[texbirds-freelists] [texbirds] My husband the idiot and a question
- From: Judy Kestner <jkestner@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2012 12:34:37 -0500
My husband called me yesterday saying that he was broken down in Mathis. I
picked up the fuel line he needed and drove the 20 miles up IH-37 and pulled in
behind him, under a highway overpass.
He showed me his left hand that had a wound on it and said, "I just got bit by
a bat."
Of course I almost passed out, urging him to get to the emergency room asap and
so on, and he pointed over my shoulder. "There it is now. What kind is it?"
Idiot.
It was a Great Horned Owl (which had NOT bitten him....) snuggled down on a
concrete support, gazing at us with half-closed eyes. I slugged my husband
with my binoculars. (Wished I could have anyway.)
"Is that a life bat for you?" he asked.
My question: While there I watched a small colony of very busy Cliff Swallows.
I noticed that each of their nests was made of dark mud, but each had a row or
two of light-colored mud pellets delineating the opening of the nest. This was
very attractive -- like having a brightly-painted front door on your house.
Was there an intentional purpose of using the light mud to show where the
opening to the nest was located? How did they learn which mud dried dark and
which light? Who is their decorator?
I looked online and did not see any other pix of this phenomenon, and cannot
recall seeing it before anywhere else.
Also, most of these nests were not gourd-shaped but were cup-shaped.
Thanks.
Judy Kestner
Calallen (NW Corpus Christi)
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