Today's Halloween Countdown... #31 The Birds

 

“Then he saw them. The gulls. Out there, riding the seas.
What he had thought at first to be the white caps of the waves were gulls. Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands... They rose and fell in the trough of the seas, heads to the wind, like a mighty fleet at anchor, waiting on the tide. To eastward, and to the west, the gulls were there. They stretched as far as his eye could reach, in close formation, line upon line. Had the sea been still they would have covered the bay like a white cloud, head to head, body packed to body. Only the east wind, whipping the sea to breakers, hid them from the shore.” 

~Daphne du Maurier,

  The Birds

 

 I have a love affair with this movie. I remember watching it, for the first time, when I was about 8, or so, and being terrified by the eeriness of the pace of the film. It built slowly. It made you wait for what you knew was inevitable, for the final attack, and oh boy did Du Maurier, and Hitchcock, make it easy to identify with Melanie Daniels! After all, there are birds everywhere, and how long before they lose their every loving shit on the stupid people who ignore the ecosystem of the Earth. So much could go wrong. Anyhoo, I grew up loving this movie and I thought it would be great as our first choice for the month of October! Mid-century movies let your imaginations run wild. And in that we are on our way to Bodega Bay today, you bet I will be keeping a close eye on, THE BIRDS!

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Osprey A Kestrel And A Cormorant

 

“His eyes reflected the open grey of the autumnal sky.” 

~Juliet Marillier,

  Daughter of the Forest

 

 I visited the Clifton Court Forebay yesterday, and unfortunately there is still very few birds to be found. During most years the forebay would be filled with all kinds of ducks, coots and gulls, in addition to many other birds, but yesterday there existed a few coot, a couple cormorants, and some raptors, but in single digits like the Osprey and the American Kestrel. I am going to check in on my friends at Cosumnes and Desmond road on Saturday, hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised and a beautiful noise a million birds will waiting for me. Cross your fingers. I need to see more beauty, and I only need 9 more birds to reach 170 birds for 2023!

 

On The Last Day Of November

 

 

“I could feel the bite of the autumn air,

 warning us all of the harsh winter that was on its way.”

 
~Jennifer Starzec,

  Determination

 

It was ridiculously cold at the Clifton Court Forebay yesterday, but that didn't stop this very pretty Ring-billed gull from swimming and splashing about in the water! He was half playing, half trying to beat the other gulls to the tasty school of morsels passing just under them. I watched him capture, and eat, more than one tiny fish, and I was very impressed with its ability to fly to great heights in the sky, only to fall in a deep dive, to fetch his dinner. Birds fascinate me. I didn't see any new birds yesterday, and my hands were aching from the cold, so I didn't stay long, but they were all lovely, and entertaining, and made the pain well worth the visit. I can't wait to see what other birds fly in, as December progresses. 

 

Here is bird #161 for the year.

 

Red-winged Bicolored Blackbird

 

 

Meanwhile, Over By The Brenner's House...

 

“His eyes reflected the open grey of the autumnal sky.” 

  ~ Juliet Marillier,

  Daughter of the Forest

 

Bodega Bay was cool and foggy yesterday, and it was filled with a lot of birds, so needless to say, I was completely thrilled. Ive been there when, ironically, there were very few birds at all, but that wasn't the case yesterday, as we counted at least four or five different kinds of gulls alone. There were Western Bluebirds, and assorted shorebirds and waders. We even spotted our first Brant of the year! I think we came home yesterday with about four new birds for this year's list, which brings the total so far to 153! Not a bad way to spend one of the last days of September! While in Bodega Bay, our favorite place to do our birding is across the bay from The Tides restaurant, near where the character of Mitch Brenner lives, from the Hitchcock classic, The Birds. Over by the house next to the two trees, as it's pointed out in the movie. It's officially called, Bodega Head. It's a great place to have lunch and wait for something fantastic to fly by. I love California so much!