Avian Obsession

I know I've mentioned the number of eagles/hawks/herons/etc. I've seen on my way to work at least three times more often than anyone cares about, so I decided to give the wildlife stats their own space in the sidebar and quit mentioning them here.

It's purely for my own entertainment (hell, what here isn't, right?). Counting stuff is one of my Three Pillars of Sanity for dealing with rush hour traffic, the other two being composing blog entries which will probably never see the light of day and listening to classical music on CBC radio. It's a way of distracting myself from the idiots with whom I am forced to share the road, and a means of keeping my brain nimble and limber (OK, less ponderous and inflexible than it would otherwise be). I find I can maintain permanent memory slots for keeping track the aforementioned trio of birds, deer and coyotes (rarely used but always available) and a variable allocation for the single most interesting critter I encounter from one day to the next.

And, I must confess, no matter how many I've seen before, I get a small thrill every time I spot an eagle soaring overhead or glowering from a tree, or a statuesque heron stalking along the riverbank.