Bird keeps me company on my ride.
05-08-10, 02:36 PM
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Bird keeps me company on my ride.
I have had this happen to me twice before, Once in the Lake Placid area and once in the MT. Shasta Ca. area.
But this time in the Arizona desert it flew with me and chirped almost continually for at least 3 miles and more likely 4 miles. I was in a head wind and it was on my left just soaring along, as we talked. It was almost a spiritual experience. The other times were just short distances of 1/4 mile or less. I just can't get over it. It was a large bird, but not huge. I would say bigger than a crow, but more brown with a little white in the wings...
This ever happen to anyone else
But this time in the Arizona desert it flew with me and chirped almost continually for at least 3 miles and more likely 4 miles. I was in a head wind and it was on my left just soaring along, as we talked. It was almost a spiritual experience. The other times were just short distances of 1/4 mile or less. I just can't get over it. It was a large bird, but not huge. I would say bigger than a crow, but more brown with a little white in the wings...
This ever happen to anyone else
05-08-10, 02:50 PM
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I don't know the Western birds well but it sounds like a hawk of some kind. The hawks I know make a keening kind of sound. It's a longish sound trailing off at the end.
I did have a egret crap on my helmet one evening. I was starting to cross a causeway over a marsh and startled it I guess. Or maybe it was just target practice for him.
I did have a egret crap on my helmet one evening. I was starting to cross a causeway over a marsh and startled it I guess. Or maybe it was just target practice for him.
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05-08-10, 02:51 PM
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05-08-10, 03:09 PM
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Red Wing blackbirds will follow cyclists out here, but it's a territorial thing. Sometimes they'll even dive at helmets.
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05-08-10, 03:56 PM
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I had one follow me about a quarter of a mile, periodically tapping on my helmet. I heard and felt something, but had no idea what it was. Since the sun was behind me, I then noticed another shadow just above my head. When it broke off its attack, I got a glimps of the wings to ID the species. They aren't anywhere near the size of a crow, however. At the time I thought it was because my helmet was red, black, and white, but I honestly don't know if color is what provokes them, it may just be proximity to the nest.
05-08-10, 05:21 PM
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Despite my avatar, I'm not joking about the bad luck. It's a pretty common superstition.
A bird flying towards you indicates that something bad will happen very soon.
Ignore my advice at your own peril. Keep posting so we know you are still well.
A bird flying towards you indicates that something bad will happen very soon.
Ignore my advice at your own peril. Keep posting so we know you are still well.
05-08-10, 05:38 PM
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I forget who it was, but one of the forum members posted a story about a bird getting stuck on her helmet a few years ago. Does anyone else remember that?
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05-08-10, 05:42 PM
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Birds are amazing creatures. They're the closest thing we have to living-among-us dinosaurs. ("Birdology" by Sy Montgomery is a great read for people interested in birds.)
A bird a larger than a crow in the AZ desert, brown, does sound like a hawk. A little white in the wings is compatible with a juvenile hawk. Buteos (and eagles) are not above eating road-kill opportunistically like crows, ravens and vultures. So it might have just been tracking you, hoping a car would put you down, or maybe it was hoping you'd hit a lizard or snake and give it a treat.
A bird a larger than a crow in the AZ desert, brown, does sound like a hawk. A little white in the wings is compatible with a juvenile hawk. Buteos (and eagles) are not above eating road-kill opportunistically like crows, ravens and vultures. So it might have just been tracking you, hoping a car would put you down, or maybe it was hoping you'd hit a lizard or snake and give it a treat.
05-08-10, 06:07 PM
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eh i would just say coincidence. Really neat one at that.... Ive seen birds fly next to my car hundreds of times.... its possible he mistook you for that.
..
05-08-10, 06:18 PM
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How silly you are.
05-08-10, 06:18 PM
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nice pic. relation to post?
05-08-10, 06:28 PM
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05-08-10, 06:35 PM
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Don't forget to look up!
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Im rather young. I have heard of charlie parker, just didn't know his nickname was bird. And I am more into country than i am pop or anything like that. Plus i dont have a jazz station here in rochester. 89.9 is fuzz.
05-09-10, 11:03 PM
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I have suddenly gotten interested in birds of the desert and have been looking at them on the web and talked to a friend of a friend who is a bird watcher and have come to the conclusion that it was a hawk. I have taken some kidding about it too. One of my daughters said that the bird was my guide and that my name now is "He who rides with hawks. I don't guess I will ever forget that ride.