Perusing my regular web haunts one day, I came across a cat video and decided to watch it. It really was not all that exciting—just a cat receiving a treat and some conversation from his pet human. But the first time the cat in the video meowed, Kazon rushed to the computer and began watching it with me. And there he sat for the entire length of the movie.
Regrettably, I didn’t think about the camera until the movie was already half over, but still… So I grabbed it, turned it on, and began taking my own video of Kazon watching a video… a cat video. This is the result.
Watch him closely at the end when the video finishes. You’ll see him lean in for a closer look, as though he’s misplaced something, or is trying to determine whether the cat’s coming back or not.
Just a quick little video of Loki hanging out on top of me while I lie on the floor. He spends most of it looking around and trying to decide what to do with himself. When he realizes my attention is focused on him… Well, see for yourself.
And check out those whiskers!
Can you hear his purr right at the very end when he gets close to the camera?
Last week when I took a walk at the lake, I found a picnic table near the park services office where I could sit and enjoy the morning. Located near the shore, it provided me a good view of the surplus of waterfowl and other wildlife. The moment I sat down, however, I was noticed by a gaggle of both Domestic swan geese (Anser cygnoides) and domestic greylag geese (Anser anser). I assume they have grown accustomed to receiving food from people because they came right out of the water and headed in my direction.
[also seen in the background of that picture are American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos), American coots (Fulica americana), a double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus), and ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis)]
I watched in amazement as they walked right up to and around the picnic table, foraging the whole way. Their stroll was casual and unconcerned. They did keep an eye on me, however, with regular and careful evaluations of my movements and position. Because only a few of them intently watched me, I assume they were the leaders of the pack. Or at least the most distrustful.
They foraged about me as they came ever nearer. Eventually, they came right up to the table while picking through the winter grass.
Once they realized I had no food to offer, they promptly headed back to the water. I almost felt as though they were disappointed that I sat there with no treats for them to consume.
As they entered the water amongst the coots with pelicans and gulls looking on, somehow I felt bad for not having something to offer. My empty pockets and hands seemed almost like a betrayal of their need. But I felt confident they wouldn’t starve despite my apparent lack of social graces.
I have three videos from the experience and am including them below the fold.
This first video is when they came around the table and approached me. You can see they foraged the entire way.
This next one shows them when they came right up to the table where I was sitting. In fact, the one you see nearest the camera was less than an arm’s length away from me. I suspected it might peck at the camera while it was filming just to see if it was edible. By the way, that’s a park services truck driving by at the beginning.
Finally, once they realized I had nothing to offer, I captured them as they walked around me and headed back to the water. I’m sure they were thinking I had been a total waste of their time and energy.
Need I explain this video? It’s short and sweet, and I believe you’ll find it self-explanatory. All I can say is this: Vazra has the right idea, and would that we all could be lucky enough to enjoy such carefree days.
Dressed in little and wishing I could take that off, the summer sun baked the shore and me with it. Nevertheless, I held my ground in defiant agony. I had arrived to watch the wildlife, and watching the wildlife was precisely what I intended to do.
As I melted on the pier with no available cover, I noticed a great egret (Ardea alba) roaming about in the shallows in search of lunch. The distance between us prevented me from capturing a better video than the one included here, but I still believe you can get the feel of the moment.
The white egret successfully captures a fish and swallows it down, and then it takes a quick drink of water to ensure the fishy has something to swim in while being digested. Or at least that’s what I thought.
What I did not take note of until after that drink was that a great blue heron (Ardea herodias) was standing mere feet away from the egret, watching silently, perhaps even jealously for the meal one enjoyed and the other did not. Only after the egret began moving away did the heron start milling around as if it had only just remembered why it was standing there in the water.
But it didn’t stop there. Even as I pondered whether to stop the video and leave the edge of the pier where sunlight reflected into my face from the surface of the lake, I heard the sound of quacking nearby that seemed to be growing closer and closer. At the end of the video, you’ll see the duck drive-by performed by the unidentifiable threesome I spoke of previously. There are two white females and the one dark male, none of whom seem willing to provide their taxonomic credentials. Perhaps another time…
[Update] I have since identified the white duck as a pekin duck (a.k.a. domestic duck, white pekin duck, or Long Island duck; Anas domesticus).
