Bird watching with awesomeaustinv, episode 3!

"Jim Spanfeller" (awesomeaustinv) 06/17/2020 at 01:24 • Filed to: birdwatching, Lego, birdlopnik

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[reposting for the day crowd since few people saw it last night]

Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu says hi!

Sometimes when life gets chaotic, I like to unwind by doing a bit of bird watching. This episode took a bit longer to make than the last one mostly due to the weather, but there are still plenty of birds to be seen! If you missed the previous episode, you can find it here:

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Although honestly, you don’t really have to read them in order. But anyway, you might recall that in the previous episode I hired Blue Jay as an assistant, and, well, it didn’t exactly work out great.

But he’s been seeing his therapist more and he’s got prescription medication now, so hopefully, he should be a lot more chill and significantly less homicidal this time.

First, we have an Orchard Oriole! Interestingly, although most Oriole males are primarily yellow, Orchard Orioles don’t give a crap about what’s normal and are therefore brown. And while it’s common for male birds to be brightly-colored while females are more dull-colored, the Orchard Oriole also goes the opposite route there, with the males being brown and the females being yellow. Because that’s just how the Orchard Oriole do.

What the Orchard Oriole does have in common with ordinary Orioles, however, is that it’s a picky eater. They won’t eat from seed feeders, it’s strictly insects, fruits, and jams for the Orchard Oriole. They won’t take none of your birdseed crap, no sir!

And next up we... Hang on, Blue Jay, what are you doing? Are you trying to make out with a rock!? Stop that! Have you gone nuts? You do realize you’re not supposed to take all that prescription medication at once, right?

...

Right? Oh no.

Oooh, it looks like we’re about to witness the spectacular mating rituals of the Hepatic Tanager! Many birds have interesting ways of attracting mates, and the Hepatic Tanager has a particularly special way of doing this. First, the male Hepatic Tanager (the red one) must get the female’s attention, as he has done now. That’s the easy part. Now he shall try to impress her...

...Via handbrake turns! Traditionally, the female will claim that this will not impress her. But deep down, the male Hepatic Tanager knows this not to be true. Undeterred, he proceeds to attempt the handbrake turn. Proper execution of the turn is absolutely critical, as poor form will certainly be judged harshly. He has been practicing his handbrake turns for months in preparation for this moment...

...Which would probably explain why the handbrake just broke and sent the car into the bushes. Sorry little buddy, but I think the female is now more concerned than impressed.

And here we have a Western Tanager! He just told me that he “reckons this town ain’t big enough fer the two of us,” hocked a gob into a spittoon, and then challenged me to a duel at midday. I declined, and he started calling me “yellow”, but then he realized he was late for a stagecoach robbery or whatever and left me alone. Weirdo...

Ah, this exotic and colorful fellow is a Black-backed Dwarf Kingfisher, and- Wait, seriously? THAT’S what they named it!? Who looks at a bird this colorful and gives it a dumb name like that!?

I mean, come on! Its back isn’t even black for cryin’ out loud! It’s frickin’ dark blue with a bunch of pinks and purples thrown in. You’d think they would give it a more appropriate name like Skittles Kingfisher , or Got-Annihilated-In-A-Paintball-War Kingfisher, or Psychedelic Kingfisher, but nooooo... Freaking ornithologists, man.

Speaking of psychedelia... Sigh. What am I going to do with you, Blue Jay?

Here we have a Lazuli Bunting, who... appears to be really sad? What’s wrong, little fella?

Lazuli Bunting: “You know, sometimes I wonder... Is this all there is? Is life really some cruel joke and we’re all just biding our time until the sweet release of dea-”

[SMACK!] Yikes! Another casualty of Hepatic Tanager mating season...

And here’s Tyrone the American Robin! He says he’s very excited today because a European robin friend of his is coming over for lunch. I wonder who that’ll-

Oh. Nevermind...

Orchard and Baltimore Orioles make for good duets.

“I throw my wings up in the air sometimes, singin’ aaaaaaaayo, I’m an Oriole! ”

Looks like these two are having a conversation...

Lazuli Bunting: Ow.

Red-cheeked Cordon-Bleu: What’s wrong?

Lazuli Bunting: I got hit by a car today.

Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu: For real?

Lazuli Bunting: How can I prove that I am real? How can you prove that you are real? In truth, how can any of us prove that we are real?

Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu: ............um......

There’s that Western Tanager again... He must’ve gotten back from his stagecoach robbery early. Now he’s just muttering under his breath about injuns or something. Weirdo...

What the... Blue Jay, you can’t just go tackling random birds for no reason! No, the Western Tanager is not an “orbital banana”, whatever that is!

I tell you, it’s hard to find good help these days... And it’s really hard trying to bird watch while worrying about a hallucinating Blue Jay.

And now he’s oddly mesmerized by my wheel for some reason... He seems to be under the impression that he’s being sucked into a black hole. At least that should keep him occupied for a while...

Aww, look at that! The Hepatic Tanager must’ve finally succeeded at doing a handbrake turn! And now he and his lady are driving off into the sunset... How sweet. And on that happy note, before anything else goes wrong, it’s time to end. Good night!

vondon302 > Jim Spanfeller 06/17/2020 at 06:58

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You get a star just for the True facts line.

A Boy and His Longtail > vondon302 06/17/2020 at 09:37

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And that’s how the Awesomeaustinv do

shop-teacher > Jim Spanfeller 06/17/2020 at 13:02

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These are really good models!

Jim Spanfeller > shop-teacher 06/17/2020 at 13:19

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Thanks! I enjoy making these :)

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller 06/17/2020 at 13:39

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Good thing the “European Robin” doesn’t attract a mate by doing handbrake turns. Might end much worse when performing high up on a branch. I'd better watch out if it's Oriole mating season, since those bird sized cars can really take a toll on your shins.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 06/17/2020 at 13:46

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More Lego adventures coming soon from me. I need to go and take some more photos first though, but I've been busy.

Jim Spanfeller > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 06/17/2020 at 13:50

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Took a bird car to the foot once... Was not pleasant. They drive like maniacs. And they never signal their turns!

But yeah, to att ract a mate, European Robins attempt to e mulate Firebirds.

They say the performance is judged by how closely the European Robin comes to getting it right...

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller 06/17/2020 at 14:17

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You know that series of brazen daylight assassinations last year where a bird would fly out the roof of a convertible before smashing it into the target’s oncoming car? Supposedly the RCA BC (regulatory council of American b ird-ca rs) has finally got around to implementing impact protection standards. They decided to finally require airbags (!) mounted facing forward on the front of the car (!) to cushion impacts with pedestrians. It may just save your ankles too but I heard they are pretty loud.

Jim Spanfeller > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 06/17/2020 at 14:32

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I love that Reliant gif. I used it as a background for a presentation once...

But yeah, the forward-facing airbags can’t come soon enough. I’ve heard they’re also finally implementing passenger safety standards as well due to pressure from the IFBPA (International Flightless Bird Protection Association). It was long assumed that birds could simply fly out of the car before a crash, but this assumption has resulted in many indignant penguins, ostriches, and others: https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2017/10/the-weird-flightless-birds-of-new-zealand/ The flight-impaired do not appreciate their needs being ignored, and only recently has bird society begun to adjust to  be more inclusive and less discriminatory.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller 06/17/2020 at 15:03

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Yes, but I heard the implementation has got tangled up in red tape and lobbyists. Supposedly it’s too expensive or something, but I think the flightless birds will be grateful. Glad society is finally addressing their needs.

There is also a bill (hehe) that might be passed soon requiring thin lines to be painted on all glass surfaces in a mesh pattern to prevent the more careless of birds from flying into buildings. Those glass targa panels that were all the rage, you know why those failed.

Jim Spanfeller > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 06/17/2020 at 15:34

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A lot of those flightless bird species (especially the ones from New Zealand) are endangered enough as-is, they really don’t need unsafe cars on top of that. That whole targa thing was a disaster, though lots of flightless birds secretly found it kinda funny. Walk ing into a pane of glass is admittedly better than flying into one at high speed...

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller 06/17/2020 at 15:45

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But the real danger came when birds tried to fly out the roof to avoid a crash and hit their heads. The flightless ones of course didn't find that to be an issue. They need all the breaks they can get, I guess. Hopefully the roads will be getting a lot safer for birds.