Democracy for New Mexico

Sunday Bird & Butterfly Blogging

It was such a humidly calm summer morning, we decided to give our seven parakeets a chance to enjoy it while we sat out back finishing our coffees and savoring the green green against the bright hues of sunflowers, zinnias, morning glories and ripening tomatoes. That's the 4-member "girl cage" on the left and the three-member "boy cage" on the right. They're usually in separate rooms so they were quite excited to visit and chat at closer range. You may recall we had to house the keets by gender so we wouldn't have nonstop monkey business and egg production. Despite the divide, Whitey kept right on laying eggs until we learned the trick of covering the birds early in summer, so the longer days wouldn't set off her laying instincts.

Here's Whitey with Hambone, one of her offspring, digging the summer sunshine filtered by gathering rain clouds. The continuing heavy rains have turned our backyard grass and gardens into a bountiful display of new growth popping out all over. Mary Ellen and I were discussing how zinnias are known to attract butterflies, but how we hadn't yet seen any this year, when what should appear but a delicate, graceful butterfly slowly swooping in on our zinnia patch.

What turned out to be a swallowtail fluttered lazily from flower to flower and even headed over to take a look at us up close before flitting off to other neighborhood garden delights.

Summertime, and the livin' is easy, at least in our back yard. (Click on photos for larger images.)

Sunday Bird Blogging in Mourning

Bosco, solemnly pacing atop mourning black, says,
NOT IN MY NAME. I do too.

As the corpses of more women, children and old men are exhumed from their makeshift basement bomb shelter in Qana, Bosco the peach-faced lovebird mourns along with millions around the world who still have a conscience. Black is the color for this Sunday morning full of death, destruction, false pride and stubborn stupidity on the part of those who still believe, in the face of all evidence to the contrary, that violence can beget peace or justice or progress or "victory."

This sickening delusion pervades many parts of the planet these days, driven by the aggressive madness of so-called "leaders" -- political, religious and military -- who choose to incite more violence, not quell it. They move people and planes and bombs and missles and rockets and tanks around on their Stratego boards as if this were all a game of revenge and counter-revenge, with no real blood or guts or rigor mortis muddying the abstract geopolitical landscape. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain, don't they? Oh, they feel potent. Powerful. In the throes of adrenalin rushes. In control. Innocent humans suffer for their kicks. Innocent humans are turned to pulp. Those caught in the middle of the "military maneuvers" struggle without food, water, medicine or a way out.

To the freakishly immoral "leaders" and "military strategists" it IS all a game. Oh, who's winning? Who gains "power"? Who must eat crow? Every single time it is the ordinary people, the civilians, the infants, the women who bear the brunt of the murderous destruction. The "leaders" sit in air conditioned comfort, pondering how big and strong and powerful they can look to their peers -- others involved in the same pathological quests. All of them admiring their own cleverness.

Corpse of a child in Qana.

Stop the killing now. All of you. Enough. Enough. Enough. I say any who continue cheerleading or participating in this killing spree on any side should be criticized loudly for their blood lust. All of them should be shamed for their genocidal aggressions masquerading as "defense" and "bravery" and "courage" and "honor." It is nothing less than venomous murder on a grand scale and it will, as this brutality always does, bring nothing but more of the same. As an American, I cannot tell you how sick it makes me feel to see alleged representatives of the American people holding back the urgent international tides pushing for an immediate cease fire. It is American "leaders" who are allowing, even encouraging, the carnage in order to permit an outcome of "victory." Shame on all who support them in this.

Corpses of two women in Qana.

Innocent human beings are dying in Lebanon, Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan, while the militarists slither for "advantage." The only ones who win in these wars are the arms dealers, the oil barons, the defense contractors and their cronies who purport to lead their nations. A pox on them all.

An article in the Belgravia Dispatch summarizes the expected horrific results of this, as a commentator calls it, temper tantrum:

This 'accidental' war (as The Economist recently put it) will end up having proved something of a disaster for all parties involved save, perhaps, Hezbollah. Israel will not have eradicated Hezbollah (a totally unrealistic war aim, regardless, Krauthammer and Co's reckless imbecility aside), the United States has complicated its regional position immensely, and, as Cohen points out, the Cedar Revolution lies in ashes. Was the IDF action worth hundreds dead, thousands wounded, massive flows of internally displaced and refugees numbering in the hundreds of thousands, an environmental disaster unprecedented in Lebanon's modern history, and the scuttling of Lebanon's tenuous movements towards emergence from an oppressive Syrian yoke? All for, at the end of the day, a deal on Shaba Farms, the return of the two soldiers (probably in the context of a prisoner exchange anyway), French and other troops on the Lebanese-Israeli and Lebanese-Syrian borders (gee, wonder how porous that latter one will be?), and some (likely mostly chimerical) 'disarming' of Hezbollah?

Well no, of course not, this was more by way of an ill-advised temper tantrum than a serious military operation, as Arik Sharon would himself admit, if only he were aware of the disaster underway. Sharon would have recalled previous Lebanese quagmires and would have well understood (aided by the wisdom of years and the lack of any need to prove himself) that resort to airpower, in the main, cannot succeed in this context, with the specter of hundreds and hundreds of civilian deaths earning Israel international opprobrium in every world capital (save Washington), and that there is no real, sustained post-'82 appetite in Israel for a massive land incursion regardless, not least given the ultimate futility of same. No, Sharon would likely have chastised Ehud Olmert for his impestuous over-reaction, one so helpfully fanned on by myopic strategic blunderers and amateurs in Washington, both in policy and journalistic circles.

So yes, we mourn today for all the dead. All the wounded. All the victims of the geopolitical Stratego games. And we urge everyone reading this to stand up and say STOP IT NOW in any way you can think of. All moral authority (such as it was), on all sides, is in shambles.

Sunday (Wild) Bird Blogging

We've had two new visitors to our backyard birdfeeders recently. This morning we saw a brightly colored Western Meadowlark (above) making long visits to our flat feeder among the sparrows, house finches and white-winged doves.

We've spotted American goldfinches (above) a bunch of times lately, feeding on the drooping heads of our gone-to-seed sunflowers. Garden grown sunflower seeds are also quite popular with our sparrows and finches. It's funny to see the tall, leafy stalks of sunflowers shaking and quaking, signaling there's seed harvesting going on within the patch. The birds are often hanging upside down off the sunflower heads, bouncing away as they pick out the seeds. They also enjoy picking ants and other insects off the stalks, hopping along the stems in hot pursuit.

We haven't seen either of these species at our feeders in the past so pickings might be slim in the mountains and on the mesas due to the drought. Whatever the reason, we're happy to have them flitting around in our garden. (Images are generic photos -- we're not that quick with our camera!)

Bird and Bee Blogging

Sunny our sun conure parrot loves to visit our backyard garden, especially now, with eight straight days of monsoon rains nourishing the plants into overdrive. Maybe he thinks his colorful plummage is a good match for the flowering paintbox of the garden.

Our sunflowers have positively exploded in response to the moisture, their golden heads bobbing in the the breeze. We have a large array of them along one wall where one of our wild bird feeders was located for a few years. They were a surprise, as we hadn't planted any sunflower seeds there. The sunflower bounty came from the many seeds that had fallen over time at that spot as the wild birds spread them unknowingly, instinctively. Strangely, the sunflower seeds we did plant, along another wall, didn't sprout. Maybe because that area is home to a second season of many-hued hollyhocks crowding out competitors.

As you can see above, the bees are quite smitten with the sunflowers as well -- a moveable feast of powdery pollen, free for the taking. On this Sunday in monsoon season, our bird and the bees shared the golden glory. And we got to feast our eyes on the fusion.

(Click on photos for larger versions.)

Sunday Unbird Blogging

No birds today, but we have Minnie the Chihuahua, visiting from Atlanta along with two of our good friends. We thought Minnie would enjoy wearing a tiny sombrero that's one of Bosco the peach-faced lovebird's prized possessions. However, as you can see, she was a little leery about donning a chapeau. Well, she was kinda pooped after running around our house playing Kentucky Derby, carefully observing our avian family and turning on the charm to beg for pizza crumbs.

In this shot, Minnie takes on a Roswellian space visitor look. She's quite the ham (or chorizo).

At the end of the day, Minnie's really a sleepy time gal, still running on Eastern time and ready to grab a nap of enchantment while listening to her mom Liz's geetar playing on her song Milagro. (Click to learn more about Liz Melendez music.)

Sunday Bird (and Egg) Blogging

Whitey after the ordeal.

We had to miss Friday's demonstration against the Bush-Heather money roundup  because we had to deal with an egg emergency. Turns out our albino female parakeet Whitey was bound up with an egg she couldn't get laid. This happens at times with birds, and it can be dangerous. Whitey was all swollen and listless Friday so we took her to the avian vet, who did her magic to diagnose the problem and make it easier for the egg to emerge. I won't go into the gritty details! Thankfully, not long after we got her home and "steamed" her in the bathroom with the shower running, out came the egg (below) -- an unusually large one for a parakeet.

The bad egg with pen to show scale.

The egg, like the rest of the series that's been laid by Whitey over the past few weeks, was infertile. We had long ago separated her from Queenie, the father of her one and only brood, three of which lived and became part of our avian family. Nonetheless, she kept laying eggs even though she now resides in an all-girl residence with our trio of green boy birds housed in another room.

Turns out some parakeets will start laying eggs when the hours of daylight increase. Whitey is one of them, so we were instructed to cover her abode earlier in the day. This way her hormones will get the message that Springtime is over and it's time stop laying eggs and get back to the serious business of parakeet playtime. Another day, another birdie drama and, fortunately, another happy ending. (Click on images for larger versions.)

Sunday Bird Blogging: Gay Pride Edition

All our birds love to celebrate Gay Pride with us. After all, they like to strut and parade and they represent all the colors of the rainbow! And they certainly support this year's theme of "Pride, Not Prejudice" for the 30th annual Albuquerque Pridefest. Sunny, our sun conure parrot, was especially jazzed over Pridefest, as you can see above and below. It was the first Gay Pride of his young life, and sometimes he was dancing so fast he became a rainbow-colored blur:

He kept running back and forth among our Pride souvenirs and flapping his wings for freedom and equality for ALL:

Mary Ellen and I volunteered to table at the parade's end gathering at Expo NM on behalf of Democrats. We staffed the Bill Richardson - Diane Denish table for a few hours, passing out info and registering voters. There were also tables representing CD1 Congressional candidate, Patricia Madrid, and the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County.

Patricia Madrid table at 2006 Albuquerque Pride.

We had to miss Governor Richardson's cutting of the ribbon that opened the 30th annual Gay Pride Parade up Central and Lt. Governor Diane Denish's ride in one of the lead cars -- which just happened to be a restored little red Corvette provided by one of Albuquerque's car clubs. We hope the Albuquerque Pride website will eventually have photos of these and other parade participants.

We did manage to take a few photos at the event during our tabling. Here's the link to the short and sweet photo album. My first Gay Pride in Albuquerque was in 1980, when the parade was much smaller and event participants fewer in comparison to the estimated 10,000+ who attended this year's Albuquerque events. By all accounts, the Friday and Saturday events were packed, and both the human and pet parades were fabulous (not to mention the crowd watching). A big shoutout to all who help to put it all together! (Click on images for larger versions.)

Sunday Bird Blogging: 2006 Primary Election Edition

(Click on photos for larger views.)

As you may recall, Bosco the peach-faced lovebird is a political junky. He likes to hang out with me when I check out the blogs, read the newspaper or watch Keith Olbermann or CSPAN. Bosco has taken his time picking candidates in the Democratic primary -- reading websites and brochures, watching candidate forums, following the endorsements. This morning he came to his final decisions, even though he doesn't have a Social Security number and can't register to vote. He's not even an official member of DFNM. Nevertheless, Bosco wanted me to tell you about his personal choices, which he insists are shared by all the avians in our home.

Bosco assembled a display of political paraphernalia for the Dems he supports in most of the big primary races (top), plus a few others. In the uncontested races Bosco is, of course, for Jeff Bingaman for NM Senator, Patricia Madrid for Congress in CD1, Al Kissling for Congress in CD2, Tom Udall for Congress in CD3, Bill Richardson for Governor, Diane Denish for Lt. Governor, James Lewis for Treasurer and Clay Campbell for District Judge.

In the contested races, Bosco revealed he's for Geno Zamora for Attorney General, although it was a tough choice. In the end, Bosco decided on Geno because he supports the establishment of an independent public integrity commission to be a watchdog over NM government. Bosco considers such reform as essential to cleaning up politics in NM. Common Cause NM backs an independent ethics commission too.

Bosco's also for Stephanie Gonzales for Secretary of State, Jim Baca for Land Commissioner, Jeff Armijo for State Auditor and Karen Montoya for Bernalillo County Assessor. And even though he's not in their districts, he really likes Shay Rose for State Rep. in District 28 and Moe Maestas for State Rep. in District 16.

One last thing. Bosco was vehement about getting the bumpersticker shown above into a photo. No explanation needed!

Sunday Circus Bird Blogging

American life can feel like a circus these days, and Sunny our sun conure parrot apparently sees things that way -- as long as he can be in the center ring. He loves to hang upside down, especially when someone is around to watch. Despite his residing far from any surf, he calls the above pose "hanging ten."

When he's done wowing observers with that maneuver, he likes to take it a step further and hang by only one foot. He calls this his "high five" trick and he often alternates hanging by one foot and then the other, twisting and turning theatrically in the process. He boogies, and he expects heartfelt oohs and ahs as a reward, like any performer (or politician) worth his or her salt.

Afterwards, he like to use his foot in another pursuit -- chowing down on his seeds, veggies and fruits. Notice that he's using his LEFT foot, which should give you a clue about the side of the political spectrum that Sunny favors. Eventually, he puts his foot down, as he hopes Americans will do in finally stopping the Bush machine in its tracks. Enough is enough! (Click on images for larger versions.)

Sunday Wild Bird Garden Blogging

A bunch of dianthus and our resident fake flamingo
surrounded by pecan shell mulch.

We've been out back working on our garden for several weekends now. We're not completely finished, but it's nice enough already to be a place of respite, relaxation and natural pleasures. It's the perfect place to savor something cool to drink and take in the antics of the wild birds that hang out in or pass through the neighborhood, many of which visit our feeders. It's true: we have both inside and outside birds to feed! The seed sellers love us.

House finches at one of our backyard feeding stations.

You've seen many photos of our seven parakeets, our peach-faced lovebird and our sun conure parrot. We haven't managed to catch many wild birds with our camera out back, except for house sparrows, finches and white-winged doves. But here are a couple of generic photos that show two of the more dramatic avians we've seen over the past week or so in our garden.

We have a black-chinned hummingbird couple that visits our hummer feeder all day long. The female is a rather drab tan. The showy male looks like this:

As it gets closer to summer, we'll have a couple more varieties of hummers sipping. For about a week, we had a red-headed acorn woodpecker feasting on our suet and making insect runs in the trees around us before it continued on its migration to somewhere:

Snazzy, isn't he? That stand-up cap of red makes all the difference.