Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Bye-bye Birdie
Yesterday this little guy (an ordinary house sparrow) was sitting in front of our front door. Apparently he took a tumble from the nest over the door (stolen by his parents from a house martin family that built it).
Obviously he was not yet ready for fledgling status. We've already seen one clutch of fledglings emerge and hop-fly their way into the world; this guy was from batch two of the season. We did our best to avoid frightening him and Emily put some water out in a shallow lid. (Baby had no idea what to do with it, but Mama Bird did - hello birdbath!)
When we came home from our afternoon in Tirana yesterday, birdie had moved to the base of a downspout, a much better location away from our doorway. I saw Mama in the vicinity several times, so all appeared well.
Unfortunately this morning birdie was dead. There was no sign of foul play, so he apparently didn't fall prey to one of the neighborhood cats. Perhaps it was a bit too cool overnight, or perhaps he suffered injury in the tumble from the nest. Either way, it was a bit sad, but not wholly unexpected. Every spring and summer in Manassas we invariably had dead baby robins in our yard. In Mexico we had one young dove that didn't survive the transition to adulthood. The situation reminds me of a classic Yes tune, "Survival."
In any case, this will be the last season for this particular nest. We've resolved to remove the nest this winter and put up something (boards, screen?) to prevent birds from rebuilding in that location. The nest litter and droppings on our doorstep quickly overpowered any warm, fuzzy feelings we had for the cheeping of little birds. Besides, Mama and Papa bird hate the activity of our door opening and closing. Better for all if they relocate. I'm sure there will be plenty of new house martin nests to steal with all the new construction in the neighborhood.
On another note, this blog posting marks my return to more regular updates. I'm pondering several sorts of "projects," some written and some photographic, that I hope to start here shortly. Stay tuned and keep in touch.
Yesterday this little guy (an ordinary house sparrow) was sitting in front of our front door. Apparently he took a tumble from the nest over the door (stolen by his parents from a house martin family that built it).
Obviously he was not yet ready for fledgling status. We've already seen one clutch of fledglings emerge and hop-fly their way into the world; this guy was from batch two of the season. We did our best to avoid frightening him and Emily put some water out in a shallow lid. (Baby had no idea what to do with it, but Mama Bird did - hello birdbath!)
When we came home from our afternoon in Tirana yesterday, birdie had moved to the base of a downspout, a much better location away from our doorway. I saw Mama in the vicinity several times, so all appeared well.
Unfortunately this morning birdie was dead. There was no sign of foul play, so he apparently didn't fall prey to one of the neighborhood cats. Perhaps it was a bit too cool overnight, or perhaps he suffered injury in the tumble from the nest. Either way, it was a bit sad, but not wholly unexpected. Every spring and summer in Manassas we invariably had dead baby robins in our yard. In Mexico we had one young dove that didn't survive the transition to adulthood. The situation reminds me of a classic Yes tune, "Survival."
In any case, this will be the last season for this particular nest. We've resolved to remove the nest this winter and put up something (boards, screen?) to prevent birds from rebuilding in that location. The nest litter and droppings on our doorstep quickly overpowered any warm, fuzzy feelings we had for the cheeping of little birds. Besides, Mama and Papa bird hate the activity of our door opening and closing. Better for all if they relocate. I'm sure there will be plenty of new house martin nests to steal with all the new construction in the neighborhood.
On another note, this blog posting marks my return to more regular updates. I'm pondering several sorts of "projects," some written and some photographic, that I hope to start here shortly. Stay tuned and keep in touch.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Albania at last!
We finally made it! Friday afternoon we flew in to Tirana and started our two years in Albania. Not having slept on the flights over enough to measure, we were exhausted. We pushed on, unpacking stuff and going grocery shopping in the evening. Saturday and half of Sunday were spent doing housework, unpacking, rearranging, and unwinding/resting. We went to a BBQ hosted by another Embassy employee and got a scenic tour of the area in which we live.
Here are two quick pictures just to show a bit of the neighborhood. First, a castle (don't know the name yet) that we can see to our south.
Second, a local farmer, his cow, and his sheep. Every evening he brings them down the hill behind us to graze in the empty field below us. Around dark, he takes them back up the hill. The little lamb, barely visible in the grass, is quite playful and last night followed two boys that walked by, much to the farmer's chagrin.
We finally made it! Friday afternoon we flew in to Tirana and started our two years in Albania. Not having slept on the flights over enough to measure, we were exhausted. We pushed on, unpacking stuff and going grocery shopping in the evening. Saturday and half of Sunday were spent doing housework, unpacking, rearranging, and unwinding/resting. We went to a BBQ hosted by another Embassy employee and got a scenic tour of the area in which we live.
Here are two quick pictures just to show a bit of the neighborhood. First, a castle (don't know the name yet) that we can see to our south.
Second, a local farmer, his cow, and his sheep. Every evening he brings them down the hill behind us to graze in the empty field below us. Around dark, he takes them back up the hill. The little lamb, barely visible in the grass, is quite playful and last night followed two boys that walked by, much to the farmer's chagrin.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Yes, it's been five months since my last posting, or so it seems. Facebook has taken what little time and energy I have for online postings, unfortunately, and I've neglected this space.
Quick updates:
My Albanian training ends next week. Woohoo! I won't be fully comfortable in Albania, but I feel I have enough of a grasp to get around. I'll have two weeks of intense pack-out work and last-minute purchases and then depart.
Boots will be going to live with my sister-in-law and her family soon. We have to work out the details soon. I'll miss her more than I care to think about, especially when we get to Albania and I'm alone each day while Emily is at work. It will be odd. Boots has been with us for over 14 years now. We'd love to take her, but don't see any scenario where a 15 year old dog, that has never flown before and doesn't like kennels/cages, would survive the long trip.
I'm getting used to my new laptop. It's the first time I've ever had to use just a laptop, so it's a bit of a learning curve. My old Powerspec PC is nearly ready for my brother. I plan to deliver it this weekend.
I just received my DVD of "Reclaiming the Blade" today (finally!). As with the majority of the movies I've purchased since I returned to the States last summer, it'll go into the "watch in Albania" pile, which is substantial. I still need to pick up a few more movies that I missed while in Mexico or just after we got back, but I've made a good start.
Once I arrive in Albania, I will resume my full-time student activities, either with NVCC or another institution. I also plan to spend some time developing a personal website as well as some practice/play sites, just for practice.
We will definitely be doing some serious traveling while in Albania: Albania itself, Monte Negro, Kosova, Macedonia, Greece, Italy - and maybe Croatia, Bosnia, and Slovenia. Mostly for fun, but we also want to scout out Macedonia, Italy, Kosova, and Monte Negro for possible future postings. Italian is pretty easy and I'm sure Emily could pick it up very quickly. Kosova is an Albanian post and both Macedonia and Monte Negro have Albanian as a minority language.
Well, time to run. I have to prepare a short presentation on human rights in Albanian for tomorrow.
Quick updates:
My Albanian training ends next week. Woohoo! I won't be fully comfortable in Albania, but I feel I have enough of a grasp to get around. I'll have two weeks of intense pack-out work and last-minute purchases and then depart.
Boots will be going to live with my sister-in-law and her family soon. We have to work out the details soon. I'll miss her more than I care to think about, especially when we get to Albania and I'm alone each day while Emily is at work. It will be odd. Boots has been with us for over 14 years now. We'd love to take her, but don't see any scenario where a 15 year old dog, that has never flown before and doesn't like kennels/cages, would survive the long trip.
I'm getting used to my new laptop. It's the first time I've ever had to use just a laptop, so it's a bit of a learning curve. My old Powerspec PC is nearly ready for my brother. I plan to deliver it this weekend.
I just received my DVD of "Reclaiming the Blade" today (finally!). As with the majority of the movies I've purchased since I returned to the States last summer, it'll go into the "watch in Albania" pile, which is substantial. I still need to pick up a few more movies that I missed while in Mexico or just after we got back, but I've made a good start.
Once I arrive in Albania, I will resume my full-time student activities, either with NVCC or another institution. I also plan to spend some time developing a personal website as well as some practice/play sites, just for practice.
We will definitely be doing some serious traveling while in Albania: Albania itself, Monte Negro, Kosova, Macedonia, Greece, Italy - and maybe Croatia, Bosnia, and Slovenia. Mostly for fun, but we also want to scout out Macedonia, Italy, Kosova, and Monte Negro for possible future postings. Italian is pretty easy and I'm sure Emily could pick it up very quickly. Kosova is an Albanian post and both Macedonia and Monte Negro have Albanian as a minority language.
Well, time to run. I have to prepare a short presentation on human rights in Albanian for tomorrow.
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