Cacophony

Today is more like fall than I have seen so far this year. The temperature is down to 68 degrees, there is a mist in the air, the skies are gray and there is just a bit of a breeze. A bit earlier there were some leaves that were blowing down the street and it was so much like a Colorado mountain back road that it made me have a flashback to a few years ago. Every Friday there is a truck that comes into the park with vegetables and fruits. Some of the produce is kept in ice. After the truck left I walked by and saw a pile of the ice that they had thrown out. With the temperature and the gray skies the ice looked so much like snow that it was almost spooky. I would not want you to get the idea that I miss the snow and the cold, but I have to say that I have many good times in the fall and in the snow.

I wonder why birds will gather at a specific location for years and years. In McAllen there is a certain intersection that the green parrots have gathered every year since we have been coming to the Rio Grande Valley, and my understanding is that the same has happened for many years before. It is pretty obvious that there has been a lot of building in the area fairly recently. So the birds have come back in spite of the construction and changes that have been made. I have been able to find any person who knew the area back in the time that the area was more farm than city. I will make a guess that the parrots came to the same place years ago. Perhaps the construction has actually given them more trees to roost in and more power lines to rest on.



I would say that the show lasts about an hour. During that time there are more birds coming in to land on the lines and then slowly they will move to trees where they spend the night. Every once in a while every parrot that in the area will suddenly take flight and circle around for a while then land back on the lines. Or they may circle a few times then fly into the trees where they spend the night. When they are in the trees there is such a cacophony that it almost hurts the ears.




I did meet some people who had an apartment next to the gathering area. they indicated that the sound was not too bad in the evening when they were still up. But it was somewhat irritating early in the morning when the parrots awoke and started their chatter. It was impossible to sleep late.

Thanksgiving is almost here. There is a very easy way to tell, the stores are all full of Christmas displays, the TV is showing Christmas stories and the radio has started playing Christmas songs. Aw, yes, it is almost Thanksgiving.

Till later this is Uncle Duck