13.2.10
For the birds.
7:19 PM | 
Posted by
Maj
You know how it is. Every so often, someone develops a new way of staying connected to people you haven't talked to in years, a handful of people you know use that social networking tool to keep in touch, and all of a sudden you find yourself filling out your 9,236,847,643rd internet profile. Every time, I list "psittaculture" as an interest of mine. Recently, I've wondered whether it's still appropriate for me to put it in there. I haven't read a parrot magazine since I was eleven. I haven't worked in the pet trade in nearly five years and don't see myself going back. Maybe, I've thought to myself, the bird thing is over and done with.
And then I get here. I'll tell you, the first mammal I noticed at all was a rabbit I ran into on the way home last night. But the birds, the birds!! Oh, people of the Netherlands, you've got yourselves some pretty striking avian friends. Friends that I noticed within an hour of getting here.
So today, I decided I'd go out and get some photos of these guys with my new camera.
Magpies
So I bet you're thinking, "Gosh! That's a great photo of a magpie, Maja. ...Maybe a little too good." And you're right; this is too good a photo. In fact, I don't know who took this photo, but I'm inclined to think that God himself must've snapped it, because magpies are total jerks when it comes to posing for the camera. I chased one magpie down the street trying to get a photo of it, and it just sort of bounced along (they normally walk around, but they have a fantatstic, buoyant stride when they're running away. IT MAKES ME WANT TO PHOTOGRAPH THEM ALL THE MORE. Ugh.) I'm sure I looked like an idiot, especially since these birds are, like crows, never really skittish. But they're like... wacky crow cousins. Bright, but not in that boring, Congo African Grey, I-want-to-solve-puzzles-instead-of-rolling-around-and-making-obnoxious-noises kind of way. No, magpies normally seem like they're all about being smart and doing stupid stuff. Of course, I may just think they're clever, but it seems they must at least be perception-geniuses to know the difference between little old me and little old me plus desire to get a magpie photo.
Coots
I mentioned that, when I first got here, there were these weird ducks everywhere. Well, after about a week of Google frustration, I finally figured out what these guys are: coots. (Surprisingly, they're nothing like senile fogies.)
I was pretty disappointed with my photographic excursion when the magpie wouldn't cooperate. We're talking about a bird that hangs out near people all the time, yet is impossible to photograph. Since I'd never tried to approach coots before, I was worried they, too, would take off in some emasculatingly cute way. But no! The coot forever secured its position as my favourite Dutch bird by actually running toward me to see what was going on. The internet suggests coots do this sort of thing because they're aggressive and territorial, but this clearly wasn't a case of territorial defence. The bird didn't try to scare me away or bite me, it just ran up to me and started to walk around me. Checking out my boots, checking out the camera. Super awesome. If only I'd had a memory card in the camera, I'd have made a video. So, sadly, I only have the photo above to show you guys. Check out those amazing blue feet, they look like they're made of leaves!
Well, those are all of the photos for now. Maybe I'll be able to get a great blue heron sometime soon. I'd upload pictures of pigeons, but no one seems to like them except me. But Canadians should count themselves as lucky, since pigeons are far more pestiferous (har har) here than in Canada. I see them bumbling around in the metro, in city hall, in grocery stores. Yep, the Supermarkt owners across the street have to shoo them out all day. A couple of times, the woman owner had to come in from out of town to let a robin out of the store because it set off the alarm at something like 3 in the morning. :)
Tot ziens!
Well, those are all of the photos for now. Maybe I'll be able to get a great blue heron sometime soon. I'd upload pictures of pigeons, but no one seems to like them except me. But Canadians should count themselves as lucky, since pigeons are far more pestiferous (har har) here than in Canada. I see them bumbling around in the metro, in city hall, in grocery stores. Yep, the Supermarkt owners across the street have to shoo them out all day. A couple of times, the woman owner had to come in from out of town to let a robin out of the store because it set off the alarm at something like 3 in the morning. :)
Tot ziens!
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1 comments:
Love it...!
I've "befriended" a couple of blue jays that hang out in the trees in front of my balcony. I (heart) birds too :)
Miss you, lady.
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