My Annual Shakespeare Fix... and Birds

On my whirlwind day and a half trip to Ashland this week I had dinner with old friends, saw two plays, attended two lectures, two green shows and a backstage tour, drove many miles there and back, and seriously overtired myself. However, I had a great time and am home and a little rested now. Although I meant to take a photo of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's magnificent outdoor theater to prove I was there, instead I took photos of Mt. McLoughlin looming over Medford and a very bold Scrub Jay that friend Ruth feeds peanuts to in her Medford back yard. If you look closely, you may be able to pick out the blue jay burying a peanut in the rose garden. It's easier to see in the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3JxsqyYCGQ







Before I left home, I took a photo of the unusually tame Swainson's Thrush that has taken up residence in our back yard.
Somehow, my photos seem to be dominated by birds. And my trips, no matter their purpose, turn into bird trips. I stopped at the Merlin rest stop on my way home and hiked to the road behind where all sorts of interesting birds have been reported. I saw and heard an Ash-throated Flycatcher, my first, but my photos and video are pretty sad. You can, however, hear the flycatcher doing its characteristic vocalization on my videos, should you be interested. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY_PY3JZmPo and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybrhnAaDE8o


Johnny managed to do the chores for me, bless his heart and newly healed back. While he was on duty and I was off playing, the two barn owl babies flew the coop. Or rather, the loft. I'm hoping the parents start a second brood. These left so quickly that we were unable to have our customary Owl Party. That is when we invite interested folks to come of an evening and watch the babies learning to fly. Usually the fledglings practice for an evening or two, crashing into tree limbs, before heading out. It's fun to watch.

Instead, I watched swallows flying over the OSF outdoor stage as the flag went up for Henry IV, Part One. As always the productions were magnificent. Hamlet, the night before Henry, was like no Hamlet I have ever seen... if you like Shakespeare, go see it (if it isn't sold out completely through the end of the season.) How fortunate we are to have such an incredible theater company right here in Oregon... a mere 250 miles or so from the Fink Family Farm.