it made us use our imaginations and talents.
Sure there was some bickering on who was going to be the hero and who should be included as characters and settings but for the most part it was a working collaboration.
I was hung up on everything American revolution and the rest of the girls were more focused on the Boston Bruins and TV characters. I don't really remember the story lines of the comic books but I remember some of the characters were included in the drawings..
My comic characters that I drew and added to the mix were: Nathan Hale (american patriot), Betsey Ross,  Derek Sandersan (Boston Bruins center who I had a crush on) I also put in the revolutionary ghost cartoon character from "the funky phantom"
Jan M added Bobby Orr .She wanted him to be THE STAR.
 Pam S added Micheal Douglas from the TV show "Streets of San Francisco" since she had a crush on him, and the dog (Scooby) from the cartoon "Scooby Doo". (Hey, everyone like Scooby and wished they had a big funny talking dog for a pet)
Sue f added Phil Esposito (Boston Bruins player plus he was Italian. )
And then we had our "villains'.
The villains were General William Howe (British red coat commander who was fat and shiny), Guy Lafleur and Pete Mahovlich (both were hockey players from  the Montreal Canadians)(Pete Mahovlich was especially hideous because he was 'dentally challenged". He was a total blast to draw.
And of course, the big villain was Brad Park from the New York rangers. We drew him with a monkey-head and a tail.
After watching "Abe Lincoln vampire hunter'  and "sleepy hollow", my thoughts were that the collaborators of these movie/TV show(s) must have been like us kids back in 1971-2.
We were just having fun with our favorite  characters and just going with it.

Great fun :-)

los buhos y aguilas

I was driving down to the beach and spotted with snowy owl on a light post in the far parking lot. As I was taking this photo, some guy was yelling at me to 'move away". As you can see  that I wasn't that close. 

I backed away regardless. The guy was screaming at everyone not to "disturb the owl"and then, the owl flew away. I think the guy's big mouth scared the owl off.

As I was ready to pull out of the parking lot in the skate board park I stopped for a moment checking to make sure I had my wallet with me so I could buy Valentine candy for my father at the beach candy shop. I looked up and right above me was the owl. Nobody was around. All the birders were busy with their scopes and binoculars in the marsh. I stepped out and took this photo.

When I was driving through Newburyport to go to spanish class I pulled over near the chain bridge to see if I could spot eagles. It was an exceptionally cold day. I figured I might get lucky. As I was standing outside my car with my furry trapper hat on watching the ice floes on the Merrimack river. I felt this "WHOOOOOSH" over my head. This big ass eagle buzzed my head! He must of thought my hat was a dead rabbit or something!

 Let me tell you..These are BIG birds! 

He landed on the tree right above me. It was so cold my camera kept freezing up. I thought I had the perfect shot and then when the camera finally went "click" the eagle took off.

Here is another shot of the snowy owl. I think this one was a youngster by the looks of the specks on his feathers.