I had a long post lined up to publish. Upon rereading it there was nothing there that excited me.
Consequently, you get a short, unexciting post. While not exciting, it has the virtue of brevity.
Socializing
A couple of guests yesterday were having a conversation about the awkwardness of "socializing".
ERJ's life-hacks on socializing
- You win if you get the other person to talk about something they are passionate about.
- Points are scored when you don't HAVE to speak
- "... Yes, and...." is a powerful tool. In social situations, ban ".... No, but..." from you lexicon. "Yes, and..." builds on momentum. "No, but..." extinguishes it. Find something the previous speaker said that you agree with. Validate that tidbit and ignore what you disagree with.
- Build on what you are in agreement with.
Birds
Saw-whet owls are very cool birds. They are specialists in eating mice, voles and other small rodents and they reproduce rapidly when given decent habitat. Suitable nesting cavities are usually the limiting factor.
Wish my mother would have told me that 75 years ago.---ken
ReplyDeleteListening is often a difficult skillset. So often we (me included) are not listening so much as preparing our reply.
ReplyDeleteJoes' social words fill in the awkward silence between thoughts. I find most folks hate silence.
Saw whet owls around here (Central NH) do suffer from the "I wanna CLEAN looking Woods" syndrome. Leaving a few old dead trees seems almost a sin to some.
Voles the bane of my gardens. Always a battle to keep them under control. ANY suggestions welcome.
https://nestwatch.org/learn/all-about-birdhouses/birds/northern-saw-whet-owl/
DeleteInteresting. Standard bird house 3 inch opening and clean the box off nesting season.
DeleteI do wonder of the many hawks around here eat them also?
That is the generic "small raptor" bird box. I am 90% sure you could shrink the hole to 2.5" since an average Saw-whet Owl weighs 80 grams and a Screech Owl weighs 180 grams yet they recommend the same hole-size for both birds (and Kestrels).
DeleteYou will need a plan to deter squirrels. They also like cavities with 3" holes. Putting them in the open is great for Kestrels but the owls seem to like more cover.
Chuckling, odd I have to defend my owls from Squirrels.
DeleteBut your probably right, squirrels are quite aggressive about bird feeders and probably housing.
So how do I deter squirrels from taking over the Saw Whet nesting boxes?
One concept here: https://www.amazon.com/Queension-Squirrel-Baffles-Squirrels-Raccoons/dp/B0D38Q5SCX?th=1
DeleteAlso locating the nest box far enough from tall trees so the squirrels are unlikely to run along a branch and jump to the house.
I agree.... We have a "Discovery Night" every Wednesday at church. Learning to facilitate that was a bit of a path for me. I absolutely love that approach to the Word. The passage is told from memory by someone, then we read it from scripture. Then a few questions are provided to spur discussion. "Yes, and.." opens the door to thinking... it spurs the discussion. And that's what the goal is. It took me several weeks to learn to encourage the questions, not have an answer or talk too much. And awkward silence isn't a bad thing to spur thought. I tend to let it go on till it's fully pregnant... Heh....
ReplyDeleteIt is great to hear people talk about their passions. Their eyes light up and they get so excited.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you get them talking about their passions, when you part they will like you but not be able to explain why. Very odd but time tested true. Roger
DeleteOoh, such an excellent point Roger! I had never thought of it that way.
DeleteIn your spare time you should build some owl boxes and post them around the property like you did the bat-boxes a few years ago!
ReplyDeleteActually listening is a virtue in itself.
ReplyDeleteSmall talk: when Lord Palmerston was campaigning in elections he would address anyone whom he thought he might have met before with "How d'ye do, and how is the old complaint?"
ReplyDeleteThat would work well with geezers. A friend says that, at our age, when you meet a friend you've not seen for some time the conversation often starts with "an organ recital".