In Which The Best Bird Proves Elusive

Hey! Look here! I have feathers! Lots of feathers! Hey! Up Tom Funk You Up!

Thursday was a 20-mile day. I had a full agenda on campus, plus a daughter’s birthday party to attend, so I’m feeling pretty good about squeezing that many miles in.

The second-best bird spotting of the past 24 hours occurred on the morning hill ride. For some reason, the top of Mount Brentwood includes “Turkey Road,” a track between houses at hill summit that is favored by the large wild birds living in the woods along Dry Creek. It’s not all uncommon to see groups of these huge dinosaurs roaming across Brentwood Drive at the top of the hill, but Thursday morning there was a bit more entertainment to be had.

It must be “that” time. A tom was following hens around, gobbling like a lounge singer, strutting, poofing out his tail feathers. It almost seemed like the was saying, over and over, “how you doing?”

The girls did not seem impressed.

I took the slightly longer trail route home for the afternoon ride, and kept hearing a train approaching from the south. I was hoping to get across 42nd Street before said train arrived and blocked my way, and I was lucky or quick enough. No close call or train dodge involved (in fact, I will gladly wait for a train rather than take any chances), as I was well north of the street when the rail cars started passing me by.

It was a long train. I paused at the Collins Road underpass to shoot some images of it, primarily the graffiti that some train cars collect (in the location that I like to call the “art gallery” due to the graffiti it collects).

I thought the train was cool, although not as cool as the turkeys. And neither was as cool as an unrelated bird sighting this morning. As I was getting ready to write this blog post, a quick movement caught my eye. I glanced out my office window, which is screened by a tall lilac bush. A hummingbird passed between the bush and screen and paused, hovering not two feet from me. Of course, the quick little bird (a female, I think, because she was not very colorful) was gone before I could grab my camera.

No hummingbird images, but three train pictures. Rolling art.