Various musings

Dreary day, rain again, Pittsburgh (photo from my cellphone)Weather:  We had an east wind today – not good in this land where the prevailing wind is from the southwest.   Eventually the wind dropped and it began to rain steadily.  I took a picture at 5:00pm near the Cathedral of Learning.  Dreary, dreary sky.  Not a good day for watching birds.

As of yesterday Pittsburgh’s precipitation was 2.39″ – that’s 37% above normal for the year – in only 10 weeks.  No wonder the rivers are in flood.

Meanwhile my car developed a leak in the driver’s side door that made the carpet into a squishy, water-seeping bog.  I had it fixed today… I hope.

Crows:  Bonnie Jeanne Tibbetts brought an NPR story to my attention called “Taking Over the World One Crow at a Time.”  Apparently Josh Klein invented a box that teaches crows to pick up loose change in exchange for peanuts.  I have no idea if he’s tried it on wild crows yet, but I’d love to be there when he does.

Bird song:  As the days lengthen, more birds are singing every day.  Yesterday was a good day to hear cardinals, robins, song sparrows, house finches, goldfinches and the mockingbird at Pitt.