Smudge of Ashen Fluff
I often spot this bird in the tree outside my window. He (she?) was waiting out the rain there on Sunday morning.
Not the greatest bird photos ever, but I like the varied textures of its feathers.
(This post does need some avian title. Help me, Vlad! Smudge of Ashen Fluff.)
Cool bird! Much cooler looking, to my untrained eye, than a waxwing, if not quite so elegant.
December 14th, 2009 at 7:53 pmWhat is it? Mountain bluebird? Black-throated blue warbler? Indigo bunting? Help, Sibley!
December 15th, 2009 at 11:48 amWestern Scrub Jay. (The description there notes that it is a “deep azure blue,” so we’ve gone full circle.)
December 15th, 2009 at 12:01 pmBigger than it looks in your picture, which made me think it was sparrow-sized.
December 15th, 2009 at 1:57 pmAs as fleeting experience of almost unreal beauty your Western Scrub Jay consoles ones eyes after having taking in your pictures and description of Oakland as usual. But not for long. How can the natives of Oakland stand living in that imitation of hell without at least attempting to do something about it?
December 15th, 2009 at 4:41 pmI worry that I’m too negative about Oakland in some of those posts. Plenty of people are attempting to do something about it, with greater or lesser success. All of the blighted areas that I have written about or photographed also have some concerned, dedicated residents who are fighting the good fight and doing what they can to make their neighborhoods more livable. (And they are livable, even if they’re not really safe or pretty…)
December 15th, 2009 at 11:34 pmOaksterdam?
December 19th, 2009 at 5:26 amWhat about it? Oaksterdam is fairly safe and livable, and even pretty, depending what building you happen to be looking at.
December 19th, 2009 at 9:30 amI meant to be backing you up; if it’s comparable to Amsterdam in any way, it must be pretty good.
On the other hand, in your most recent post you seem to be ready to leave. If so, this coast is okay. The snow was nice… If not the PRC, maybe someplace a similar distance from isolation?
December 20th, 2009 at 7:00 pm