Newsletter chitchat - February 21st

[Cassel]

Did you have a long weekend this week?

Did you do anything interesting this weekend?

Let's chat!

[Susan Ewart]

No long weekend for me.  If the holiday is a Monday we do some of the work on Friday but still have to work on the holiday Monday.  But Normally I have Thursday and now Fridays off.  So, I get a 4 day weekend whenever there isnt a long weekend.  Which is a lot more weekends than long weekends in the year.  I did tons of mask fun with PSP this past weekend, like I'm sure a lot of others did too.  The big cram session to get all the lessons completed.  

[Ann Seeber]

My daughter, Laurey, took me to dinner Saturday for my birthday. I turned 82. Sounds like a good number! My two cats are mad at me because I've been feeding the calico stray that now, of course, keeps showing up. And I suddenly have tons of Red-winged blackbirds, grackles and cowbirds who have joined the party at my feeders. I just got news yesterday that Beth is going to open the theater for the season on March 31. Originally it was slated for the 17th but she says she doesn't trust the weather and the place is impossible to plow out. The company that hosts our website and sends out our email blasts has changed its software to now I have to learn that! Aargh!

[Susan Ewart]

4 hours ago, Ann Seeber said:

My daughter, Laurey, took me to dinner Saturday for my birthday. I turned 82. Sounds like a good number! My two cats are mad at me because I've been feeding the calico stray that now, of course, keeps showing up. And I suddenly have tons of Red-winged blackbirds, grackles and cowbirds who have joined the party at my feeders. I just got news yesterday that Beth is going to open the theater for the season on March 31. Originally it was slated for the 17th but she says she doesn't trust the weather and the place is impossible to plow out. The company that hosts our website and sends out our email blasts has changed its software to now I have to learn that! Aargh!

Happy Birthday Ann!  Even the birds came to celebrate with you.  I wish we had Crackles.  I will have to look up Cowbird.  The one I recognized in the list is the Red-winged blackbird.  

[Rene Marker]

I had a very busy weekend which is unusual for me. Last Monday I found out an uncle had passed away and Tuesday found out that his funeral would be Saturday morning with visitation on Friday afternoon/evening. Just 30 minutes after that phone call, a cousin called and asked if we could do lunch on Friday. She had lost her son unexpectedly last July and I had invited her to come visit with us so we could actually spend time with each other (she lives 3 hours away). She could only stay for a couple of hours so it worked out for Friday. She would be leaving before I had to go to the funeral home. Before all of this happened, I knew I had a wedding on Saturday. A teacher my mom taught with was getting married for the first time. She is 76, the groom is 80 and lost his wife in a car accident in Oct 2020. I also spent a lot of time with this lady when we sold Longaberger baskets 23 years ago. We had the same upline. And, she attends and is very involved in my church. I was so tired on Saturday, just from being around so many people. I have tinnitus and cannot be in large crowds of people for long periods of time. My brain gets over stimulated and starts to shut down. It takes about 24 hours to recover.

[Ann Seeber]

2 hours ago, Susan Ewart said:

I will have to look up Cowbird.

Cowbirds are a reviled species that don't build nests. Instead, they lay their eggs in any other birds' nest and fly away, leaving the nurturing to the poor invaded birds. They are black with brown heads, rather dull looking. I see little sparrows with HUGE fledgling cowbirds, trying to feed these huge babies that probably pushed the sparrow babies out of the next, even. ?

[Susan Ewart]

1 hour ago, Rene Marker said:

I had a very busy weekend which is unusual for me. Last Monday I found out an uncle had passed away and Tuesday found out that his funeral would be Saturday morning with visitation on Friday afternoon/evening. Just 30 minutes after that phone call, a cousin called and asked if we could do lunch on Friday. She had lost her son unexpectedly last July and I had invited her to come visit with us so we could actually spend time with each other (she lives 3 hours away). She could only stay for a couple of hours so it worked out for Friday. She would be leaving before I had to go to the funeral home. Before all of this happened, I knew I had a wedding on Saturday. A teacher my mom taught with was getting married for the first time. She is 76, the groom is 80 and lost his wife in a car accident in Oct 2020. I also spent a lot of time with this lady when we sold Longaberger baskets 23 years ago. We had the same upline. And, she attends and is very involved in my church. I was so tired on Saturday, just from being around so many people. I have tinnitus and cannot be in large crowds of people for long periods of time. My brain gets over stimulated and starts to shut down. It takes about 24 hours to recover.

You did really well with all the people.  I do not like large crowds either.  I dont like noisy places (I laugh now, because I work where is a newspaper web press and an inserting machine 0 it's noisy).  I should say, outside of work I hate crowded noisy places.  Nature is the best place for me.  It must have also been an emotional roller coaster weekend too.

[Susan Ewart]

9 minutes ago, Ann Seeber said:

Cowbirds are a reviled species that don't build nests. Instead, they lay their eggs in any other birds' nest and fly away, leaving the nurturing to the poor invaded birds. They are black with brown heads, rather dull looking. I see little sparrows with HUGE fledgling cowbirds, trying to feed these huge babies that probably pushed the sparrow babies out of the next, even. ?

OMG!  NOT mother of year material there.  Are they native to North America.  Or invaders like the starlings.  

[Ann Seeber]

1 hour ago, Susan Ewart said:

Are they native to North America.

Yes, they are so native they started when the plains were alive with huge buffalo herds and followed the migrations. They had no way to stop and build a nest and raise their own young so they improvised and "borrowed" other birds nests, trusting their species would survive. Nature is sort of neat, that way. 

[Sue Thomas]

1 hour ago, Susan Ewart said:

OMG!  NOT mother of year material there.  Are they native to North America.  Or invaders like the starlings.  

I'm going to come to the defence of the Cowbrid.   They are very much underappreciated, and  outright hated at worst.  They are remarkable birds in their own right.  In their defence you don't have to love then but you should certainly respect.   Unlike the Starling and the common house sparrow which were introduced by the Europeans, do  have an effect on the native birds.  I  get several  breeding pairs every year, that follow the horses around the field  feeding on insects that the horses kick up. Trailing cows for  ranchers, I"d see loads of them, picking insects, not only off the ground but off the cattle backs.   Before the demise of the buffalo, they would follow the buffalo, which meant they weren't in any given area for any length of time to raise young.   I see Cowbrid eggs  and nestinglings in  other birds nests.  That's nature for  you,  it's not my place place to interfere with  Nature.  

[Sue Thomas]

1 minute ago, Sue Thomas said:

I'm going to come to the defence of the Cowbrid.   They are very much underappreciated, and  outright hated at worst.  They are remarkable birds in their own right.  In their defence you don't have to love then but you should certainly respect.   Unlike the Starling and the common house sparrow which were introduced by the Europeans, do  have an effect on the native birds.  I  get several  breeding pairs every year, that follow the horses around the field  feeding on insects that the horses kick up. Trailing cows for  ranchers, I"d see loads of them, picking insects, not only off the ground but off the cattle backs.   Before the demise of the buffalo, they would follow the buffalo, which meant they weren't in any given area for any length of time to raise young.   I see Cowbrid eggs  and nestinglings in  other birds nests.  That's nature for  you,  it's not my place place to interfere with  Nature.  

To answer your question Susan, yes they are Native to North America. I'm surprised you have never seen one, being around horses.  They used to be called the Buffalobird.   They are a smallish blackbird.  Related to the Grackle and the Baltimore Oriole.  All being members of the Backbird family.

[Corrie Kinkel]

1 hour ago, Sue Thomas said:

To answer your question Susan, yes they are Native to North America. I'm surprised you have never seen one, being around horses.  They used to be called the Buffalobird.   They are a smallish blackbird.  Related to the Grackle and the Baltimore Oriole.  All being members of the Backbird family.

Interesting to read about those birds. Over here we have the "Koekoek" or Cuckoo that lays its eggs in other birds nests.

[Sue Thomas]

1 minute ago, Corrie Kinkel said:

Interesting to read about those birds. Over here we have the "Koekoek" or Cuckoo that lays its eggs in other birds nests.

We have the cuckoo in the UK too.  I miss their very distinctive call.  Also cuckoo spit, which has nothing to do with  the cuckoo bird, but liquid excreted by  nymph of the spittlebug

[Susan Ewart]

2 hours ago, Sue Thomas said:

To answer your question Susan, yes they are Native to North America. I'm surprised you have never seen one, being around horses.  They used to be called the Buffalobird.   They are a smallish blackbird.  Related to the Grackle and the Baltimore Oriole.  All being members of the Backbird family.

I probably have but didnt know it.  I wasnt as into birds back then.  Except for an owl we'd hear in the mornings when we went to clean stalls (at one farm).  Around 5am, I tried to find where the call was coming from, but never could find it. And at one race/breeding barn we were at, an eagle landed in the yearlings field.  20 very excited horses running around, luckily they were 5 acre fields.  It was exciting but nerve wracking to make sure they didnt go through the fence (which happened once on another part of that farm).   

Edited February 22, 2023 by Susan Ewart

[cindy harris]

20 hours ago, Ann Seeber said:

My daughter, Laurey, took me to dinner Saturday for my birthday. I turned 82. Sounds like a good number! My two cats are mad at me because I've been feeding the calico stray that now, of course, keeps showing up. And I suddenly have tons of Red-winged blackbirds, grackles and cowbirds who have joined the party at my feeders. I just got news yesterday that Beth is going to open the theater for the season on March 31. Originally it was slated for the 17th but she says she doesn't trust the weather and the place is impossible to plow out. The company that hosts our website and sends out our email blasts has changed its software to now I have to learn that! Aargh!

 H a p p y B irthday  Yours and your cats are so lucky!   Happy your there MS Ann Sebber.    Your so Awesome and love your work/art Scrapping things. ?  

[cindy harris]

11 hours ago, Sue Thomas said:

To answer your question Susan, yes they are Native to North America. I'm surprised you have never seen one, being around horses.  They used to be called the Buffalobird.   They are a smallish blackbird.  Related to the Grackle and the Baltimore Oriole.  All being members of the Backbird family.

   Hi  Your all so cool,  wanted to say I once lived in Cowbutt     Really its cabot but we all from the blackfoot tribe only said Cowbutt not infront of adults.  Be we knew where we lived LOL