[texbirds-freelists] Re: [texbirds] My husband the idiot and a question
- From: John Arvin <jarvin@xxxxxxxx>
- To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:21:06 -0500
Judy,
The dark mud was the still wet, newly added mud. The lighter mud was dry
and had predated the dark.
John C. Arvin
Research Associate
Gulf Coast Bird Observatory
103 West Hwy 332
Lake Jackson, TX 77566
jarvin@xxxxxxxx
www.gcbo.org
Austin, Texas
----------------------------------------
From: "Judy Kestner" <jkestner@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2012 12:46 PM
To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [texbirds] My husband the idiot and a question
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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