Saturday, November 21, 2015

Birdwatching Saturday

We've been sitting around for a few days now. First, we were in a Walmart parking lot that offers truck parking near our delivery location, then we went to one of our "secret" spots (no neighbors, screaming fast internet), then two nights in a no-name truck stop, and now we're at a Love's.

Today we spent some time birdwatching. We really didn't have a choice since the birds essentially swarmed most of the trucks in the lot.  Sitting on hoods, perched on hood mirrors, they were everywhere.

I decided to feed them.  I had some kettle corn in the truck that had gone stale because I wasn't eating it and thought it'd be the perfect treat for the birds milling around. They loved it.

Based on my research, and the pale yellow eyes, I'm pretty sure these birds are Great-Tailed Grackles
They are iridescent black, and in certain light you can definitely see the greens, blue, and violets in their feathers.  The females were around too, but they're not as pretty - boring brown and half the size of these birds - so I didn't take any pictures of them.
Here's a view from the rear. This tail and coloring definitely seems to match the definition of the Great-Tailed Grackle.
They're obviously used to being around people because they weren't afraid of our voices, or the trucks rolling by. They ate the popcorn out of my hand!
Here are a few hanging out on the trucks parked next to us. 
Once the popcorn was gone, the appeal for me faded. The birds still hung around and hopped all over the truck, I could hear them on the roof of the sleeper.

So there you go, one of the more lame things we do with our down time.



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2014: 
Flashback Friday
2013: The Best Kind Of Mob

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