Ohio Police Department Allows Doves To Commandeer Cruiser For Best Possible Reason

Mourning doves have set up a nest with two eggs at the
base of the windshield of a Parma, Ohio police crusiers.
The nesting doves are enjoying full protection from
Parma police offices.   

I love the population boom of birds I see bere in tbe northern climes this time of year.

Which is why I have to congratulate the Parma, Ohio, police department.

A pair of mourning doves decided to set up a nest at the base of a windshield on a backup cruiser parked in the department's lot.

Police could have shooed the doves away, destroyed the nest and moved on with protecting the citizens in the fine city of Parma.

But this was a backup cruiser and Parma police had all the tools they needed to protect and serve. They could live without the spare cruiser for awhile and make do with what they had.

Really. Why not protect and serve the doves?

While two eggs are awaiting hatching at the base of the windshield, Parma officers sealed off the parked cruiser with police tape and traffic construction barrels, says television station Fox 8 in Cleveland.

Who says police tape is only for crime scenes?

Police officers have set up an umbrella over the nest to keep it dry, left a container of water out for the birds to drink and have even dug up worms from a nearby muddy lawn to feed the mourniing doves.

"Our officers are human beings just like anyone else. We care for all lives human and animal," said Lt. Kevin Riley of the Parma Police Department. They want to make sure the doves and their young are well taken care of, according to Fox 8.

By the way, the Parma Police Department names the dove mom Gerty for some reason.

Works for me!

And congratulations to the soon-to-be mourning dove parents.

Channeling Hitchcock's "The Birds" In Channelview, Texas

A lot of us remember that hideously scary movie, "The Birds," that Hitchcock classic in which our feathered friends get decidedly unfriendly.  

Is there a real life sequel to Hitchcock's "The Birds"
brewing in Channelview, Texas?  

In Channelview, Texas recently, it seems some birds there are channeling Hitchcock.

A group of birds attaced trucker Benny Hines as he walked across a parking lot at the Chrome Shop in Channelview, says television station KVUE in Austin. 

The birds knocked Hines to the ground, knocked him unconscious, knocked a tooth out.

The birds also attacked another unfortunate soul at the Chrome Shop, but he was uninjured. The theory is the birds were protecting a young offspring there who hadn't learned to fly yet.

That's a pleasant theory, and also probably true, but my dark side wants to believe that Hitchcock is turning birds evil from beyond the grave.

Judge for yourself. Here's the video of the bird carnage in Channelview:

Dennis Hlynsky's Awesome Bird And Nature Videos Are Mesmerizing

Hat tip to brother in law David Jenne for this awesome video.

A still from one of Denns Hlysky's fascinating videos. 

The videographer, Dennis Hlynsky tracked the path of birds somewhere in Massachusetts, near the Rhode Island border.

He layers frame upon frame in videos like the one below to track the flight of the birds.

The result is something totally mesmerizing.

Hlynksy has dozens of awesome videos he has made on Vimeo. 

Watch and see one of the bird videos for yourself and be amazed.

An Urban Pileated Woodpecker Calls Burlington, Vt. Home

As I was walking through City Hall Park in downtown Burlington, Vermont yesterday, I approached a sugar maple that was past its better days. It was half dead, and I think the city is going to take it down.

This pileated woodpecker made
a nice hole in this tree in a downtown Burlington, Vt.

I passed under the tree and suddenly, wood chips rained down on me. I stopped, and heard a tap, tap, tap overhead. I looked up and saw the fellow pictured in this post: A pileated woodpecker.

They're usually in forests, pecking away at rotting trees, looking for their favorite foods, such as carpenter ants. I guess this guy found what he was looking for in a city park.

I think I was the only one who noticed him. Everybody else in the park was talking to each other, or on cell phones, or sitting on benches soaking in some sun. Nobody even seemed to notice as I grabbed my camera aimed up, and took a portrait of my new friend.