Set 02 of My Bird Favorites
Bob Jensen at Trinity University 

While I was sitting at my desk shortly after dawn a large thump on the window startled me
We get a lot of thumps from birds crashing into the big windows on our front porch
But this thump was louder and earlier in the morning than usual
I could see nothing until I opened the front door
Directly in front of our storm door was a large bird laying on its back

During the time it took for me to step over to my desk for a camera
This bird was sitting up and staring at me with its big eyes
It was, I think, a fully mature barn owl with tan and gray feathers

For the perhaps 40 minutes its only movement was the turning back and forth of its head
All the wile it stared forlornly up at me
I left to wake up Erika because I knew she would want to see this beautiful bird

We both agreed that the bird may be hurt to a point that it could no longer fly
It was well before 8:00 am so I left a message for the NH Fish and Game Dept to call us back

Eventually, while Erika made coffee, I watched the owl spread its wings
It managed soon afterwards to fly about six feet to an flower box on  the rail of our front deck
The flowers in our window boxes froze up a couple of weeks ago

I returned now and then for nearly an hour to check on the owl that was probably still in shock
It never moved from that flower box
And it always focused directly at me behind the door

Then the owl suddenly spread its wings and flew off
When NH Fish and Game finally called back the guy was relieved to learn the owl recovered
My wild chipmunks and endless yard moles sounded less happy when I told them later in the morning
Up here I have a family of chipmunk beggars in a wood pile
And another family living under my studio out back
I put peanuts under our westward deck where the crows can't rob my chipmunks' food

Since owls hunt mainly at night I rarely see them
By day a pesky family of eight crows (called a "murder"of crows) rarely leaves our yard
Song birds cannot nest in our bushes because of the mean crows that Erika feeds daily in spite of their meanness
The raven-sized patriarch that we call Fred does not fly off even if I'm standing next to him

Whenever we look into a tree we can see Fred's smaller offspring
Cross also eat the frogs in our pond and the blind moles in the yard

One time I looked up from my desk to see my family of crows chasing a weary golden eagle
The exhausted eagle landed right in front of me and sat with its rear end against a big rock beside our well head
This beautiful bird with enormous talons rested there for maybe 30 minutes
It was protected from behind by the big rock and from the front by its ferocious beak
The rows waited threateningly in nearby trees.
Sadly that day I did not have a camera handy

After becoming sufficiently rested the eagle flew to the top of a nearby tree
Sure enough my family of crows commenced to dive bomb the bigger eatle
At long last the eagle spread its enormous wings and flew out over the valley with the crows in hot pursuit

Fortunately the crows cannot seem to bother our summertime tenants who stay here to raise one or more families

In our northside rental houses we get bluebirds and house wrens
One season a persistent blue bird (male) kept pecking at the glass in front of my desk
I think it was less because of my good looks and more because of his handsome reflection in the glass

I wonder why so many of my tenants fly south for the winter

Our many wild turkeys tough it out up here all winter long
They strip all the cherries off our cherry tree (not that I mind)

They also strip the cranberries off the bushes in front of my desk

Blue Jays also tough out our long winters in these mountains
They feed alongside the crows when Erika throws out goodies

Here's one of our hummingbird feeders

And here are two more

Its rare not to have hummingbirds whirring about my head whenever I'm working in our pond garden

Set 01 of my favorite bird pictures --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Birds/Set01/BirdsSet01.htm 
Ducks on the Golf Course --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits090714.htm
Also see --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2009/tidbits090526.htm

From the University of Pittsburgh
Birds of America (over 400 birds mounted online) --- http://digital.library.pitt.edu/a/audubon/
The Darlington Digital Library (bird photographs) --- http://digital.library.pitt.edu/d/darlington
Audubon Magazine - Multimedia --- http://archive.audubonmagazine.org/multimedia/index.html

Forwarded by my friend Jagdish Pathak at the University of Windsor in Canada

The lines of World renowned Poet and also a Nobel laureate, Rabindra Nath Tagore.
 He wrote (copied from Wikipedia English translation of original Bengali poem)

If they answer not to thy call walk alone,
If they are afraid and cower mutely facing the wall,
O thou unlucky one,
open thy mind and speak out alone.

If they turn away, and desert you when crossing the wilderness,
O thou unlucky one,
trample the thorns under thy tread,
and along the blood-lined track travel alone.

If they do not hold up the light when the night is troubled with storm,
O thou unlucky one,
with the thunder flame of pain ignite thy own heart
and let it burn alone.

Bob Jensen's Threads --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm

Bob Jensen's Home Page --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/

On May 14, 2006 I retired from Trinity University after a long and wonderful career as an accounting professor in four universities. I was generously granted "Emeritus" status by the Trustees of Trinity University. My wife and I now live in a cottage in the White Mountains of New Hampshire ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/NHcottage/NHcottage.htm

Bob Jensen's Blogs --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/JensenBlogs.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called New Bookmarks --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Tidbits --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Fraud Updates --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
Bob Jensen's past presentations and lectures --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/resume.htm#Presentations   

Our address is 190 Sunset Hill Road, Sugar Hill, New Hampshire
Our cottage was known as the Brayton Cottage in the early 1900s
Sunset Hill is a ridge overlooking with New Hampshire's White Mountains to the East
and Vermont's Green Mountains to the West