I'm sitting at my desk as I do every day when I work from home. My desk looks onto our terrace. We have a bird feeder, which tends to attract birds throughout the sunny hours. We also have a couple of squirrels, who seem to be pretty good at doing what squirrels do, namely, squirreling. They are amusing and provide a nice background.

This morning as I was working, a flash of green caught my attention. The birds around here are mostly brown. So, this sudden patch of unexpected bright green in the background surprised me. When I focused on the object in question, I was even more surprised: it appears to have been some sort of tropical bird.

The Bird

(larger, original)

I enjoyed the viewed--it just sat on a bush. After a few moments, I decided to get the camera. Unfortunately, the prime was on, which precludes optical zooming. I took a few photos with that lens before the bird few away. In case it decided to come back, I change the lens. And, it came back. With a friend.

They were quite playful and stayed in the area for a good quarter of an hour before flying away. Given that it is freezing here during the day, I'm a bit concerned that may die. Birds are not the sort of pets that return home in the evening, are they?