Poops Nature Preserve
I did a bit of birding yesterday! Saw this out the back window and had to call Sister to identify it for me. She's jealous, but then she loves her bird folk.
It's an American Woodcock. Apparently common as mud from "lower Canada to the Gulf coast". (That's pretty much everywhere for you geography buffs.) Elusive, however, as they come out at dusk and dawn and stick to wooded areas with lots of leaf litter. Yesterday was cloudy and it made an unexpected visit to my back yard. It caught my eye, and I realized it was something I'd never seen before in my life.
Curious thing. It bobs up and down as it walks, which I found oddly disturbing, though I can't say why. And it's long beak is kind of creepy. They're pretty big, too. Bigger than the biggest Bluejay, but smaller than a chicken. Bigger than a squirrel, but smaller than a cat.
I say it was creepy-looking, but understand that I'm not a bird person. I prefer furry critters. And fleecy ones, of course. Speaking of furry, I wonder where all the squirrels are this morning. They're usually doing the Squirrel 500 up and down the trees outside my window by this time. Perhaps there's a squirrel convention up by the garden. Hard telling with squirrels.
In other news, besides the interesting fauna and the budding flora, I did a bit o' spinnin' yesterday to see how me and the wheel are performing. We're both a bit off, but I guess it's just like riding a bike. After all, there is pedaling involved.
I'm trying to spin this a bit thicker, just for practice, and again I can't find the tension knob for the wheel. I bought a new one some months ago and can't remember if I put it on the wheel and it fell off and got lost again, or if it's still in the envelope in my craft room somewhere. I shall take a peek later, but I suspect it's the former. So it's coming out a bit ropy in places, but it's nothing some plying and twist-setting can't cure, I think. If nothing else, I shall call it "art yarn" and be happy with it.
I'm gonna go spin some more whilst the babe naps.
It's an American Woodcock. Apparently common as mud from "lower Canada to the Gulf coast". (That's pretty much everywhere for you geography buffs.) Elusive, however, as they come out at dusk and dawn and stick to wooded areas with lots of leaf litter. Yesterday was cloudy and it made an unexpected visit to my back yard. It caught my eye, and I realized it was something I'd never seen before in my life.
Curious thing. It bobs up and down as it walks, which I found oddly disturbing, though I can't say why. And it's long beak is kind of creepy. They're pretty big, too. Bigger than the biggest Bluejay, but smaller than a chicken. Bigger than a squirrel, but smaller than a cat.
I say it was creepy-looking, but understand that I'm not a bird person. I prefer furry critters. And fleecy ones, of course. Speaking of furry, I wonder where all the squirrels are this morning. They're usually doing the Squirrel 500 up and down the trees outside my window by this time. Perhaps there's a squirrel convention up by the garden. Hard telling with squirrels.
In other news, besides the interesting fauna and the budding flora, I did a bit o' spinnin' yesterday to see how me and the wheel are performing. We're both a bit off, but I guess it's just like riding a bike. After all, there is pedaling involved.
I'm trying to spin this a bit thicker, just for practice, and again I can't find the tension knob for the wheel. I bought a new one some months ago and can't remember if I put it on the wheel and it fell off and got lost again, or if it's still in the envelope in my craft room somewhere. I shall take a peek later, but I suspect it's the former. So it's coming out a bit ropy in places, but it's nothing some plying and twist-setting can't cure, I think. If nothing else, I shall call it "art yarn" and be happy with it.
I'm gonna go spin some more whilst the babe naps.
posted by Poops | 9:44 AM
3 Comments:
Hehe, you said "woodcock" and "long beak" an "bobs."
I hear spinning thicker gets harder when you know how to spin... me, I still suck badly enough that my yarn turns out "artistic" no matter what I do.
You got a woodcock in your backyard. That's just awesome.
And your handspun is beautiful. But hey, who doesn't want it a little thicker?
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