gemstone (gemstone) wrote, @ 2006-01-22 16:57:00

Waking dreams
I woke up this morning to the sound of a mockingbird belting away next to our bedroom window. It wasn’t even 8 am, and on a Sunday, disturbing my waking dreams before 8 am would be a mortal sin. I lay there close to cursing the animal, who obviously believes it’s already spring (another freak 75-degree morning in Orlando in the dead of winter).

Amazing how that tiny songbird could tweet away non-stop! I was hoping it would eventually get tired and maybe fly away and pester another neighbor since she already succeeded in waking me up prematurely.

But no, she just kept tweeting away! No, not the regular ordinary tweet-tweet-tweet – it was a repertoire of tweets and beeps in different frequencies and wavelengths and amplitudes. I listened intently until it occurred to me that she was actually doing the Viper car alarm tweeting sequence! Twit-twit-twit, bee-beepbeep, bee-beepbeep, trrrrrilll-trrrrilll, tweeeeeeeetttt-twit-twit, beeep-twit-beeep-twit! Unbelieveable!

The mockingbird is known to improve its repertoire of chirps as it matures – by mimicking sounds it hears from its surroundings.

So, did the Viper folks pattern the car alarm horn sequence after the bird sounds, or did this bird grow up next to the Viper alarm factory?

Want to hear a mockingbird in action? Try this.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I’d like to lift a quote from the Newsweek Jan 2 article “The ‘Code’ Breakers” about the movie The Da Vinci Code. The paragraph’s about why Tom Hanks bagged the lead role. And I quote: “Tom is wildly intelligent,” says screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, “and you can’t fake intelligence. A good actor can act anything – except the sense that he’s thinking deeply if he really isn’t.” End quote.

That’s something to think about.

	sunshinysarcasm 2006-01-23 18:52 (link)
	ang kulit nung mockingbird! (Reply to this) (Thread)

gemstone 2006-01-24 18:54 (link)

Then there's the Blue Jay. They don't have quite the repertoire of the mockingbirds, but when they start screaming (and sometimes they sing all at the same time!), it can get pretty loud and annoying. Especially if they're the big ones like the pair who lived in the tree next to our apartment in Houston. Here's how they sound (these are the regular chirps -- imagine them loud and in chorus!). (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sunshinysarcasm 2006-01-24 20:20 (link)
	the Blue Jay's so pretty. did you know Paul's a frustrated ornithologist? he wants to be James Bond. hee hee. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)