omg!

i just slept at least seven hours and thirty minutes in a row.

call the fucking news outlets.

the closest record i have of that right now is may 1, 2009, when i slept seven hours and fifteen minutes in a row without waking up... and before that, i'm not sure, as i am missing records from before then due to computer failure, and might have records from sometime last december and before, but they're on a flash drive somewhere.

so. i haven't slept this much without interruption in at least seven months. you might not think seven and a half hours of sleep is something to be excited about, but when you're me, it's absolutely amazing. it's the first time i've gotten *almost* a normal night's sleep in at least seven months. (and definitely longer, because in april i still had pneumonia, which i got in march, and i was sleeping pretty badly then... so let's say at least nine months... that's long enough to have a baby, for fuck's sake.)

omg! (part two)

so even though the winds were forecast to be gusts up to 50mph, with windchills below zero, i ventured out for the organised bird walk this morning. seems insane, doesn't it?

well, HA! because before i even met up with the group, i finally got my bald eagle! i saw two many years ago, before i was actually a birder. but since i've been birding, none. zip. zero. nada. over the past few months, i have made a more concerted effort, especially since i keep seeing reports of them in the area where i go birding. but still, none. i would get home from an outing, and see a report of one fifteen minutes after i had left the area. etc.

but this morning, i had one. an immature, ridiculously close to me. the tail got my attention first. it was a bit on the wedged side. and it wasn't red, although the bird certainly seemed much bigger than a red-tailed hawk. (but then, it was low and close and that might have made it seem bigger than it really was, i thought...) then there was also no white rump, so not a harrier (another of the larger and frequently-seen raptors in the area...) i watched it for a while, and even snapped a picture, and tried to follow it to get a better look, because my gut was telling me "eagle" but my brain was saying, "no way. you're not allowed." (well, actually my brain was also doing a good thing, which was helping me verify what i was seeing rather than jump to conclusions.)

but when i met up with the group and was going through my field guide, i mentioned i was looking for a large raptor and one of the leaders had just seen an immature bald eagle fly over... we compared the times, and the direction it had been flying. it matched.

i came home after the walk and did a little research, and found pictures that were pretty much exactly what i saw (though none are likely to be the same individual! ;P) here's a good one: http://www.eyefetch.com/image.aspx?ID=376254

i just reviewed the photo i took. it didn't come out quite so well. <facepalm> just take my word for it:




also seen: northern harrier, white-throated sparrow, fox sparrow, common merganser, canvasback, canada goose, gadwall, mallard, great black-backed gull, mute swan, northern mockingbird, northern cardinal, and a lifer for me: american coot.

also worth noting

zelda does not like it when i dance in the living room while removing the five overlayers of clothes i was wearing today. maybe it was because she couldn't hear the music on my ipod.

but i couldn't resist. i'd had almost an entire night's sleep all at once, i saw a bald eagle and a coot, and good day by jukebox the ghost was playing.

zelda gave me a terrified look and hid under the couch.