The Legend of the Squeaky Door Hinge Bird (UPDATED – Culprit Identified)
I went for a really nice hike last weekend. It was sunny, but things were still a little wet, and all was cleansed of the dust and volcanic ash by a nice gentle rain shower the day before. I had a destination in mind; a little stream with a nice spot to sit and eat a sandwich. My mind was free and relaxed, the sky was blue, and never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I was about to come face to feathered face with….my white whale, the squeaky doorhinge bird.
Let me preface what I’m about to say by telling you that I’m a peaceful person, a non-violent person. I love creatures great and small, and have never knowingly or purposefully caused harm to any innocent creature. (I say “innocent” because there’s always that mosquito clause) And I specifically like birds a great deal. I feed them, and I put up houses for them. I think they’re great. But the squeaky doorhinge bird is the only creature on the planet that has engendered in me the urge to kill.
I first met the squeaky doorhinge bird, and gave it its name, about 12 years ago. It was springtime, and I had moved from a treeless condo, to a new house with a back yard and trees, and a garden. Life was good. One of the trees was right outside my bedroom window, and one morning I was awakened by a noise that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. It was loud, and piercing and obnoxious, and it was about six feet from my head. I stumbled out of bed, squinting through my sleepy eyes, trying to find the source of the racket. Three whistles, starting high, and going lower in pitch EEEEEEE EEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Then about 15 seconds of silence. Then again, a brain-piercing EEEEE EEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEE! I couldn’t see the perpetrator, but I knew it was obviously some kind of bird; a horrible horrible bird. The squeaky doorhinge bird (named for the sound it made) that woke me out of a sound sleep at 4am that spring morning came back every. single. day. Same time, same noise, for weeks. Every spring. It’s “song” even pierced through the pillow I learned to pull over my head every morning when the noise began.
When I finally moved out of that house, and drove away to my new one, I felt a little nostalgic as I looked back, but in all honesty, my last thought as we pulled down the street was “Good riddance to that damn bird.”
So Saturday, as I walked along the trail heading for my picnic spot, the last thing in the world that I ever expected to hear was EEEEEE EEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I froze in my tracks. Instantly I was flooded with those old memories of sleep deprivation and bird rage. I decided that I was not going to leave that spot until I saw what the beast looked like. I wanted to stare my ancient foe in its little beady eye. It took a few minutes, but I found him, and I captured him on film. I thought about throwing my shoe, but ultimately I decided to bid my nemesis farewell with the customary salutation that I had not used since last we met. “SHUT! UP!” I yelled, instantly realizing I had not checked to see if anyone else was in visual range watching this crazy person yelling into a tree.
Fortunately, I was alone. Buf the dog looked a little sheepish when I yelled, wondering if she had done something wrong. I quickly reassured her, and we headed on down the path until the faint eee eeeee eeeeeee! faded into silence.
So here it is: Avian Public Enemy #1, the object of my white-hot wrath. If any of you Mudflatters are master birders, do tell me what the heck the squeaky doorhinge bird actually is so I can think ill of it under its proper name.
UPDATE: Thanks to all of you who took on the cause of identifying the winged culprit. I have investigated all the suggestions, and I concur with this analysis from Mudflatter ladybirddeb:
Absolutely a golden-crowned sparrow, and what you’re hearing isn’t its song, which is a rather sweet sparrowy song, it’s the bird’s alarm call. Translation: Get the f*** out of my territory and away from my nest!! The alarm call is meant to be grating and repellent…so you’ll leave. It also warns other birds in earshot that there’s potential danger around. He’s little and has no other defenses except for his ability to make an obnoxious, repellent noise. He probably has a mate sitting on clutch of eggs, and he has to protect his family from all sorts of nasty nest raiders, including cats, rats, ravens, magpies and squirrels — all of which like to devour baby birds and bird eggs. He will risk his own life to protect his family. Human parents tend to make horrible noises too when their babies are in danger.
Now I just have to learn the golden crowned sparrow language to say: “Ironically the sound you are making now is putting you in far more danger from me than would your silence.” At least my new bedroom has no tree by the window.
Sorry for the double posts above. When I clicked to post the first time, it never appeared, so I thought I had somehow not posted.
@Terpsichore: We all know SP has nothing more than hot air to offer as a solution either to national crises or the crises in AK. She has neither the brains nor the ability to formulate an intelligent game plan, and since she surrounds herself with people of equal or lesser abilities, well, you get the picture.
Crystalwof @211: “Today, we learned that Obama’s decisions continue to impact Alaskans; while we as taxpayers now own General Motors, Obama closes another dealership – this time in Soldotna as more of Alaskans’ hard-earned money and jobs are lost to big government.” (from SP statement)
EyeOnYou @212: “His email said “the bottom line is this: Governor Palin is correct: Soldotna lost a new car dealership as part of the federal intervention. 44 local jobs were terminated. Over a million dollars in annual payroll was lost. The net effect to Soldotna is substantial. Obama’s actions have directly impacted Alaska and Soldotna. The Governor is correct.” ”
Is she completely correct? The statements I question are “Obama closes another dealership” – implying he personally decided which dealerships were to be closed (I think here in SoFla its something like 40 closing down. I really dougbt Obama had anything to do with the decision).
I also question “as more of Alaskans’ hard-earned money and jobs are lost to big government”. This implies that the bigger government expense is essentially the cause of GM needing to cut back by closing dealerships and laying off workers. I believe that is not the case.
I would ask the Governor what SHE would have done if she were president, facing the imminenet bankrupcy of a huge NATIONAL industry employing millions of people. The way I see it, if Obama had done nothing, or something different, the end result would still have been lost jobs for the people of Alaska somewhere. If John McCain had become president instead of Obama, same result. If this had happened under Bush’s watch, same again.
Swami predicts some yahoo over at C4pee will actually write that Obama personally ordered that plant closed because he wants to destoy the Alaskan economy so people will then blame Palin and that will ruin her political career. Or some other nonsense suggesting that Obama had that dealership closed out of any type of spite or malice or “fear” of Sarah Palin.
sauerkraut said: “Naaaahhhh… I know it ain’t politically correct, but there are times when there’s only two choices when the outdoor critters get majorly on the nerves: 1) slingshot 2) shotgun.”
A paintball gun works well, also. too. I had a robin flying around my house blapping into all my windows from before dawn to after sunset for months, enraging me and terrifying Blossom, my rottie, of all things. Finally, I told one of the guys who was working on my house that I would be so happy if that robin found a girlfriend and flew away to find a new home. The following weekend, the robin was gone. I later found out that the guy shot it with a paintball, thinking he would just scare it off, but alas, it did the little guy in.
sauerkraut said: “Naaaahhhh… I know it ain’t politically correct, but there are times when there’s only two choices when the outdoor critters get majorly on the nerves: 1) slingshot 2) shotgun.”
A paintball gun works well, also.too. One year I had a robin running around from before dawn until after dark blapping into all the windows in my house. This went on for months, enraging me and terrifying Blossom, my rottie, of all things. Finally, I told one of the guys who was working on my house that I would be REALLY happy if that robin found a girlfriend and flew away to find a new home. The next weekend, poof!, the robin was gone. I later found out that guy shot the robin with a paintball just to scare it off, and alas, it did the little guy in.
honestyinGov: Yes, you sign up for the free blog to create an account.
My poor son was “serenaded” (and awakened) by baby Scrub Jays last year; the parents built a nest in the little pine tree right next to his bedroom window. The adults have a somewhat screechy voice normally, not too awful, but the babies’ voices… well, they’re ungodly awful. Son does a pretty good imitation, sorry I can’t post it for you all. Fortunately it appears that the jays are not nesting there this year. Son is very happy.
BigSlick, knee-slapping funny story.
Karen Marie, liking that perspective–birds and other critters much more perceptive than humans give them credit for.
I posed a question on the open thread about 2 days ago and TBNTJudy answered it for me.
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# 94
TBNTJudy Says:
May 18th, 2009 at 4:34 PM
#77 honestyinGov:
I haven’t seen an answer to your question yet, so this is from the F.A.Q.:
Q. How can I upload an avatar?
The default avatar is a randomly generated geometric pattern. Some people call them quilts, others call them snowflakes. If you want to use your own avatar, you’ll need to go to http://www.wordpress.com and create an account. Then follow the instructions to upload your own avatar. It will automatically be used throughout WordPress.
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I just went over to WordPress and I’m not finding the link to ‘create the account’.
Is that the same as their link that says ‘sign up for a free blog’… or is it under something else. I’m not finding it. Anybody know…..? thanks in advance.
crystalwolf aka caligrl Says:
May 20th, 2009 at 8:36 PM
_____________
This is the latest update:
UPDATE — I just got a call from SarahPAC spokeswoman Meg Stapleton, who contacted Hutchings about this blog post. While I was talking to Stapleton, Hutchings sent me an email saying Palin is right.
His email said “the bottom line is this: Governor Palin is correct: Soldotna lost a new car dealership as part of the federal intervention. 44 local jobs were terminated. Over a million dollars in annual payroll was lost. The net effect to Soldotna is substantial. Obama’s actions have directly impacted Alaska and Soldotna. The Governor is correct.”
I’m totally sick of GINO and stapletongues lies!!!
Is Obama closing Soldotna dealership? (UPDATED)
http://community.adn.com/adn/node/141258
“Gov. Sarah Palin’s new statement criticizing Barack Obama blames the president for the closure of a Soldotna car dealership.
But the dealership tells me it’s not closing.
Here’s the relevant part of the statement Palin put out through SarahPAC.
“Today, we learned that Obama’s decisions continue to impact Alaskans; while we as taxpayers now own General Motors, Obama closes another dealership – this time in Soldotna as more of Alaskans’ hard-earned money and jobs are lost to big government.”
What a lyin’ POS!!!!!!!
Lee323.
What an absolutely perfect Christmas decoration; a nest in your wreath. And functional too.
I left my decorations up until February one year. I usually take them down right after 12th night (Jan. 6) but got busy and needed to wait for a three day weekend.
Lee323 Says:
May 20th, 2009 at 7:00 PM
Three years ago, I left my Christmas wreath on my front door for a ridiculously long time….Okay, it was late April…..well past any remotely decent time for Christmas decorations.
I finally went to take it down and discovered a pair of wrens had built a nest in the center of the wreath. Of course, I left the wreath up until the brood of wrenlets was on the wing.
Since that time, the wrens use the nest to cuddle in during long winter nights and then they spruce up the nest in the Spring to lay their eggs. Right now, the wren babies are about a week old…..all beak and stomach…..surrounded by evergreens and red ribbons.
So….I usually take my Christmas wreath down around the summer solstice…..and store it carefully so as not to dislodge the nest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Awww…♥ that is so sweet.
The Canadian geese just flew over my house, morning and eve they fly over….I ♥ heart them 🙂 And what strength they have make us look weak in our cars, can you imagine how much energy it takes to fly?
I have a house wren that nests behind a shutter on one of the front windows… every spring the crows come to raid the nest. And every year I have to fix the screen because those blessed )%*$@ rip up the window screen.
Some day, Norton. POW! Right to the moon with those thieving crows.
Lee323 – I was at a friends house and noticed one of his hanging plant baskets looked a little brown and suggested watering it. He laughed and told me to walk over near it. That mama wren came tear-assn’ out of there and let me know real quick to beat it !! They are cute , but man they are feisty.
Three years ago, I left my Christmas wreath on my front door for a ridiculously long time….Okay, it was late April…..well past any remotely decent time for Christmas decorations.
I finally went to take it down and discovered a pair of wrens had built a nest in the center of the wreath. Of course, I left the wreath up until the brood of wrenlets was on the wing.
Since that time, the wrens use the nest to cuddle in during long winter nights and then they spruce up the nest in the Spring to lay their eggs. Right now, the wren babies are about a week old…..all beak and stomach…..surrounded by evergreens and red ribbons.
So….I usually take my Christmas wreath down around the summer solstice…..and store it carefully so as not to dislodge the nest.
KO calls out Rush and tells him “FU”.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/
@ austintx “What is wrong with the tanning bed they have ??”
THAT tanning bed is in the Governor’s mansion, you silly!
LMAO!!!
KO on Steele…….mentions sarah at the 1:34 mark.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/
200 Karin in CT Says:
May 20th, 2009 at 6:17 PM
@ austintx “What is wrong with the tanning bed they have ??”
THAT tanning bed is in the Governor’s mansion, you silly!
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{ slap to forehead } Yeah – And we all know how much time they spend there………
111 mlaiuppa Says: May 20th, 2009 at 10:29 AM
I’m sure that part of AKMs aversion to the “beautiful” song of the golden crowned sparrow is that it is linked to sleep deprivation. I’d feel the same way if a bird dared wake me at dawn. But then I’d take measures to ensure it didn’t happen again.
Like get a cat.
Or peregrine falcon.
________
Naaaahhhh… I know it ain’t politically correct, but there are times when there’s only two choices when the outdoor critters get majorly on the nerves:
1) slingshot
2) shotgun.
Shotgun shuts them up every time. Unless you live in the city.
@ austintx “What is wrong with the tanning bed they have ??”
THAT tanning bed is in the Governor’s mansion, you silly!
191 PalinSucks Says:
May 20th, 2009 at 5:00 PM
“Bristol said she does go regularly to the gym and tanning salon.
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What is wrong with the tanning bed they have ??
AKM, the open threads are working out great, don’t you think? I can barely keep up with all the fun from the (ir)regulars!
Thanks again for all you do! This place is the best.
cont:
“Davies is referring to litigation that was filed by an Alaskan activist before the alleged hack occurred. That lawsuit sought Palin’s private e-mail. The activist charged that Palin used her Yahoo accounts to conduct official government business and therefore e-mail in the accounts was part of the public record and should be disclosed under Alaska’s public records statute. A judge ruled, after news of the hack broke, that Palin was required to preserve the correspondence in her private accounts until the lawsuit was resolved.”
Is this “Activist” Andree?
This might be good 🙂
Threat Level Privacy, Crime and Security Online
Accused Palin Hacker Says Stolen E-Mails Were Public Record
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/05/palin-hack/
“A surprise legal maneuver by the defense in the Sarah Palin hacking case could undermine key charges carrying the stiffest potential penalties.
A lawyer for the Tennessee college student charged with hacking into the Alaska governor’s Yahoo e-mail account last year says his client couldn’t have violated Palin’s privacy because a judge had already declared her e-mails a matter of public record.”
Here is a good web page for identifying birds:
http://www.whatbird.com/
Typically, the Golden-crowned Sparrow is known for saying Oh Dear Me. I live in Talkeetna and the Golden-crowned is not by any means rare, but I typically hear the White-crowned and Fox sparrow more. So, yes, it is an annoying call, but also one which I feel lucky to hear.
The the thing that gets me is the dudes quote about not talking to bristol about sex and contraception, “there’s enough information out there”. Hah, what great parenting skills Gino and her husband has, leave it up to society to educate them. Gino being the mother, it should be her job, not todds.
Meanwhile… Shannyn has posted a new story on the Huffpo about Palin pimping Michael Steele.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shannyn-moore/palin-pimps-steele-snows_b_206095.html
“Bristol said she does go regularly to the gym and tanning salon.
Huh? Oh that must be for all her photo shoots and all? life’s a b!tch!”
Did you read she has someone watch, Tripp, while she watches some other persons kids? As for no graduation party…she told that D.J. the party was at her house 7 going to prom knocked up without a boyfriend is probably why she skipped.
I just read the Newminer article…Poor, Poor Bristol, using a secondhand crib(Trig’s?)
working hard to afford diapers…. ❗
But…
Bristol said she does go regularly to the gym and tanning salon.
Huh? Oh that must be for all her photo shoots and all?
🙄
life’s a b!tch!
For all the posts and links about the family of ducks being aided by a banker, that is here in Spokane, and it has happened before. The banker has watched nervously as the ducklings get ready to fly, and he has come to their rescue and helped stop traffic while mother duck leads her flock across the street to the river. We were enchanted by this story last year, and we are enchanted again this year.
As for AKM’s early morning bird chirping problem, I say use wax earplugs. Not much gets through them.
Now I lay me down to sleep…
@ BigSlick #149 …and AKM’s Legend of Squeaky Door Hinge Bird
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Very entertaining stories! Laughed my head off…..
Many Native peoples believe that birds are messengers to the Spirit World.
Wonder if the Spirit world groans a wee bit when the blackbirds and Squeaky Door Hinge Birds come winging their way through the ether with their latest messages….
LOL, read this article at the newsminer on Bristol being a mother. Some comments are pretty funny,
http://www.newsminer.com
The magazine also quoted Todd Palin saying he had never spoken to his daughter about sex or contraception.
“She had enough information out there and enough examples out there. If she had questions, they would be answered,” Palin said.
Big Slick!!! LOL……great rendition of your experience!! you got the stuff, to write and drive off birds, hey man, you’re a gifted natural problem solver and ya didn’t even know it, lol.
Lol austintx – am going to have to open a new folder in my faves. ‘austintx Austin Texas music recs. 😆
MinNJ – Will do, and yes he is, thankyou
Nite Irishgirl
austintx
You have every reason to take pride in the reputation of Austin’s music scene, which, according to two of my cousin’s children (who are now in their thirties,) is awesome. Love the links, ty.
Nitey-nite, sweetie.
Nite all!
176 MinNJ Says:
May 20th, 2009 at 2:17 PM
UK Lady and austintx
The action on a guitar or any stringed instrument is the distance between the strings and the finger board or fretts. (sp?) If the action is high, there is alot of distance, and it takes a large hand and/or strong fingers to play it. FWIW…been just lurking and reading for the past few days and enjoying it, as always.
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Stevie had HUGE hands. Saw him up close when only 25-50 people would show up to see the “new kid”.
The “new kid” now is this guy………and yup , he’s from right here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVHr6RalZwc
I just reread UKman’s post……it will forever remain one of my highlights on this blog.
austintx just went on link you provided srv and jv on left-handed doubleneck guitar. i am just gobsmacked. i can’t believe what i just saw. and heard. jeebus!
BTW, UK Lady, give my love to UK Man…he’s a keeper!
This reminds me of the drama I had with a woodpecker behind our house. Every morning at 3:30 am. pickpickpickpickpick; so loud and noisy. I too was sleeping-deprived. Hubby doesn’t mind any noise. So, I got up in the night, pulled bathrobe on and fuzzy slippers, took my son’s Nerf gun with foam bullets and targeted the thing (not to harm it, just to scare it). Of course, foam doesn’t carry far, and the woodpecker just stared at me, with a Pffftttt look.
We moved too, but never have a bedroom window next to tall trees with a Woody around.
Big Slick
Your story was mesmerizing…had to know what the ending was. Great read.
UK Lady and austintx
The action on a guitar or any stringed instrument is the distance between the strings and the finger board or fretts. (sp?) If the action is high, there is alot of distance, and it takes a large hand and/or strong fingers to play it. FWIW…been just lurking and reading for the past few days and enjoying it, as always.
thanks irish girl. i am reserving the roddy doyle books right now from the library. i grew up with that accent all around me.[smile].nice memories from that time…b
Re. the sparrow – that’s awesome! I didn’t know what their alarm call was like!
I just KNEW that no one could think their SONG was annoying. But an ALARM call, that makes sense!
Thanks for posting the info. I like to learn these kinds of things.
UK – Lady ……..I keep forgetting to show you this. He designed and built the guitar. Show hubby. That’s Junior’s wife playing with him. This song is funny , but does not show how amazingly he can play his invention. I’ve seen him many times and he brings it.
http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1W1GGLL_en&q=junior+brown+highway+patrol&aq=1&oq=junior+brown
BTW, New Thread Alert!
Roddy Doyle’s book “Paddy Clarke, Ha Ha Ha” won the Booker prize….I’d highly recommend it.
note to austintx ….
As per the conversation we were having in the forum about Eagle and maybe some issues with the pressure washer…. we seem to have hit a ‘snag’.
I will be putting together a message for all involved, But it is not written yet.
Look there a little bit later.
If some of you haven’t seen them, Martha has put a couple of great posts on the fun with Gopers thread.
Bubbles – try some Roddy Doyle books, they are great, dead funny and as down to earth Irish as you can get, not too polite on the language if that offends you, but some of the best books I have read. Try the trilogy for starters ‘The Snapper’, ‘The Van’ and the ‘Commitments’. You need to read them in an Irish accent though, if you know what I mean.
irish girl one of my favorite writers is maeve binchy. i hope to see dublin someday but if i don’t the chance ms. binchy’s books make me feel as though i have been thbere and met some people and had a great time…
131-irishgirl~ omg how cool….birdover here 🙂
b…thanks for the moose comment!
uklady thanks for the music . just downloaded. for later[hee hee]…love b
Martha,
Thanks for providing the link to the whistle….It does sound like a squeaky door hinge.
And a squeaky door hinge is one of my worst nightmares…especially in the morning.
big slick that was a very fine story. thank you. i could see it all happening as though i was there….b
austintx – that link was awesome, UKM had seen it before, but I hadn’t, stunning. Thankyou that’s another saver from you.
I put out your quiz to my local bird listserv in Massachusetts and have received another positive identification as a Golden-crowned sparrow, along with several more requests to visit your site and figure it out. So maybe you’re getting a lot of hits from Massachusetts today.
HERE’s the website with the whistle, sorry to forget it first.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Golden-crowned_Sparrow/sounds
I started reading your blog with a fascination for a certain person, whom I no longer follow (as much), but occasionally. I visit you just to see what’s going on up there and LOVE your nature threads.
It’s been a great spring for mockingbird territorial battles in San Francisco backyards. Just the other day (as happens every few years) I heard a mockingbird imitating those annoying multi-sound car alarms, note for note (but far more melodious). We notice rural mockingbirds sing a lot slower, more relaxedly (and just sing bird songs).
Laurie – link for the Jesse/Elizabeth smackdown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSra-McRZEc
Big Slick – Did you ever work for Alfred Hitchcock?
austintx – that would take a lot of blues, but sounds good, you never know.
Laurie,
Here is the Huff link for Hasselbeck Smackdown.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/18/ventura-and-hasselbeck-de_n_204774.html
That’s Hasselbeck and Hannity on Monday
Fox & Friends on Tuesday.
Was on Ed Shultz but that was tame
I need my Wednesday Smackdown Fix!!
UK Lady – Since it appears that UK Man will not be joining you on your “dream holiday” , he should come here and let me OD him on da blues. He will never forget it and die a happy man !!
I loved your story BigSlick. 🙂
lol…crap…I missed Elizabeth getting smacked down by Jesse??? oh..life is full of cruelties.
By the way…I agree that both Barbara and Whoopie carried it on too long…but Beck would have been no better on his show.
147 UK Lady Says:
May 20th, 2009 at 12:05 PM
Thank for picture austintx – just showed it to hubby. Got a big spiel from him about Stevie’s guitars being unplayable by other guitarists as they were so high action, whatever that means. He is now putting on his vid of SRV live at the el Mocambo.
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Hubby knows exactly what he is talking about.Show him this –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSjRggiSBrU
uh oh …
apparently you should keep your face covered when chasing birds away so they don’t recognize you.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/1580544,CST-NWS-mockingbird19.article
When I was in University, every spring and fall a large group of starlings would settle into the ivy covering the walls of the semi-enclosed courtyard of my 10 story dormitory building for a two-week stay. Always at finals week.
We could see them coming in like a black cloud, sweeping across the sky from tree to tree across campus, to the powerline across the street, to a large fir tree directly in front of the dorm, and finally, suddenly, darting down to roost in the ivy draping the walls just before sundown. Two hours at each dusk and each dawn filled with a cacaphony (my spelling) evolving into two weeks of reeking bird caca in the courtyard before University Maintenance shows up and pressure washes the patio, windows, and walls, ivy and all.
At daybreak the rustling of thousands of birds turns to chirping and cawing as the sun begins to rise, their voices gradually echoing louder and louder off the brick walls of the courtyard, and their thousands of droppings covering and caking the walls and sidewalks, all mingled with the tired curses of students exhausted and scleary-eyed from pulling all-niters to cram for exams or partying to even unhealthier extremes after their last final completed, this all conspired to make these lovely birds very welcome indeed. Two hours at dusk, two hours at dawn, screeching. Two weeks filled with the smells and sounds of thousands upon thousands of shrieking little blackbirds. The Birds of Paradise arrived on cue.
It was the topic of meetings in the dorms year after year. Floor Leaders got together and tried to get the University Housing department to remove the ivy – no luck. University Maintenance wouldn’t change the policy of cleaning up the bird crap until the starlings had finished their two-week toilet break at our dorm and moved on in their migrations. Students even called the police to register noise and sanitation complaints with the city. Nobody would do anything about it.
One year the dorms organized a scarecrow contest to scare off the “Winged Vermin from Hell” (we did call them that, yes we did!). The effigies of public figures and unresponsive University President were placed along the walls of the courtyard when the first starling group arrived that fall and simply served as another place to roost and leave white-streaked reminders. Not a bird was scared away, but the effigies covered in bird crap stayed for the entire year, some with signs hung around their necks proclaiming their high rank and special achievements in the Order of the Guano Guard.
One evening the following year, I was poking keys furiously on my typewriter, stressed, sleep-deprived, starving, and still breathing heavily from a heated argument with the guys in the room next door about the reverb of their stereo and its effect on my personal brainwave chart. Somewhere through an open window a few floors away I could hear other students arguing about whether practicing violin was allowed in the dorms followed by doors slamming. Then the soft screech of a violin as the player realizes (emphasizes?) that there is no way to “play more quietly” and still hit chords.
Then all was quiet.
The wonderfully warm golden glow of the sunset angling through my window was extinguished by the first dark cloud of the fall as the shrieking starlings swooped into the courtyard and began to squeakily strategize about who down below to crap on first.
I snapped. I had had enough. I could take it no more.
I slammed the sliding window open the rest of the way and leaned out from my 8th-floor dorm cell. I saw the second wave of warbling vermin rise from the tree in front of the dorm to make their dive into the ivy covering the courtyard walls.
“YOU GAWDAMN BIRDS!!! GO BACK TO YOUR TREE!!!” I yelled, with all the raging power of my 21-year-old lungs trained by shouting more serious epithets at referees of various college sporting events.
“GO BACK!” I boomed out a heartbeat and a breath later, and brought my hands together with a thunderous clap that echoed through the courtyard and triggered several other windows to slide open.
The 15 or so people sitting on the patio benches below looked up, just as the birds in the ivy leapt into the air to join that second wave of incoming vermin and mingle, forming a huge funnel cloud of blackbirds spinning within the confines of the dorm’s courtyard, once, twice, thrice, and up, out, straight up into the sky and then racing back down to roost in the very tree I was now pointing at with both arms and middle fingers extended in a well-known Winged Vermin two-bird salute.
Silence. After the deafening rush of bird chirps and the booming orders I had thundered out, there were two or three seconds of the purest, deadest silence I have ever experienced.
“Oh my god!” one young lady’s voice echoed softly from below.
“Dude. How’d he do that?” I heard from the room next door amidst the bubbling sounds of a bong in use. “Do what, dude?” Came the choking response.
And a third cloud of birds flew in to try to join the others already doubled up in the tree in front of the dorm, causing those in the tree to take flight and creating the largest cloud of starlings I had ever seen to fly straight up into the air above the dorms. They circled once and then came rushing straight down, darkening the courtyard as they sought to perch in the ivy and take their dominant roost amidst us, the agonizing students bed-deviled by final exams and cacaphony.
“GAWDAMN BIRDS GO BACK TO YOUR TREE!” I thundered again and clapped my paws together to make a sound no too different from a gunshot echo through the courtyard again.
And the birds flew up en masse and raced back to their tree.
I was stunned. It was no coincidence. For the next few moments all I could hear was the bubble-bubble-bubble of the bong next door.
Then my roommate leaned out the window of another student’s room and called over to me, “Hey, how’d you do that?”
I shrugged.
“Well keep doing it” he added, “and we’ll all owe you beers”
I could see the birds rising in a huge dark cloud from the tree now.
“That dude owns those birds, man” came wafting over the bubbles and out the window with a few puffs of smoke.
The dark cloud rose up high in the sky above the courtyard, and the red sunset’s glow deepened, redder than before.
“What dude?” asked the choking voice again.
“You know, the dxxkhead next door that just told us to shut the fxxk up.”
The courtyard darkened as they began their racing descent.
“Well, close the window then before the dxxkhead sends those fxxxxxg birds in here!”
Slam!
“YOU GAWDAMNED BIRDS GO AWAY!” CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! (pause) Thump! Thump!
I had slapped together the soles of my old black Converse low-tops to make three loud bangs just as the birds swirled into the courtyard, two of them prophetically slamming into the window of the smoke-filled room next door.
I heard their door fly open and two sets of feet go running up the hall and a sound not too different than the squealing of a pig.
The dark cloud rose up into the sky, flew down to circle the tree, once, twice, and then BANG! and a puff of smoke nearby scared them off on a flight across campus over the river and out of sight. Another student had thrown a firecracker from their window.
The starlings have never returned to that courtyard. The stoners next door never spoke to me again, and moved out after finals wrapped up at the end of that week.
I havn’t watched the clip yet… because with a modem it takes a loooooong time to download.
Glenn Beck was on ‘The View’ this morning, as reported on Huffpo.
Apparently Whoppi called Beck ” A lying sack of Dog S**t”
(reports are… it didn’t make him ‘ cry’ though)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/20/whoopi-goldberg-calls-gle_n_205845.html
Thank for picture austintx – just showed it to hubby. Got a big spiel from him about Stevie’s guitars being unplayable by other guitarists as they were so high action, whatever that means. He is now putting on his vid of SRV live at the el Mocambo.
IrishGirl – Sorry about the misinformation on the blog. That goose got out of there before the moose. You gotta pace those little guys on that Guinness………
UK Lady – Your hubby could not have made a finer choice. We miss him mighty bad here. A friend of mine is Jimmie’s manager. Here is a picture of a statue of Stevie that is on the hike and bike trail on Lady Bird Lake. That is a older picture of downtown Austin. You are looking NNE. Downtown is larger and there are more buildings now.
http://photohome.com/pictures/texas-pictures/austin/stevie-ray-vaughan-1a.jpg
I meant to add — I don’t like Beck — major don’t like Beck. Didn’t feel sorry for him but the calibre of the two – Whoopi & Barbara – embarrassed themselves for such a trivial issue.
As for Hasselbeck — I’m comforted with the Jesse Ventura Smackdown of her on Monday!!
Canadian Neighbour
I agree, I don’t think any one of them came out of that well.
Laurie
Huffpo has that clip up of Beck on the view if you want to see it.
Bubbles
UKMAN says his favourite Stevie Ray Vaughn tracks are ‘Lenny’ and ‘Pride and Joy’. Hope that helps.
Laurie,
For all the crap the View throws out there, All Of Them – it showed how thin skinned they are. It was an embarrassment how long they went on for something so stupid.
@ Laurie….thanks for the heads up. I didn’t see the show but hope a video will pop up. Also hope Elizabeth will ‘decide’ not to return after her maternity leave.
OT….I am not sure if anyone watched the View today, and I am at work so cant really read all the comments. I caught a little of it when I went home at lunch, and Glen Beck was on. Woopie and Barbara gave him a good going over. Showed him to be a lying (as Woopie called him) “piece of dog crap”. I would have felt sorry for him….but I just reminded myself of all the horrific and mostly really stupid things he has said. He is such a jerk, and it was nice to see him get slapped around.
Of course…Elizabeth just HAD to throw around Obama’s name….and Pelosi as well. lol….at one point Barbara had to put her hand over Elizabeths mouth. I swear, I saw smoke coming out of Sarahs BF ‘s ears and nose.
Well that’s definitely a bird I haven’t seen here in Arizona. We do however have flickers and Gila woodpeckers who utter high pitched whistles and who peck on the house stucco at 5:00am to announce their territory. They also love to sit on our chimneys and bang on the metal flashing inside so it echoes all over the entire house.
Then my favorites, the grackles. During breeding season, they fly down and hit you on the head when you walk past their nest (which is of course, 60 feet up invisible in a palm tree!) After the babies hatch, mum and dad bring all the babies to our pool waterfall twice a day for a lovely bath and if you’re out walking by the pool, dad loves to do the dive bomb thing. Fortunately this behaviour only lasts about a month. And no we do not wear pith helmets although I have threatened to shut off the waterfall. He generally ignores my threats. They are fairly large birds, about the size of a crow. He’s very cool though, every morning he flies in and takes all the little dead bugs out of the pool. My personal pool skimmer!
I love nature but it is not a pretty place.
Our tiny baby quail showed up about a month ago – probably about 10 clutches (around 200) of them with harried fathers, frantic mothers and solicitous aunts and the males are all fighting each other. The babies are about the size of a bumblebee and all in a straight line.
Last week in Phoenix a homeowner filmed a bobcat in her back yard, playing with a soccer ball.
Lots to watch down here too!
the man who saved the ducks in seattle is a great person. so patient. thanks for the link irishgirl..b
Glad that’s solved. We do have lots of cats in the neighborhood so that would explain the alarm calls. I think the poor guy would die of stress after a while!
Injuneau – thx, I’ll watch for both. We started a winter bird feeder a few years back and I have become quite “obsessed” about watching the birds! So much so, that at certain times of day my dog and cat are not allowed out because its the birds time. I don’t know if this is cruel to my pets or not but they can sit side by side at the sliding glass door for hours just staring at the feeder.
uk lady please ask ukman to tell me his favorite stevie ray vauhn cut. i will down load from i tunes. i also want austintx to tell me his favorite bonnie raitt cut. am slowly putting in musicians that i haven’t heard before or that i don’t have and am not sure what’s good…b
thanks irish girl. i left a message on the post there. loved it..b
Thanks for the video link irishgirl. Cute, cute, cute. I love duckies.
24 Owls
Here is the duck you tube for you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9zN5EImqzI
24owls
Here is a link, I hadn’t seen it. Lovely!!!
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2009/05/the-duck-parade.html
24 Owls
They just showed that on the UK news, what a lovely story, it is great to see that there are kind and gentle people in the world.
austintx – what a great photo! never seen a goose with its knickers in a twist before, apart from a certain turkey vid which shall remain nameless.
p.s. UKMAN has now gone all bashful after getting so many replies to his post. Don’t think he realised what a busy ol blog it is. His fave guitar player is Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Did everybody see the news piece on the banker in Spokane ? Seattle ? that help rescue mama duck and her 12 ducklings off a building’s ledge and then help led the way through the city’s streets, not to mention that the city was just about to have a parade so everything came to a halt, and over to the water’s edge? It just happened a few days ago, I’m sure it’s on youtube but I have no idea how to link that. It makes you feel good about being human again, at least for awhile.
bubbles, I don’t have a blog, it was on the I hearts Mudflats blog.
http://iheart.themudflats.net/2009/05/13/moose-on-the-loose/
austintx- where is irishgirls blog?
Hey, I just took a photo of that poor moose!!! Apparently it wasn’t Brian – according to AKM it was his ne’er do well cousin Dan (Sullivan)! 🙂
And now…the larch.
the problem child–prob. so it could see where it needed to land!
austintx: RE: Your lovely whiffling goose, why would it leave it’s head on it’s original flightpath instead of flipping the whole goose?
(That was really fun to type. Now you all really will have to click on austintx’s link.)
QuiltAK–watch for the white-crowned ones too. They have white and black stripes below their eyes, so they’re easy to identify. They were all just hanging out at our place eating together, but it was interesting to see the king of the hill games! Not sure the tally of who came out the winner though; it seemed to vary by day!
mlaiuppa–they’re a common species here; they just migrate up during the spring and go back somewhere else south in the winter. My comment about them moving north was just a recognition that they’re moved on in their migratory path from the SE part of AK to more northern locations (or maybe it was just because we ran out of bird food!)
@ UK Lady (comment #10)
OMG I almost peed my pants…”Noisy Little F***ers” oooh thanks for the laugh.
And of course GREAT Post AKM!!!! Just remember it could be worse…
I love birds and we have “Swan Lake” behind our house BUT!!!….
It fills with Swans and Ducks and OMGoodness can they get noisy!! With the extremely long hours of sunlight they don’t shuddup either 🙁
I didn’t know they could be so noisy. But alas they are beautiful 🙂
111 bubbles Says:
May 20th, 2009 at 10:33 AM
austintx- irish girl is gonna get you.
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Hey – go to her blog and see what she did to that poor moose.
i love goose. there is a place on rutgers and east broadway that have fat gooses hanging upside down also but’ they goose is cooked.’ hahahahahaha.
Thanks to all who took on the cause of identifying the culprit. I think we have a winner. I’ll post an update on the blog!
I think I see another poll arising – sparrow? thrush? grey jay? hawk likeness? We’ll leave lynnrockets city pigeon out of the running –
austintx- irish girl is gonna get you.
OK, leaning toward the Golden Crown Sparrow. Based on sound hubby said a definite “that’s it!”. I have now listened to so many bird calls, I’m not 100%. But we do have sparrows in the neighborhood so I will pay more attention to them to get a better visual. Thanks for all the suggestions. Our real bird is actually quiet today so I have nothing to immediately compare sounds.
Don’t know about squeaky door hinge calls, but the varied thrush is my favorite sound from any bird. When on anchor in a quiet bay in Prince William Sound, and the only sound you hear with your morning coffee is the varied thrush trill…. sublime!
103 InJuneau Says:
May 20th, 2009 at 10:22 AM
austintx–WOW, that is some goose!
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I think the guy took that picture after the goose was hanging out with IrishGirl……….
I’m sure that part of AKMs aversion to the “beautiful” song of the golden crowned sparrow is that it is linked to sleep deprivation. I’d feel the same way if a bird dared wake me at dawn. But then I’d take measures to ensure it didn’t happen again.
Like get a cat.
Or peregrine falcon.
Is the Golden Crowned Sparrow a native Alaskan species of is it extending it’s migratory range north as a result of climate change?
(And Bristol is an idiot. Chip off the ol’ blockheads I guess. Neither parent strikes me as being rocket scientist material.)
well no austintx the shrimp is lucky he’s alive under my tender mercies,but nooby can twist like that duck. just turn the water and let him see you get out the cat shampoo. and then, God, the screams and hissing and cussing and bubbles bleeding. terrible. just terrible…b
101 here_in_PA Says:
May 20th, 2009 at 10:19 AM
Bristol will have to show the money she makes during the child custody hearing between her and Levi. If she is making that kind of money than Levi may have to pay very little or nothing at all.
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Yesiree Counselor !! I will be stunned if it ends up in front of a judge. Also if she has made any draws from the trust. Team Levi is drivin’ this bus.
austintx–WOW, that is some goose!
55 UK Lady Says: May 20th, 2009 at 7:29 AM
Those Palins really need to STFU now, they just don’t know when to quit.
____________________
You tell ’em. UKL. But tell us what you really think of them. …
Bristol will have to show the money she makes during the child custody hearing between her and Levi. If she is making that kind of money than Levi may have to pay very little or nothing at all. This whole family just makes me sick, all of them have proven that they are out to make money and not have to report any of it. With the exception of willow, they are all photo op, media whore hounds. Their morals and values represent nothing of Alaska.
Dudette:
Absolutely a golden-crowned sparrow, and what you’re hearing isn’t its song, which is a rather sweet sparrowy song, it’s the bird’s alarm call. Translation: Get the f*** out of my territory and away from my nest!! The alarm call is meant to be grating and repellent…so you’ll leave. It also warns other birds in earshot that there’s potential danger around. He’s little and has no other defenses except for his ability to make an obnoxious, repellent noise. He probably has a mate sitting on clutch of eggs, and he has to protect his family from all sorts of nasty nest raiders, including cats, rats, ravens, magpies and squirrels — all of which like to devour baby birds and bird eggs. He will risk his own life to protect his family. Human parents tend to make horrible noises too when their babies are in danger.
Deb
Yeah – he’s cute and all that , but can he do this………
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/goose-flies-upsidedown-14307709.html
Blue Idaho Says:
May 20th, 2009 at 6:58 AM
EyeOnYou- I wonder how much money Bristol made from this interview? Didn’t the Palins issue a statement criticizing Levi for exploiting the situation for financial gain? Isn’t Bristol doing this by giving the interview?
BooBooBear Says:
May 20th, 2009 at 8:02 AM
I guess Bristol won’t be needin’ a part time job anymore now that she is taking big bucks from People Magazine, eh? I have never seen a more self-promoting family in my entire life. What bugs the heck out of me is when Palin chastises Levi for going on 2 UNPAID interviews. I say it is time for Levi to announce a forthcoming TELL ALL book . He might as well milk it for all it is worth.
________________
Even if Bristol isn’t making money on this People magazine interview, she is the PAID spokesperson for Candies, and if I recall correctly the money she was getting was somewhere in the several hundred thousand dollar range (between 2 & 3) so she is having no problem exploiting her family name and her situation for some $$$, all the while knowing that her mother the Governor has publicly bashed Levi for claiming he did the same. BIG BRASS BALLS this family has.
Their credo must be Do As I Say, NOT As I Do~
Ack! I can’t believe it -i have the same problem AKM! Every spring when i first open my windows its the same thing, that dang Squeaky Door Hinge Bird is waking me up at 5 am (i get an extra hour i guess!) The cats get all excited and are up in the windows, whining,,, i love animals but i love my sleep too.
Eventually i either become accustomed to the sound, or my particular bird “friend” finds another branch on another tree in another yard in order to bother another sleeper in the early morning!
QuiltAK and Moose Pucky–oooo, varied thrushes are beautiful. Even if that isn’t what it is, I hope you see one some day.
Moose Pucky – Thanks, but I don’t think that is it. I’m listening the calls on eNature and that didn’t seem to fit. But it did get my daughter out of bed! Sorry we lost your post to the spam filter!
Back to listening to more bird calls!
# 53
crystalwolf aka caligrl Says:
May 20th, 2009 at 7:24 AM
Blue Idaho Says:
May 20th, 2009 at 7:01 AM
As for that bird I believe it is Fluffy Headed Sara Sparrow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
or a
fluffy headed ‘Spewing” Sara Sparrow?
its song is like fingernails on a chalk board….!
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caligrl…. I had never thought of Saruh as a little innocent sparrow… albeit with a big mouth.
I pictured her as more of the ‘ Magpie’ variety. Them with their padgent-walking long flowing tail feathers and just strutting around saying ‘look at me….look at Me’ Their voice can carry as well… ALL THE WAY… to the lower 48. And they tend to flock together with other Magpies (IE : the conservative Christians)of their own kind and will usually scream all at once when they see something they don’t like. Maybe the magpie at a cat…. the conservatives at a gay person.
Yes… I believe she may be in the magpie family.
The ‘spewing sparrow’ you speak of… I believe that would be of the Meg Staplemouth variety.
Blue Idaho–AKM’s in the running for the second round, as the application just missed the deadline for inclusion in the first round of voting.
Hey why didn’t AKM win?
http://www.democracyforamerica.com/netroots_nation_scholarships?order=supporters
austintx–oh my goodness i have fallen in love with ‘the shrimp’. i have put he/she on my bedside table and i play music for it and nooby the cat is very interested [bless his kitty heart]. i read the link you sent me and this shrimp is very old. at least 4 years old. just hoping he/she hangs on till sonia,the neighbor comes home from vegas…bea
Ooops, spam filter took my posts about varied thrush. That’s possibly your bird, AKQuilt. I think the wording of the description of the bird was picked up by the filter.
Oh my.
Judging by tail and the call sound, probably the sparrow. The deep indent in the tail in AKM’s photo resembles the sparrow and the summer range guide covers your area. A mature grey jay has a very thin white edge on the tail tip. I don’t know if an immature jay has this, but should there be one that young in May?
AKQuilt, do you have a varied thrush? Looks like a robin with a big black V across its chest. They arrive in spring and hide deep in the forest. Some folks call them the telephone bird.
That was funny! We have a bird that returns from whereever every spring and sets up her nest nearby. Luckily, not as near this year. The neighbor trimmed the tree so she must have moved to another one. Whenever a threat got near, that bird would tic, tic, tic repeatly for hours. It was like an assault on your senses. You could almost feel your pulse shift to that tic, tic, tic. And you could tell when she got angry because the tics got closer and closer together, like a bomb about to go off. Shut UP!
This year is so nice…she’s farther away and it’s almost pleasant again.
Thanks for the chuckle. I can so relate.
Quilt Alaska, do you have a varied thrush? Looks like a robin with a big black V on its chest. They arrive early in spring, hide deep in the forest. Some folks call them the telephone bird.
Comment from article on Politico about Palin praising Steele and dissing the president. Hilarious!
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22750.html
Reporter: Gov. Palin what is your plan to salvage the auto industry and save the hundreds of thousands of jobs that go along with the auto industry.
Palin: Well the President isn’t supposed to be involved in the auto industry.
Reporter: Yes but In December 2008 Pres. Bush bypassed Congress and issued the Bush Auto Bailout Executive Order, that no congressional leader voted on, and 1) created the office of Car Czar, 2) pledged $17 Million Load to Auto, 3) with the legal requirement that the Bush Created Office of Car Czar be the mediator in bankruptcy negotiations to avoid auto being tied up in bankruptcy court – Did you agree with Pres. Bush when he did that.
Palin: Well I don’t know anything about that in December I was busy boxing up the clothes from my $150,000 shopping spree & making sure they got back to the RNC so I wouldn’t get in more legal trouble.
Reporter: Ok, well do you have an opinion on the Bush Auto Bailout Executive Order now?
Palin: Well …. what was the Bush Auto Bailout again … I can’t remember how you said Bush bypassed Congress — I don’t actually, you know, also, I just don’t understand what “bypass Congress” means.
Reporter: Pres. Bush issued the Auto Bailout Executive Order which means that Congress didn’t get to vote on the bailout.
Palin: You mean Bush designed this … this … this auto stuff President Obama is carrying out & no one in Congress voted on it?
Reporter: Yes. What are your thoughts on Pres. Bush’s Auto Bailout Exec. Order and what would YOU have done differently?
Palin: Well you know it is important that North Korea and Russia don’t get involved in our Auto Industry either so, since I can Russia and could drive there if we built a bridge then we could use our cars to drive to Russia and talk to Putin so he wouldn’t rear his ugly head in our air space and that’s all about job creation and smaller government and also putting people to work to drill here at home.
Reporter: Um … that’s not really a plan Gov. Palin.
Palin: Yes it is … job creation, smaller government, you know and a bridge to drive on and all that stuff.
Reporter: There you have it, Gov. Palin’s plan to save hundreds of thousands of auto industry jobs can be saved by building a bridge for cars to drive on.
UKLady: “Didn’t she know how babies were made? Did she think they were found under gooseberry bushes”
Considering that no one knows where they found Trig, it could be the gooseberry bush.
I know that eee eeeee eeeeeeee! very well! At least the sound. Maybe we could call it the elusive squeaky door hinge bird. We have one outside our bedroom window. Some days it actually sounds off all day and into the late evening. I’ve never seen it though (but we have a lot of trees for it to hide in) Based on listening to the sounds provided by everyone (thanks for the great site links!) ours isn’t a gray jay or a golden crowned sparrow. I wonder if I could get Quilt guy to crawl out of bed at 4:30 a.m. to try and get a sighting and pic. Probably not. But I do think squeeky door hinge bird is a more family appropriate name than “That D*mn Bird!”
Agreed yellow-crowned sparrow. White-crowned is also common in Alaska and the Far North, though white-crowned song is a bit more melodic. Margaret Murie characterized the vocalization of the white-crowned as “Remember me-me-me”. That could be a Sarah Palin bird also. One day the yellow crown, next day the white crown.
bubbles – shrimp doin’ ok ??
Could it be a Great Grey or Northern Shrike?
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Shrike/id
@bubbles and Newfoundland Dogs Rule:
Bwa ha ha! Very funny…need more paper towels to wipe off ‘puter screen.
@ds55 #72:
Thanks for the link! Mine is a Black-capped Chickadee, not the more common in Colorado Mountain Chickadee. AKM, get on this e.Nature link and listen for your bird’s “song”…
When I volunteered at the Bird Sanctuary, while leading groups around, the people would ask about a certain squeak. We told them it was the rare Eastern Tree Squeak. It would take about 3 to 5 minutes for them to get the joke. Funny, how noise only happened when there was a good breeze.
@lynnrockets lots of city pidgeons here too. but ain’t they fine and fat? many of them don’t bother to fly. they just wait for the light and cross the street with rest of us…b
I agree, could be a Gray Jay- although (the laugh’s on me) I was outside in the back, and what do I hear? The rusty gate! The Mountain Chickadees I thought were driven off by the house finches (birds with Napoleonic complexes) moved to the neighbor’s apple tree behind my yard and started housekeeping. So, I’ll be hearing that call all summer long.
AKM, check out your bird again, and see if you can figure out approximately how big it is. Chickadees average 5″, Gray Jays are 11″.
Question:
I was reading on Huff yesterday that a Paid Vacation Bill Goes to the Hill
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/19/paid-vacation-bill-goes-t_n_205489.html
If I have read this right – Do you not have a Federal or State law about vacation time??
I’m blown away reading this. Our vacation is under Provincial laws. I’m in one of the worst provinces but would get 2 weeks paid (4% calculation). Some others after so many years work, the weeks increase to 3 (6%).
This of course has now set me off to read about materinty leave. Already know your healthcare.
ps
people are talking about jays because now there’s a raucous bird! they don’t bother me but they do justifiably bother a lot of people. but a sweet little sparrow? sheesh!
Not sure if this is up yet, but now I have to wipe the coffee off my screen! Talk about a picture being worth a thousand words! I REALLY have to stop eating or drinking when I get on here!
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20280071,00.html
Golden Crowned Sparrow. AKMuckraker – I just lost all respect for you. I’m a regular reader, a fan, and don’t comment much. But I also find golden crowned sparrow song to be incredibly beautiful. In fact, it’s one of my favorites. Many bird fans find it beautiful.
How could you find such a gorgeous sound to be annoying? And it is nothing like a squeaky hinge. To me, it is pastoral, peaceful and utterly sweet.
And folks, definitely not a gray jay. Look a the bill, and the yellow stripe between the black on the head.
“If girls realized the consequences of sex, nobody would be having sex,” says Bristol, sitting at her parents’ lakeside patio table. “Trust me. Nobody.”
———–
I think you forgot the word “unprotected” in a couple of places, there, Bris.
Golden-crowned sparrow, annoying song can be heard here:
http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/view_default.asp?allSpecies=y&searchText=golden%20crowned%20sparrow
AKM, your Squeaky Door Hinge Bird is most likely a Gray Jay. Jays are notorious for their raucous calls. They are very friendly though and quite likely to come sit on your hand for food. We saw Steller’s Jays in Yellowstone and they were the cheekiest birds I have even seen and quite the prettiest! We are wakened every morning by tweeting, twittering sparrows at four o’clock – silly little bird brains, but somehow I think they’re smart enough not to be twittering at SP! : )
54 lynnrockets Says:
May 20th, 2009 at 7:27 AM
I grew up in the city. Our official bird is the city pigeon.
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rats with wings……..
Well, I don’t know… I was outside gardening and thought I’d better come back in and check my bird books. The colouring now doesn’t look to me like that of a Whiskeyjack. So, now I don’t know what the hell it is. But MarthaSchwope, a poster above, cites a Harvard bird expert. I don’t know what a golden crowned sparrow is, but a Harvard bird expert would know, I would hope.
UK Lady Says:
May 20th, 2009 at 4:35 AM
Oh! Oh!, I know this one, it is a distant cousin to a common UK breed. They are known locally as “noisy little f***ers”.
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ROFLOL! We have a woodpecker that pays us an annual visit, about midsummer, I think. Nothing like waking up to a jackhammer… Fortunately, he doesn’t stay for more than a day or three.
The other day I was tending my veggie garden and the most beautiful magenta-headed hummingbird paid me a visit. I rarely see them around my home, though they are common in the area. He was absolutely stunning. He came to my lithodora and stared at me for about 10 seconds before feasting. Just picture that magenta bird surrounded by deep blue lithodora… Makes me smile to remember ; )
Hi, AKM… It looks to me like a Gray Jay as others have pointed out. It is common all through the northern climes from Newfoundland to Alaska. Other names for it are the Canada Jay, and the Whiskeyjack. Another nickname is the Camprobber; that is because they instantly show up when you stop to rest for lunch or camp in the northern woods. They are very friendly with people and can usually be induced to eat from your hands. They are very beautiful and excellent company if you are alone in the desolate northern bush. They are my favourite bird, and, down here in southwest Ontario, I miss them.
I am sure that Tom is right, and that it is a golden-crowned sparrow (if you look closely, you can see the yellow/golden streak down the top of its head). So, that explains where they’ve all gone. They were happily eating the last of our birdseed that I scattered around the back deck up until about a week ago (along with the white-crowned sparrows and the juncos), but then they left. They must have headed north! Now we have Lincoln sparrows and violet green swallows and the hummers. Funny, I never noticed they were so loud…
In our past house, we were always awakened by the Steller’s jays at unholy hours of the morning! Talk about noisy!!
I guess Bristol won’t be needin’ a part time job anymore now that she is taking big bucks from People Magazine, eh? I have never seen a more self-promoting family in my entire life. What bugs the heck out of me is when Palin chastises Levi for going on 2 UNPAID interviews. I say it is time for Levi to announce a forthcoming TELL ALL book . He might as well milk it for all it is worth.
From JRC’s link (in post @ 4:53 AM) — where a really good picture of the juvenile gray jay can be seen, in addition to the bird’s call — I think it is indeed a juvenile gray jay. The “capper” for me is the shape of the tail, a rounded-bottom “W” in both AKM’s picture and in the picture at
http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/77/_/Gray_Jay.aspx
Besides, it’s practically the only bird with that appearance, AND with a range up into Alaska… 🙂
24 pvazwindy Says:
had this to say:http
—–
You were able to copy and paste the link but the problem is you need a space between the semicolin and http for the link to be active.
say: http
Thought it might be a plover as they are common to mudflats!!! But, your picture doesn’t look like the one in my bird book. You all don’t have that large a variety of birds in Alaska, so we should be able to narrow it down. Doesn’t look like the gray jay in my book either. Hmmm…perhaps you’ve found a new species? I like the name!! more pictures please 🙂 By the looks of it I’d say it may be in the chickedee family – it has a black cap and similar body, but I don’t think of their call as the squeky door hinge. What an image! sorry for hte typos – must run to get daughter off to therapy. some parents of children with DS DO make sure early intervention happens. Poor Trig.
Like others, I’ve identfied it as a gray jay.
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/pictures/Perisoreus_canadensis.html
I read in one article (maybe this one) that the gray jay makes some rather pleasant whistles also. The sound you hear is an “alarm” call. Also, Squeaky Door Hinge, in your picture, looks rather puffed up — that fits another description that I read.
I liken remembering the names of birds to remembering the names of rocks. In one memory cell and out the other! So, while I lived in Alaska for 25 years, it was remarkable that I could remember the eagle, chickadee, puffin, Canadian goose, and the grossbeak! So, if it wasn’t one of those, I was off to the library or the internet. Now I’m a happy owner of Sibley’s.
UK Lady #49, Some may be unaware that of Palin’s nutball base, a significant percentage eschews any form of contraception, leaving only two choices- abstinence or pregnancy, and that explain’s Bristol’s statement. They are clearly playing to most extreme of the base.
I couldn’t agree more with your concluding sentence. Clearly a big slice of shut up from the Palins would be most welcome, but they don’t do that….
It’s a golden-crowned sparrow. The song that they play on this site (http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Golden-crowned_Sparrow/id) varies a bit from the Alaska version- the one we have here is a series of three descending notes that’s been compared to someone saying “Oh dear me.” (Some of these birdsong people have very vivid imaginations.) Hope this helps.
Here in the Sonoran desert, birds are plentiful. I have identified over two dozen species that were either hanging around or visiting my little acre of desert. The one specie that dominates the desert soundscape is the White Wing dove. In the morning this time of year, every saguaro and other high perch has a dove sitting on it cooing away. Fortunately the one that has chosen a saguaro skeleton outside my bedroom window as his singing spot doesn’t start until I’m up (or ready to be) anyway. I laughed at the reference to “bird rage” because the dove that sings in the ironwood tree inside my dog pen gives my heeler bird rage. Lots of times I’ve seen him on his hind legs looking up at that dove and obviously unhappy. It’s common to see the same dog stretched out on his back in the middle of my little patch of green grass surrounded by quail, doves and cottontails, so apparently the one making noise in his pen is his squeaky door hinge. My hummingbird feeders are active, but the hummers are frequently run off by gila woodpeckers who hang half-upside down and steal the hummers’ food – pretty comical to watch. I welcome them all, except the roadrunners. I chase them off whenever I see them around because they’re so deadly to baby quail.
Ericmiami- It does look like a Catbird.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gray_Catbird/sounds
We have more Robins this year than I’ve ever seen – they’re great to watch. The calls of the Bob White and Whippoorwill are two of my favorites, a joy to hear – that was back in Mich. (summer holidays)
It might be the Oregon Junco we sent you, but I don’t think they are noisy.
It’s a hawk of some kind, can’t remember it’s name right off, we have some that invaded our space at Willow. They chase each other around screeching & dive bombing. They are one of the few things that drive me to kill too. I have a pellet gun just for them… Hardly ever hit one but it makes me feel better for trying to rid the earth of that awful sound!
Bristol thinks if us girls knew what consequences there were to sex none of us would ever do it. Didn’t she know how babies were made? Did she think they were found under gooseberry bushes. Those Palins really need to STFU now, they just don’t know when to quit.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/5/20/733546/-Palin:-If-Girls-Knew-Conseqs.,-No-One-Would-Have-Sex
I grew up in the city. Our official bird is the city pigeon.
Blue Idaho Says:
May 20th, 2009 at 7:01 AM
As for that bird I believe it is Fluffy Headed Sara Sparrow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
or a
fluffy headed ‘Spewing” Sara Sparrow?
its song is like fingernails on a chalk board….!
Aussie Blue Sky Says:
May 20th, 2009 at 6:31 AM
LOL crystalwolf, ‘fly plague’ just means that there were about 50 hanging around on the porch for a fortnight. A few got in. Not a plague, but I’m just not used to flies and mosquitoes any more. I have the house fumigated for spiders of the biting variety every year. We have a lot of those. They’re not the web-spinning variety, they’re hunters with big front legs and they just wander. They’re vile and they carry those dreadful germs because there’s nothing too nasty for them to eat, and they have no predators. When they bite you, you have problems of the flesh-eating variety.
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Oh geeze! Those spiders…ugh! Too bad the birds don’t eat them!
The picture is a Golden-crowned sparrow, says an ornithological curator at Harvard.
There could be times when you can’t see the golden crown.
Here’s a website where you can hear the whistle.
If you think of it as “I love you,” maybe it’d be more bearable than squeaky hinge.
Half a lifetime ago I lived in Singapore, before it was heavily developed. We had a morning chorus of mynah birds, raucous little brown sods who couldn’t carry a note in a bucket. We taped the chorus one morning, to send home to my parents. We had the idea of playing the tape back to the birds the next morning to see what they would do; when we turned the tape off… SILENCE! It was wonderful, but it didn’t last long. They had a think about it, and started up again.
The photo looks like a Golden-Crowned Sparrow, and they do have a 3-Part call:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Golden-crowned_Sparrow/id
Hope that helps- CB
It does look like a Gray Jay, but maybe it could also be a Northern Shrike, you can here it’s call here: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Shrike/id. Pretty annoying!
As for that bird I believe it is Fluffy Headed Sara Sparrow.
EyeOnYou- I wonder how much money Bristol made from this interview? Didn’t the Palins issue a statement criticizing Levi for exploiting the situation for financial gain? Isn’t Bristol doing this by giving the interview?
I grew up in a very wooded neighborhood, with lots of woodland creatures, including birds. I had an easy relationship with the nature surrounding me, I caught frogs and salamanders at the pond in back; I cleaned up spilled trash, covering for the neighborhood raccoons. I recognized poison ivy and knew of some edible berries. Animals and mother nature were just a part of my life. Then I went to college in the city, sirens and car alarms replaced the birds and crickets. I got used to it.
The summer after my freshman year, I went back home and had a family of birds living right. outside. my bedroom window. They woke me up every. single. day. at 4:35 am. I’m swearing and yelling at these F#@%ing birds, and I hear my dad in the next room, laughing so hard he almost fell out of bed. I even went outside to shoo them off, and the F#@%ers kept coming back. At 4:35 am. Every day. They finally stopped visiting at 4:35 am every day in mid August, just as I was gearing up to go back to Boston. I was so thrilled for the quiet of the city. And I have not spent more than a week at my parents’ house since. Once in a while they show up there still, and they are officially known as “Those F#@%ing Birds.” My dad always calls me to let me know they were asking for me.
Thanks C. Rock!
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I think it may be a gray catbird.
LOL crystalwolf, ‘fly plague’ just means that there were about 50 hanging around on the porch for a fortnight. A few got in. Not a plague, but I’m just not used to flies and mosquitoes any more. I have the house fumigated for spiders of the biting variety every year. We have a lot of those. They’re not the web-spinning variety, they’re hunters with big front legs and they just wander. They’re vile and they carry those dreadful germs because there’s nothing too nasty for them to eat, and they have no predators. When they bite you, you have problems of the flesh-eating variety.
We don’t get too many houseguests …. 😉
Yup, as mentioned several times above, it looks like a gray jay. I’ve seen only one here, once, and it was silent… if it sounds anything like a blue jay on triple duty, I have a good idea of the sound that’s ingrained in your adrenaline spout.
May the force be with you and dire harm befall the little darling. And I say that as a backyard bird lover extraordinaire!
Bristol Palin in Cap & Gown on the cover of People with her son:
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20280071,00.html
Her mom may be governor, but there is no nanny in the Palin house. Bristol gets up – usually twice during the night – to feed Tripp, who sleeps in a hand-me-down crib in her bedroom, and she says she has tapped out at least one school paper with her son crying in the background. She breastfed her baby for a month, pumping milk before class and rushing straight home to feed him. And she worked two part-time jobs to help pay for the diapers and formula her parents otherwise supply.
30 C. Rock Says:
May 20th, 2009 at 5:57 AM
Is Sherry Johnston going to Court Today ? If so , do you know what time.
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I think it’s the 21st.
crystalwolf, these particular birds still have plenty of other stuff to eat. They will even the little birds’ eggs. They’re very aggressive. They make a very ugly noise and they’re very unattractive. I’ve never touched a gun, but they make me want to.
The little birds are all honeyeaters, and they do OK because the native trees flower at different times and they can go for a long time without water. (I gave them some water over the summer, but don’t tell anyone).
It rained a couple months ago. It wasn’t much (we measure it in millimetres) but it was enough to set off a fly plague, which should have done the birds some good.
Gray jay is my guess. We have blue jays here in New England, and they have truly annoying, harsh, loud voices. Pretty, though.
It could be a Gray Jay- they are large, about 11″- or it could be Black-capped or Mountain Chickadee. These two are smaller, about 5″. The Black-capped has a tan belly, while the Mountain’s belly is more brown. We have lots of Mountain Chickadees in Colorado, and they do sound like a rusty gate. None in my yard, as the house finches are very territorial and run off other species 🙂
We used to have issues with pigeons, but the foxes take care of that problem (heh heh).
Several online bird supply stores sell decorative window decals to stop birds from bashing into windows. Seems to work – but if you’re gonna decal, why not pick one that’s ‘reflective’ of you. . . of course the one commercial that makes me laugh no matter how many times I watch is that Windex one where the blackbirds nail the guy walking into his patio doorway. . .
Is Sherry Johnston going to Court Today ? If so , do you know what time.
Aussie Blue Sky Says:
May 20th, 2009 at 5:26 AM
@ crystalwolf – we have a real owl now, but he only frightens the little birds. I have netting over the eaves and windows from the big birds hanging on the screens looking for insects that aren’t there. They were pulling the screens to bits. I realize they’re hungry but with drought you have no insects, and they wouldn’t give up.
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Poor birds 🙁 No insects, it must be pretty bad there 🙁 Have you guys gotten any rain?
Isnt this bird a black-capped chickadee?
(love the blog)
tweet
Also, re: the post by DonnaInMichigan, does your mother think the cardinal is gay?
After all, there is quite a color difference between male and female cardinals, so if the bird is attempting connect with its reflection, then…
Guy Hocquenghem actually connects (and, from what I understand, celebrates) narcissism and male homosexuality; perhaps your cardinal is a fan?
@ crystalwolf – we have a real owl now, but he only frightens the little birds. I have netting over the eaves and windows from the big birds hanging on the screens looking for insects that aren’t there. They were pulling the screens to bits. I realize they’re hungry but with drought you have no insects, and they wouldn’t give up.
Hmmmm. I empathize with your doorhinge prob, and relate to secret talker^.
We also, here in Brooklyn, NY, have a woodpecker that seems to love ratatatting on the aluminum siding of our house. What possesses them? There are trees that grow in Brooklyn, and we’re only a few blocks from Prospect Park, which has trees galore. Wouldn’t the woodpecker want some reward for his/her work; perhaps, like my cats, the woodpecker occasionally just likes to hear itself sound-off.
In fact, one morning, I was walking to work through Prospect Park when a hawk (I presume) snagged a squirrel in the tree canopy right above me. I grew up in rural areas (FL, TX, CA), but I never encountered such a primeval event. The leaves cascaded down around me from the impact of the hawk snagging the squirrel. (I presume it was a hawk because I’ve seen several in the park, and I presume it was a squirrel, because, what else would be in a tree in a Brooklyn park?)
I don’t remember any birds from my brief sojourns in AK; I lived in a trailer park with my family in ’78 in Anchorage, and I was stationed at Ft. Rich in ’84. The main things I remember of the former are the mountains (a real eye-opener for a kid from South Florida), slipping on the ice on the way to school (ditto previous comment), and the pot plant our across-the-road neighbor kept on his windowsill.
From Ft. Rich, I best recall the moose cow that came down to graze on the strips of grass which was green even during the winter because of the steam tunnels which heated the fort. There was once a tense standoff when a friend of mine walked between the cow and her calf (the animals were on either side of a sidewalk), but it ended happily for all.
DonnaInMichigan Says:
May 20th, 2009 at 4:36 AM
We have a red cardinal…that keeps bumping into our windows.
My mom said it was mating season and it sees itself in all of our huge pane windows in our house. Thinking it is its mate…..(?)
This bird, is going to kill itself, if it keeps up.
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To prevent birds from running into windows, you can hang ropes every foot and a half or so for the length of the window. Somehow, it works, breaking up the space or the rope reflection or something (?).
20 secret talker^ Says:
May 20th, 2009 at 4:58 AM
The fake owls do not always work.
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Truth that. At my local grocery store that also has an outdoor nursery , they have big , ominous plastic owls that the pigeons and grackles literally sit and poop on. I laugh everytime I see it. Big rubber snakes hung up work. Anything shiny that flits in the wind also.too.
Oops, what will Scarah do if this happens?
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheat-sheet/item/steele-threatens-to-quit/threats/#commentarea
And Palin’s friend, Fred Malek, had this to say:http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22736.html
What am I doing wrong? Can’t get copy and paste to work for me?
I heard that bird this morning too, it’s called SP. Here’s the link;http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22750.html
Wah! put your coffe down and read this Politico story! The comments are a MUST read, wow, this is getting really funny, methinks Scarah has hoisted her flag to the wrong pole.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22750.html
Going to look at austintx,s link now
The fake owls do not always work. We use them in barns & on roofs with unpredictable results. At least the bird in question is hanging out in a wooded area and not at the bedroom window.
I had a woodpecker that would release an insane barrage of pecking on the metal cover on the chimney….
Daily Kos introduce Ida Paleo to Paliness Republicanis Extinctus
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/5/20/733497/-Sarah-Palin-meet-Ida-Paleo
UK Lady – Saw a list of the wierdest things that were expensed by the MP………..
http://timesbusiness.typepad.com/money_weblog/2009/05/the-10-weirdest-mp-expense-claims.html
AKA you can listen to the Gray Jay’s call here: http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/77/_/Gray_Jay.aspx
Is that the bird? Totally obnoxious call.
I was listening to more of the Pelosi/waterbording talk on the radio and came up with this one…
BUSH TROOP
(sung to the theme of “F Troop”)
The dawn of the Iraq War was near
When coincidentally
Cheney and Bush got the limits pushed
And commenced torturous brutality.
The methods employed often maimed and killed
Which pleased Cheney’s vicious group.
The waterboard trick both chilled and thrilled
Nobody was appalled they were called Bush Troop.
With testicle bites and really bright lights
Their victims sure took a lickin’
From draft dodging war hawks
Who are just chickens.
When killing and maiming get them down
They know their morale can’t droop.
As long as they own old D.C. Town
They are sure to resume with a bang and a boom
Bush Troop.
In PA there is a bird with the black cap that looks like that called “Nuthatch”
Made me laugh, squeaky doorhinged bird 🙂 At 4:45 I heard beautiful birds singing and they are still at it 🙂
Aussie Blue Sky Says:
May 20th, 2009 at 4:08 AM
I completely sympathize, AKM. I solved my problem with a balloon with big cutout eyes pasted on it. My husband told me that birds are afraid of animals with their eyes close together (e.g. owls). If he said it, it must be true. 😉
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I’ve seen business with “Fake owls” on rooftop to scare birds away! They sell them at hardware stores.
Right now we have cardinals, jays, sparrows, owls, and osprey visiting us. . . a sparrow has built a nice little nest in my Nepalese gong that hangs on the patio. . . they built it about two years ago and come back each year. I’d like to send that gong to my niece, but not until the sparrows decide they want a new home . . .
Hard to tell from the pictures above, but the little thing might be a gray jay
http://tinyurl.com/qv5qxw
We have a red cardinal…that keeps bumping into our windows.
My mom said it was mating season and it sees itself in all of our huge pane windows in our house. Thinking it is its mate…..(?)
This bird, is going to kill itself, if it keeps up.
It starts about 5 am in the morning..and goes on for hours. Then it will finally stop..only to do it the next morning.
This bird is our alarm clock.
Oh! Oh!, I know this one, it is a distant cousin to a common UK breed. They are known locally as “noisy little f***ers”.
We have lots of them in our garden every day at dawn, mainly because I am the idiot who puts food out for them.
oooohhh… sounds like your birdie missed you! When birds sing, they are either telling other birds to kiss off or they are telling the object of their affection how much in love they are… it must be that you are loved!
Ripley, I had to put bird netting over my eaves last spring. It wasn’t that hard to do, and it works like magic.
I completely sympathize, AKM. I solved my problem with a balloon with big cutout eyes pasted on it. My husband told me that birds are afraid of animals with their eyes close together (e.g. owls). If he said it, it must be true. 😉
Looks like the dreaded squeaky doorhinge bird to me!
I have some feathered evil at my house in the morning, too. I also have the unwelcome, but omnipresent House wrens. They don’t apparently understand that this is MY house, not theirs. and that just because their name has the word “House” in it, that does not mean the eaves of MY house. I can’t tell you how many young fledglings I have “saved” from the attic, only to have them return as adults to take over my house again. And they are ugly, too.
I like the pretty birds at my feeders.
PS. I might have thrown the shoe.
Possibly a gray jay, a dark juvenile maybe? How big was it, the gray jay is about 11 inches long.
I heard one that can do an alarm clock – useful IF it were not 4 am when it decides to go off. I think it has a devious sense of humour. Probably sits outside my window, goes off and watches me jump out of bed and sink back a few seconds later, when I realize it is not my alarm clock.
That bird is definitely giving you “the look”.
Oh, a scavenger hunt!!!