If I Had Wings...

Fight or flight? If I had wings, there'd be no choice. But since I don't have wings, I have to rely on my cape, and a long running start. ~ Jarod Kintz

All quotes below are by Jarod Kintz

"If my love could be represented by a blur, it would be the beating of a hummingbird's wings. Did you know that my love is the only love that can fly backwards?"

A sweet little male Ruby-throated hummingbird perches atop the feeder holder ready to shoo off any interlopers.

"My phone rang and a duck quacked, so I answered the bird."

A duck on a dock. There's not much more to say about that other than it was a dull day and I used the flash to fill in some of the missing details - hence the Mallard's red eye.

"Insects have the most sex. Trust me, I peep on them through my microscope."

I may not have a microscope to peep on bugs but this one is indeed behind glass. The kitchen window, to be exact. And the macro lens helped to see this probable stink bug up close while the flash assisted in illuminating it. Many of the spots on the window are out of focus gnats, mosquitoes and other assorted insects. Many more of them are water spatters, dust and other marks which prove we don't have sparkling clean windows. They don't look that bad without the flash.

"I've always envied flies. Think about it: you're a fly, your name is an action, the very thing you do all the time. It's your innate action in life, the thing you were born to do. It's like a salesperson who was named Sell. I love that. If I ever met a salesperson who said, "Hi, I'm Sell," I'd reply, "And I'm sold!."

I found this attractive fellow in the house. He's sitting on a turkey feather which I used to transport him back outside.

I am a duck. I'm cool and calm on the surface, but underneath it all is a nonstop struggle to succeed. My feet are like orange spatulas"

At the same time the mallard was on the dock, these two new (to me) creatures were swimming beside it. The trusty bird guide told me that they're a pair of Lesser Scaups. The male on the left. A rather rare migratory find around here.

"Love, I love it like an airplane loves a helicopter, but not as much as a bat admires a butterfly."

A lovely Eastern yellow swallowtail butterfly whose tail has seen better days.

"I once snorted a moth. Unintentionally, of course. Its not like I was trying to get high."

Once night falls, there are countless numbers of insect staring at us from outside the window. This moth was one of them. Next post, I'll show you one of the most unexpected wee creature I've seen on a window - just a few inches over from the moth.

"I once saw a snake having sex with a vulture, and I thought, It's just business as usual in Washington DC."

For such an unattractive bird, the Turkey Vulture sure does look beautiful in flight.

"I had a dream about you. The leaves changed from yellow to red, but the stoplights did not. This made me continually cautious, and you kept honking at me. I thought you were the rudest goose ever."

One of our local family of geese. This goose, gander and their four goslings mingle with another family of two goslings, Mom and Dad. They're such devoted creatures.

"If God had wanted men to swim, he would have taught fish to fish. But fish don't fish, and neither do I, but it's also the reason I don't swim."

Loons. They're beautiful, entertaining, wonderful, haunting and enchanting birds. If you've never heard the call of the loon, you don't know what you're missing. In fact, please do find out what you're missing. Have a listen over here. The first (pair tremelo), second (pair wail) and last (wing noise, hoot, yodel) will give you all the typical loon calls between them. They're a joy to listen to. And to watch. We have five loons that tend to hang out together on the bay. Some may be wee ones but they all look full grown to us.

I hope you enjoyed some of the winged creatures who share our space, along with the crazy quotes of Jarod Kintz. I should have more photos coming up before too long.