Avians. Alfred Hitchcock made his famous movie, The Birds, back in 1963. I saw the movie and have been alert to an avian presence ever since. Alfred would, indeed, find my present circumstances amusing. Not me.
Birds are driving me nuts. The geese - not a problem here last season - are now encroaching on frequently strolled areas and , let me tell you, goose poo, dung, scat....whatever you want to call it......is a nasty substance. Geese are prolific "pooers". Canada Geese don't look that big from a distance, but when you get up close enough to them to hear them hiss at you, they really are big birds. I don't know what their main source of food is but, whatever it is, it produces a product that should really be powering big power plants - somewhere. Geese really are foul fowl.
Then there are the ducks. Mallards. Cute creatures that mostly stick to their watery environs and don't spend much time on docks or walkways. These birds are much more polite "pooers" than the Canada Geese. The problem with the Mallards is that their eggs have hatched and these cute, fuzzy little hatchlings are everywhere, along with their highly protective mamas. This is not normally an issue. It has been my observation that Mama Mallards are good mothers - alert, watchful, and vigilant - always mindful of their broods, how many and where they are. Communication between ducklings and mamas is this curious mix of demure clicks, high-pitched squeaks and loud quacks that command the immediate presence of each and every offspring. Ever see a flock of scared ducklings in the water? They become like harrier craft, little webbed feet almost lifting them off the surface of the water as they scurry back to their mama. The dilema arises when one duckling gets separated from his or her brood and mama. The poor little creature will emit an almost constant squeak, the frequency of which increases exponentially as minutes pass between separation and reunion. Quite pathetic, really, but there is nothing a human can do until the mama is able to maneuver herself and the rest of the brood back to the lone straggler.
Lastly there are the blackbirds - at least I think they are blackbirds. Could be starlings - I cannot tell the difference. After six seasons aboard this Aqua RV, I have never encountered birds that would peck at the boat......until this year. We are now in what the locals refer to as "May-fly season", where - almost daily - these pesky,tiny winged creatures hatch in the thousands, overnight, only to die and plaster their dead bodies all over everything. They are nuisance creatures before they die, too, flying about in thick swarms that serve to choke up every airway that a human possesses. You'd best not open your mouth or take a deep nasal breath when walking through a patch of May flies, or you will find yourself choking on protein you did not count on ingesting. The blackbirds, being smart and crafty, understand that the dead May Flies are a ready-made feast and, thusly, they peck furiously at the boat, in an attempt to eat as many of the thousands of dead flies as possible. This feeding frenzy begins shortly after the dawn begins to break. The only bright outcome in all of this pesky pecking is that occasionally the blackbirds will feast on spiders, as well as dead May Flies.
Alfred, I'd love to see what your screen play would be like, including Goose poo, lone ducklings, and uber-pecking blackbirds.
Ancora imparo
