Bird count day

[altivo]

Too cold, but at least it was sunny. I decided that most of the birds were hiding somewhere warm and laughing at the "twerps" trying to count them, though of course there are always a few who fly right under our noses shouting "Me! Count me!" and naturally enough we did so. Our fearless group leader says that we spotted 23 species this year, up from only 19 last year. It seemed to me, though, that we found barren ground in many places where usually we see quite a few of the more common birds.

Highlight of the day: two red-tailed hawks. First we spotted one sitting in a tree and mistook it for an owl because it was so large. Examination with binoculars, however, made its identity clear enough. Then, while we were watching, another even larger hawk, same species landed next to it. The two of them nibbled at each other's beaks for a few seconds, and then the first one took off while the second remained on the branch. A mated pair? Seems likely. But I don't think this is nesting season for them.

Got into some closed conservation zones again, with the assistance of an escort. Not that we saw a lot of birds there, but the landscapes were interesting. One could only be approached by driving over a frozen cornfield in a 4WD vehicle. The other was at the end of a chained off road. The first is a relatively undisturbed bit of wetland, the second a prairie restoration in progress.

Claimed my free birthday beverage at Starbucks (Chai Latte) and tested my beta script to get the Zipit connected to a captive portal. The test failed due to an omission in the script. I fixed that later, and also the parallel error in the script for the original "WAVTEK_HOTSPOT" that got me into this mess in the first place. We went and had dinner at Angelo's where I tried that hotspot again and with my revised script it worked. Now I know the trick for connecting to these using iwconfig and links.

Too cold, I still haven't thawed out. Tomorrow, shopping must happen.

Comments

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

It was your birthday? :D *counts your teeth* Ere don't snap at me.
Oh and that thing with you seeing less birds than expected had nothing to do with me.

[altivo]

*licks you*

I have all my teeth, but that won't tell you how old I am. It's true that you can tell a horse's age fairly well by the appearance of his teeth, but only up to about 20 years. After that you have to guess by the amount of wear, which is pretty unpredictable.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

*acks at the horsie licks*

I know that the teeth counting is an old wives tail :) but I got a funny mental image of me trying to count your teeth.

[altivo]

Not entirely a wives' tale. You really can tell the age of a horse from his teeth in many cases. It's just not by counting so much as examining various clues. For instance, wolf teeth appear only after a certain age. Wikipedia explains it, if you look up "horse teeth." Since a horse's teeth keep growing for most of his life, and they are expected to wear down from chewing tough food like hay, there are various indicators that can be used.

Domestic horses often don't wear their teeth down evenly, so we have a horse dentist come round once a year to even them up. The process is called "floating the teeth" and it's interesting to watch but also a bit scary. They prop the horse's mouth open and used tools like reciprocal saws and rotary files. Fortunately, the horse is sedated and has no nerves in his teeth so it isn't terribly painful. Mine go right back to eating as soon as the special bridle is removed.