Mother Duck and Ducklings

 

A Sandpiper, but Which One?

 

I have never been good with shore birds.  Part of that is because I don’t see them often, but also they are very confusing.

I photographed this one recently, and have been trying to figure it out.  I am leaning toward the Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria), but that diagnosis depends on the legs being green, and they look more yellow-grey in this picture.  The Solitary Sandpiper is not native to this area, but it could have been passing through in spring migration.

On purely a name basis, I think that it would be nice if it were a Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla), because “semipalmated” sounds cool.

As far as I know, there is no Fully Palmated Sandpiper. 

Random Floating Glove

 

A Mourning Dove Among Branches

 

Signs

 

Trees and Clouds Reflected in the Water

 

Some Temporal Issues from the Last Post

I noticed, after posting my last entry, which closed out 2025, that the blog had reached a total of 365 posts.  That would be a pretty good number if I had been blogging for a year, but in reality I started the blog in 2010. 

I also wrote that the final episode of Newhart had aired in the Eighties, though the actual air date was May 21, 1990, which most people would consider the Nineties.  One can make the mathematical argument that, since there was no “year zero” (the calendar goes directly from 1 BC to AD 1) that first decade of the AD time period was 1-10, and by the same principle “the Eighties” would actually be 1981-1990.  I remember some people making that same argument back when everyone assumed that the new millennium would begin in 2000.  However, I think that it is best not to attempt that argument, and rather to save my strength for arguing the superiority of meteorological winter to astronomical winter.  

Stranger Things

 

The show Stranger Things will be coming to an end soon.  It is a show that, like Game of Thrones, I feel as if I should have watched, but never did.  And I doubt that I will ever have the time, energy, or self-discipline to watch it.  

Perhaps the biggest reason that I feel that I should have watched it is that I am roughly the same age as the main characters.  I was a kid in the Eighties.  And that makes me think about how the same amount of time has passed between 2025 and when I was in middle school in the Eighties as had passed between 1985 and the end of World War II.  And that makes me feel really old and sad.

I assume that the ending will be considered deeply disappointing, because the endings of iconic television shows (Seinfeld, The Sopranos, Lost, etc.) are always considered deeply disappointing.  (Well, okay, maybe not the Newhart finale . . . from the Eighties . . . )

Beyond that, though, I do not have any observations on Stranger Things itself, as I have never watched it, but I do have observations on the names of some of the actors:

Millie Bobby Brown—It took me years to come to terms with the fact that someone named “Millie Bobby Brown” is in no way related to Whitney Houston

Finn Wolfhard—Is that really his name, or just something that he made up when he was twelve because it sounded cool?

Sadie Skink Sink—I know that her name is “Sink”, but I can’t helping thinking “Skink”, and I can’t help wondering how many reptile aficionados over the last few years have been naming their skinks “Sadie”. 

Sunset Over the Bridge

 

The Pigeon Wets His Beak

 

From the Inventor of Duck, Duck, Goose . . .

  . . . comes turtle, duck, turtle.

Strange, Convoluted Fungus

I came across this strange, convoluted fungus a few weeks ago.  Fortunately it was far enough off the trail to have avoided being destroyed.  

I don’t have much to say about this fungus.  I don’t know what kind it is.  It is not, however, the strangest fungus that I’ve seen.  That was one that I saw in North Carolina many years ago that looked kind of like a starfish.  If I ever get the time I should see if I can dig up those pictures.  (But I won’t get the time.)

 

Eighties Icons Fall

Last week saw the deaths of Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Ozzy Osbourne, and Hulk Hogan.  I was not particularly a fan of any of those people, but I can’t deny the huge presence that they had in popular culture for all of us who grew up in the Eighties.  

I couldn’t help thinking that the next blow to my Eighties childhood would be that Chuck E. Cheese himself would die. 

And maybe I was a little bit prescient.

Chuck E. Cheese didn’t die. 

But he was arrested for credit card fraud.

A Baby Red-eared Slider Among Algae

 

The Birds of Early Spring

  From March . . . 

. . . we have an American Coot, which looks kind of sinister up close . . . 

. . . an American Robin on the rocks . . . 

. . . and, after the American Coot and the America Robin, one might be expecting an American Crow, but this is actually a Fish Crow, as indicated by its distinctive “ah-ah” call. 

Debris in the Water

 

The Carrot/Prehistoric Invertebrate

 

I have long thought that whoever came up with those bags of peeled, cut baby carrots was a genius—he basically turned carrots into potato chips.

Most of the carrots look pretty much the same, but recently I found one that looks like something from the Burgess Shale.  (That’s probably because of the weird strands at one end that resemble antennae, or mouthparts, or something.)

Another Hawk

 

Here is another picture of a Red-shouldered Hawk, a species which I attempted to photograph a few years ago. 

The Year Is Almost Over

The year is almost over, and I feel as if I should write some final post.  But I feel too exhausted to say anything worthwhile.  This time of year always makes me feel exhausted.  Of course, I feel exhausted all year long, but even more exhausted now, maybe due to the lack if light.

It makes me wish that we could all go into hibernation for the winter.  I know that I  have blogged about that before, but I am too exhausted to track down the post to link to it. 

Christmas Bird Among the Holly

When I look at this Walgreens Christmas bird, I have to wonder—is its plumage supposed to be plaid?  Or is it wearing a plaid coat that is form-fitted to its wing and tail feathers?

Also, I find it somewhat ironic that the Christmas bird is not considered suitable for children.  So remember, kids, you may admire the Christmas bird from a distance, but do not approach!