nature is not nice
...
I take a lot of pictures of birds, which seems like a lovely endeavor. But the hard truth is that the world is not a gentle, peaceful place. Because the weather has been so harsh and cold in Oakland, we went inland to Contra Costa County, hoping to have a nice day of cycling.
I discovered this foot-long hanging nest because a Western Scrub Jay was trying to make a meal of its contents. The community of birds that were associated with this nest were making a huge noisy fuss, but the jay was undeterred. I think that my curiosity about the ruckus inadvertently scared off the jay.
Did the eggs or baby birds survive? Who knows?
Bushtits are one of the few species to employ "helper birds" so if you are a bushtit, it really does take a village to raise a child.
Other than that grisly interlude, there were a few other parts of our day that qualified as "not nice." The wind was so strong that it knocked over my bike -- twice! -- smashing my panniers to the ground and inflicting serious, expensive damage to one of my camera lenses and our binoculars. Nikon repair is going to love us. (I only had a medium-sized meltdown about this.)
Still, a bad day biking is still a good day, right?
I take a lot of pictures of birds, which seems like a lovely endeavor. But the hard truth is that the world is not a gentle, peaceful place. Because the weather has been so harsh and cold in Oakland, we went inland to Contra Costa County, hoping to have a nice day of cycling.
I discovered this foot-long hanging nest because a Western Scrub Jay was trying to make a meal of its contents. The community of birds that were associated with this nest were making a huge noisy fuss, but the jay was undeterred. I think that my curiosity about the ruckus inadvertently scared off the jay.
Did the eggs or baby birds survive? Who knows?
Bushtits are one of the few species to employ "helper birds" so if you are a bushtit, it really does take a village to raise a child.
Other than that grisly interlude, there were a few other parts of our day that qualified as "not nice." The wind was so strong that it knocked over my bike -- twice! -- smashing my panniers to the ground and inflicting serious, expensive damage to one of my camera lenses and our binoculars. Nikon repair is going to love us. (I only had a medium-sized meltdown about this.)
Still, a bad day biking is still a good day, right?
Comments
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sorry about your equipment
Typically. I wear my camera slung diagonally over my shoulder when riding.
Knocking the bike to the ground was very violent (and heart breaking).