Nice day. :D

[pacificpikachu]

I didn't fall asleep for quite a while last night--I actually ended up turning the light back on after at least an hour of trying to sleep and picked up my Peter S. Beagle book and began the first story (Lila the Werewolf) at about midnight. I read it for about a half hour before I forced myself to go to sleep, although I was enjoying the story very much and really didn't want to. I usually dislike stories about werewolves, but I adore the way Peter S. Beagle handles writing about them (as I adore how he writes about... well, everything. He is my favorite author and all...) and as usual his prose is top-notch.

I woke up at about 9 AM to get the birds some food (they were chirping insistently, and Dad playing guitar also woke me up) and then went back to bed until about 10:30 AM, when Dad randomly announced that he, Ryan, and Tanner were going to Roseville. Naturally, I wanted to come along (which I guess he didn't expect for some reason), so I got up and hurriedly got ready, prepared more food for the birds, etc. Before leaving, Dad and I spent quite a while trying to find my CD player, which turned out to be under a pile of stuff in my room.

We almost didn't pick Tanner up because he kept saying we needed to wait for him to eat breakfast, but eventually I guess he gave up on that ideal and we did end up picking him up after all. I tuned him out in the car by listening to lots of Yoko Kanno music loudly (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Escaflowne, and Sousei no Aquarion).

First we went to some sports store, but because Ryan couldn't make up his mind on what shoes he wanted, we left pretty quickly. Dad dropped me off at Best Buy before going to their next sports store. I wandered up and down the anime section for a while, like usual. I discovered some really good deals--$6.99 for volumes of Peacemaker Kurogane and Princess Tutu, so I was all psyched about that until I realized they were volumes 7 and 2, respectively. I then decided not to get them, as buying a DVD of a series out-of-order means you have to buy more volumes before you can even watch the ones you bought originally, and that can get pricey. Seeing as I only had $22 to begin with, I eventually settled on just getting Eureka Seven Vol. 1. I've been meaning to see it for quite a while now, and after meeting the director at Anime Expo that cemented the fact that I really really want to see it.

I walked to Barnes and Noble after that. Obviously, I couldn't afford anything with my $3, but I picked out The Power of One for Dad (I love that book, and figured Dad would like it, too) and grabbed the Stokes Field Guide to Birds in hopes that he might buy it for me. With those in hand, I walked around the store a few times before settling myself in (of course) the manga section. Nothing looked really interesting (for a minute I panicked and thought maybe Death Note Vol. 7 was out, and OMG maybe I wouldn't have the money to buy it! :O :O :O But it wasn't out), so I sat down with a Fullmetal Alchemist Character Profile book and read through it. A nice girl asked me where I had found it, but there were no more so I was sure to hand it off to her when I left.

Dad did indeed buy both The Power of One and the Stokes guide, so that pretty much made my day. ^_^

We stopped for food on the way back home. As usual, Ryan wanted Taco Bell, and by now I'm downright sick of Taco Bell, so I went to Starbuck's and got a strawberries and cream and a piece of fancy chocolate chip banana coffee cake. That was also quite nice. :D

When we returned home, I got a grocery list from Dad and $12 for groceries, so I walked to SPD and got some food for the birds (corn, peas, and strawberries), a quart of milk, and some deodorant because I left mine at Mom's. I barely made it money-wise, but it turned out fine. I then walked home, stopped to eat about three blackberries growing on a blackberry bush (our area is infested with them, for those who don't live here), and went home to hang out.

I cleaned both Zeph's cage and the robin and jay cage, cleaned out Dad's fridge (there was something smelly in there, though I'm not sure whether I removed the cause or not), and made a couple of phone calls. Lately neither Janey nor Cindy have answered my messages, so I'm just going to assume they're at the fair or something... I really do need to get those robins and jay in the flight cage, though. They're getting restless in the cage they're in, and they're eating so much it's hard to keep up. XD;

Well, that's just about it. I watched some Forensic Files and attempted to read more of Lila the Werewolf, but Ryan, Tanner, and Dylan were too loud and I couldn't concentrate. So, I gave up on that and here I am.

Comments

[hitchi.livejournal.com]

You like the Stokes field guide? I prefer the National Geographic one, myself. XD;; [/d0rk]

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure whether I've seen the National Geographic one, but my bird group swears by the Stokes. XD;; It's good because it has photographs (drawings can be inaccurate), measurements of the birds, their range, nesting, sounds, etc., and that's basically the vital information for us. It also has the widest range of birds I've seen for the area--a couple of the other guides I checked didn't have some of the more obscure species we have here.

But like I said, I'm going off the word of the group and just glancing over the guides I've seen. You might know better, actually. :D

You know what? It's so nice that you like birds, too. Hahaha, that way you don't feel alienated when I go on about them like a lot of my friends do.

Me: "Have you heard of a(n) [insert random species here]?"
Friends: O_o;

[hitchi.livejournal.com]

LOL. My family actually owns several field guides, including Stokes, NG, and Peterson's Eastern. I might be a little biased because I was brought up on the doctrine that the Stokes isn't as good. XD My mom is the one who swears by the Petersons...I guess she thinks it has the best drawings or something, but I don't like it as much, especially since you have to get a separate guide for western birds. I think I prefer drawings over photographs because they have more poses and the field marks are clear, and there's no obstruction from anything in the photograph (even though the Stokes avoids that pretty well). There are some newer guides that the majority of hardcore birders swear by, but my mom doesn't like them because they're too heavy to carry in the field and she still loves Petersons. (I can't remember the name of it at the moment, but I would know it if I heard it.)

Hehe, LMAO. Yeah, I've pretty much heard of every bird species on the continent, and seen most. XD There are just a lot of western, especially southwestern, birds that I have to see, many of them being hummingbirds and warblers.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

I think Peterson's is the small book I have... It's a pocketguide, but I wasn't finding it to be helpful enough because of the fact that the pictures are drawings and they're missing a lot of the species that I need to know. ^^;

The drawings are easier when observing birds from a distance--like you said, the field marks are clearer in a drawing and they can draw any part of the bird's body they wish. With rehabbing, though, it's important to have photographs because often we're identifying a) birds that have no feathers (you have to look at their beaks, the colors of their feet, and the color of the insides of their mouths to identify them), b) birds that have minimal feathering and/or juvenile plumage, and c) adult birds that are in bad conditions and may be missing feathers or disfigured in some way due to a serious injury. So photographs give us a better idea of little details like the bird's beak and the exact shade of their plumage. :)

That's so cool you've seen so many birds! If we ever go birdwatching together, you'll have to show me the ropes. It's been a while since I've been officially birdwatching, though I now keep an eye out for birds much of the time.

Out of entirely random curiosity, have you ever seen a Western Tanager? They're really pretty. ♥

Also out of entirely random curiosity, I've heard robins in the East were much rarer this year because of some disease spreading among them. Did you notice any marked change in the amount of robins you saw this year? Or is it further East that this disease affected? I'm just curious because I have some robins right now and I'm trying to find more about the disease.

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[hitchi.livejournal.com]

Ah, that's understandable. I guess that is why they make different books (other than to make money XD).

Pictures, of course, but not IRL. ;_; I have seen the "eastern" cousin, the Scarlet Tanager, though.

Robins seem just as common as they've always been...I haven't heard about that disease, either. Maybe in is farther east (along the coast) or it is just a myth....hmmm.