19 December, 2021 Life lives on lives/more than I could swallow

I was hiking with a friend at Three Lakes Park in Henrico County last week when I saw this Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) trying to get this catfish in position to swallow. I presume. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology says that cormorants “are experts at diving to catch small fish.” That particular cormorant didn’t get the memo about “small” fish. 

Here’s another picture of the same cormorant with the same fish: 

I watched for some time; I never saw the cormorant consume the fish. It’s the beginning of mating season. It’s possible that was an extravagant display of fishing prowess in hopes of attracting a comely female cormorant. But I am far from an expert on cormorant behavior. 

I’m not an expert on Red-tailed hawk behavior either, but I was gratified to see this pair perched on the cross at Grove Avenue Baptist Church: 

The light is nice now and a lot of leaves are down. I saw this Red-shouldered hawk at Bryan Park:

We’re getting a few hard cold snaps now – the shortest day of the year is the day after tomorrow (Tuesday, 12/21/2021). About ten days ago it was bitter cold in the morning and I was fortunate to see this bluebird facing the rising sun with his feathers puffed out to stay warm: 

A white squirrel almost within sight of that bluebird. Fur is pretty warm but the squirrel is not toasting in the sun: 

Two years ago I helped out with horseback riding with Friendship Circle of Virginia. We skipped it last year because of the pandemic but we were masked up and at it again this year. They had a mask inspector make sure we had enough masks: 

My sisters have been dedicated horseback riders their entire lives. My involvement with horseback riding extends to walking along beside horses to make sure unsteady people don’t fall off. This pretty girl’s name was Buttercup. No one fell off of her while I walked alongside!: 

I spent about half the time walking alongside Buttercup and the other half alongside Cloud. They were easygoing, tolerant horses. Winston Churchill once said “The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a person.” I started working with people with disabilities on horseback really, really early in my career – twenty-five years ago or more. I’ve walked with dozens and dozens of people on horseback, and many of the people are entirely non verbal and have little or no muscle control. But literally one hundred percent – every person I’ve ever done this with – relaxes when they’re riding. Maybe because the horses are warm, or because they’re peaceful, or because it gets people out of wheelchairs and up above everybody else – I don’t know what it is. But people always calm down when they’re riding. I spent more time with Cloud than I did with Buttercup; no one fell off of her either: 

Here’s the banner for Friendship Circle, hanging up outside the barn: 

Wait! I almost signed off without a picture of perhaps the most charming hostess of the entire event. This was the diminutive and graceful Tinker Bell. If you squint, you can just barely see her gossamer wings. The wikipedia entry says that “Her speech consists of the sounds of a tinkling bell, which is understandable only to those familiar with the language of the fairies.” If you can see her wings in this picture, you would have been able to understand her speech:

Have a great week! Come back next week! I just realized – Saturday is Christmas! Merry Christmas if you’re of that persuasion. If not, have an outstanding December 25th! All best, 

Jay