Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Don't Stick Your Elbow

I've got a "killer" case of insomnia, so I'm posting this now, in case I finally get to sleep and can sleep in.

Most people who have any knowledge of the Burma Shave signs know this one:

Don’t stick
Your elbow
Out so far
It might go home
In another car
Burma shave

About two weeks ago I was wakened right at daylight by the excited “squee-squee-squee” of a bird (or birds) in the trees across the street.  I wasn’t able to get a good look at them – they are a pair – because my eyesight isn’t great any more.  What I did see was a light brown bird bigger than a robin, maybe the size of a crow, that flew very fast, calling and calling.  Too small to be a hawk but something about it said Predator.  So I looked up predator bird calls and on the Internet and found this:
http://www.soundboard.com/sb/Peregrine_Falcon_sound

And by George, that’s what I’m hearing!  The falcons have been moving into downtowns for years, where the skyscrapers give them the height they want for their nests, and they feast on pigeons (which is why city officials encourage their presence).  But what are they doing out here in the suburbs?   I kept an eye on them – they perched on the roof of our building and on top of a telephone pole not far away, and when they flew past I got a glimpse of tan and dark-brown spots on the underside of their wings, and their hawk-like bills.  I contacted a bird watching club and our University’s Raptor Center and both asked for a photo.  I’m such a dork, I didn’t think of it until Saturday – and that day the birds moved down the street and I only now hear them at a distance.  I went down there, and couldn’t see them.  I’ll keep trying.  I was hoping for a photo to post here but no luck.  I have been informed that there are Peregrines nesting on a high-rise office building right here in St. Louis Park, and not far from where these birds are playing.  I wonder if these are the hatched pair from there?

Ellen’s home – she came home last Wednesday.  She’s up and walking around the apartment, eating, talking, surfing the ‘Net.  She tires easily and when we go elsewhere in the building she uses a wheelchair.  But she’s home and her healing progresses.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm happy for your friend Ellen.

Have you considered a mystery involving a bird-watching club?

Monica Ferris said...

I might use a bird sighting as a clue in a mystery, but I'm having enough trouble keeping up with stitching and numismatics to add bird-watching to my collection of lore. LOL

Linda O. Johnston said...

How fun that you can watch the falcons, Monica! We have hawks in our area and I enjoy observing them when they're visiting nearby trees. And I'm glad to hear that Ellen is doing so much better.

Anonymous said...

What about a bird bookmark? I loved the pattern for the argyle one your made years ago.