my friend

watch this now

actual bird song content

so i came home from my bird song course this morning (at 10am...it's over by then) and i heard a bird singing in the trees across the street. i didn't know what it was but it was a distinct call that felt familiar so i went to my trusty bird songs field guide and spent ages listening to recordings and finally identified it as a northern cardinal :) i feel that this is a really huge accomplishment and a step in the right direction. i can't wait for more moments like this.

dreams

i just woke up from a dream where i was shopping at my favorite store, young janes and i tried on a floral dress i saw on their blog and it fit so nice that the owners took polaroids of me wearing it and then i went looking for cute flats (as i plan to do this afternoon!) but the store grew and had a whole kind of metal/leather section like a hot topic and i was trying to get out of the area and get back to lace and sandals but there were creepy old men trying to talk to me and blocking me way. i ended up in a section where they sold exotic animals and i started playing with some very cuddly pigeons and noticed a large glass cage with some large animals including a man who had been raised by animals or as an animal or something and this man was a rugged version of james franco and i fell in love with him immediately. we kissed through the glass but it was closing time. i told him i'd come back for him and set him free after everyone else had left but things happened and i couldn't. i think i just woke up. i really like james franco though and i'm excited to go shopping today :)

dance baby dance

Bird Shakes His Tailfeather @ Yahoo! Video

this is how i'm studying for my ornithology quiz today

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Kingsford Goes to the Beach - Click here for the funniest movie of the week

its a kittens kind of morning

go veg

'Veggie Love': PETA's Banned Super Bowl Ad

wow

dreaming of fashion

warm boots and pizza by highromance


wild horses by highromance

this website is really taking up a lot of my time but i love it

nifty kitty

field trips

yesterday i went on a school field trip to observe waterfowl all afternoon. i met a pretty massive cutie who was also a bird expert and i followed him around asking questions but on the way back to school he casually put it into the conversation that he had a gf. OF COURSE. he would have been a bad date anyways. seemed like kind of a know-it-all but what can i say, i'm a sucker for scruffy hair and blue eyes that can identify the subtle differences between icelandic, herring and glaucous gulls. here are some pictures of a few of the birds i saw that i had never seen before.

male common goldeneye-my most exciting sighting of the day


female common merganser-i've seen these at the bird centre before but they are still magnificent


female black duck-didn't even know this species existed until yesterday. probably always mistook them for female mallards. only now do i realize how ignorant that was.


glaucous gull-another species i never knew about. the same large size as the greater black-back gull but with much lighter colouration

long eyelashes and a velvet nose

update: i bought her. or, have committed to buying her. at first i was freaking out a little. mark called me this morning and said someone else was offering to buy her and pick her up today so did i want her or not and i was just like uhhhhhhh yes. so then i hung up and started crying i don't know why. i was shaking. i think i was just really overwhelmed. i mean, i've been riding since i was born, taking lessons for 17 years, and my family could never afford a horse for me. all the other kids had horses but i always had to ride my coaches horses or my friends' horses. i had horses that i loved and even a few horses that i leased but i've never had one to take care of and call my own and it's a really big deal. but i know i chose the perfect one for me. i've always felt like oreo and i were exactly alike. if i were a horse, i'd be oreo and if she were a human, she'd be me. i think after a few hours it's starting to sink in and i'm getting really really excited :) i've also decided to apply for government temp jobs in order to finance this big event.

big decision

today the love of my young life, and one of my best friends, was offered to me at the price of $1000 or make me an offer. either i buy her, or she is getting sold to strangers, and i'll never see her again. buying a horse is like getting an expensive puppy. it's a big commitment. especially for someone who is going to be traveling for the next few years like i am. i can afford it, but it would be a purely sentimental purchase. i've known and loved her for the past 6 years, but have been especially close to her for the past 3 or 4. i have to decide in the next few days whether to make this little lady a permanent fixture in my life for the next decade and a half ish. i love her more than words can even describe. she is the sweetest most fun and loving soul on the planet and the thought of her leaving is gut wrenching enough for me to fork out a grand and end up with a pony. ugh i don't know what to do but i think i kind of do.



oreo and i competing at the nepean national equestrian park in 2007

amputation

today i had the privilege of observing some minor surgery done on the leg of a ring-billed gull. the poor guy came in recently with his leg basically dangling by a thread. they wrapped it to try to get it to set together but nothing was happening so they decided this morning that his best bet for a good life would be amputation of the lower leg. there was only skin and a bit of tendon to cut through, but i still felt ill when i saw that they would be using scissors while the gull was fully awake! birds are incredibly resilient creatures and never cease to amazing me with how well they deal with injury. there was a fair bit of bleeding but some stitches and lots of pressure took care of that after a few minutes and he was wrapped up and should be able to be released come spring. just another interesting day on the job!

the leg before shot.



stitching up the remaining leg



already standing and eating only minutes later

best of bird songs

the lyre bird shows us why birds are the most amazing by imitating every sound he's ever heard to impress the ladies. i am supposed to be cramming for my ornithology final right now and this is probably not the best way.

love your levi's

cardinals

i wonder if we'll get any of these guys at the centre this winter. as much as i hope wild birds never get hurt, i like learning about different species when they arrive and comparing their behaviours. i would also be interested to see some grouse or terns.

bad dreams

i just woke up from a dream in which i had to ward off attempted sexual assault from the husband of a close friend of my mothers and then, later in the dream, i was with some friends by a lake and we noticed a moose swimming in the water quietly. we stopped to watch, and it was the most beautiful thing i'd ever seen. then it became a large buck and we noticed a doe swimming as well. then it became a wolf and started swimming towards us. we began moving to my car but it reached land and became a bear. we started running to my car even though you aren't supposed to run from bears and as i reached my car, i realized the bear wasn't chasing us, but had gone back towards our friend that was still in the woods. we started screaming his name and i woke up then in complete fear.

in better news, i drank a lot of delicious juice in the dream and now i'm drinking it in real life

must love owls

last night i was at the house party of an adorable guy when i noticed the pattern on his comforter. all signs point to owl lover

thank goodness for this

what a treat :)