joweaver's Blog

TS Fay to A Murder of Crow
Aug 23, 2008 | 3:13 PM PST

Coming back to Gainesville in 2004 after being out west has been an experience for sure. I drove into the state as Hurricane Charlie was causing chaos and worked the storms of 2004 in the claims department for the insurance company I work for. It broke my heart to walk through peoples homes with them even if only on the phone and listen to them recite the damage they had. I helped them through the rebuilding process and ordeals with the state departments when they owned mobile homes which is so common here in Florida.

We have had many claims from TS Fay...nothing compared to the 200,000 claims people filed in 2004. At least not yet....

When we woke up this morning we looked out the window to see a simple fallen limb from one of our trees. Nothing major. When we went outdoors though it was amazing to see how green it was outside after 4 days of rain. There was an over abundance of butterflies of all kinds and sizes. I guess they were happy to be able to fly again after the storm had passed (we are still getting rain though) We walked around the pond that we have built in our back yard and noticed that the frogs and toads sought refuge in it and it is full of them, big and small. our little gold fish don't seem concerned though.

Before we ventured back indoors we saw a large murder of Crows.  You could see how soggy some of them were from battling the rain. It seemed interesting that there were so many more than usual, at leat 150 or more. They seemed to have the ability to relay information over great distances for sure. One or two in particular seemed to be calling the others to join him/her where he was in a tree yards away.  I know they live in complex, hierarchic societies and have an intense rivalry with the area's other groups of ravens. I wonder if there was something that they would have told us if we knew what to listen for...more is coming or all is right with the world this morning?

Well we survived just fine here in Gainesville and the critters in our yard are fair proof of that.

 

Carolina Wren Eggs
Aug 23, 2008 | 1:17 PM PST

So, I was washing laundry as usual and noticed that the dryer wasn't drying properly. I pulled out the dryer and noticed that there was a bunch of leaves and stuff in the wall vent. So....I cleared it out and this is what I found. A Carolina Wren nest and (unfortunately) 4 eggs topples out onto the floor. Fortunately, they have high breeding productivity resulting in higher numbers and of least concern for extinction. And these birds are generally permanent residents throughout their range so I didn't affect their numbers by destroying the nest. I really expected that it would be a mouse nest or something of that nature being so close to the ground...less than a foot away. It was exciting non the less.