A little while back, the Mild Wife and I decided to take a short day trip to the Santa Cruz/Monterey area. We both had the day off, and it seemed like a fun use of a day. Sure, it was a bit of a drive for us, but we figured a day in that area would be a good time.
Now, there are a bunch of places in that area where you could hang out, but the Mild Wife was especially keen on spending some time near the water. She's always appreciated all of the sights, sounds, and sensations that the water and the waves generate, so we made a point to find some water. That actually meant avoiding Santa Cruz and its Boardwalk because that tends to be crowded and dirty, but we did manage to find a spot in Monterey that fit the bill: Lover's Point Park (go ahead, get the smirks and guffaws out of your system now).
I'd never been there, so I thoroughly enjoyed climbing around the rocks and reaching the various vantage points. That said, we also just sat for a while and enjoyed the scenery. It really is a pretty area, and I can see why they built a whole park where people can hang out.
Interestingly, the birds there have roughly zero fear of humans. They get all up in your business, and they fly all around you. They're used to being there, and they're used to the other humans being there, so they don't pay us any attention. They just go about their business like normal, as if we weren't there. Eventually, this particular bird caught my attention:
If you look closely, you'll only see one leg. I had never seen that before, so it struck me as odd. Was this bird injured? Was it hiding its second leg to keep it warm? Was that intentional or a move born from necessity? I had a mystery on my hands.
Given that there were a bunch of other birds in the vicinity, it was easy to compare and contrast with all of its friends. As I looked around, most of the other birds seemed to be using both legs. In fact, this bird seemed to be the exception rather than the rule. That seemed to invalidate the keeping its leg warm theory: if it was cold for this one bird, it should've been cold for the other birds, too. It's not like they were of vastly different sizes or builds. You'd figure lots of other birds would be doing the same thing.
The more I thought about it, the more I started to feel bad for this bird. It was likely injured, and had no choice but to stand like that. Poor bird, you know? In fact, when something scared off all of the birds, I even wondered how it had gotten in the air. It must be harder to generate lift with one leg than with two, right?
Eventually, after we'd gotten home, I actually got curious enough to search for some official answers (read: do some Google searches). As it turns out, my initial theory about the cold had been correct: birds stand on one leg to keep the other leg warm. This fact, coupled with the fact that the bird was under no duress and managed to fly away just fine, meant that the bird I photographed had likely just been cold. No injury, no pity, just plain cold.
I left my opinion on the matter in the title line.
Now, there are a bunch of places in that area where you could hang out, but the Mild Wife was especially keen on spending some time near the water. She's always appreciated all of the sights, sounds, and sensations that the water and the waves generate, so we made a point to find some water. That actually meant avoiding Santa Cruz and its Boardwalk because that tends to be crowded and dirty, but we did manage to find a spot in Monterey that fit the bill: Lover's Point Park (go ahead, get the smirks and guffaws out of your system now).
I'd never been there, so I thoroughly enjoyed climbing around the rocks and reaching the various vantage points. That said, we also just sat for a while and enjoyed the scenery. It really is a pretty area, and I can see why they built a whole park where people can hang out.
Interestingly, the birds there have roughly zero fear of humans. They get all up in your business, and they fly all around you. They're used to being there, and they're used to the other humans being there, so they don't pay us any attention. They just go about their business like normal, as if we weren't there. Eventually, this particular bird caught my attention:
 |
| Just hanging out a few feet away from us |
Given that there were a bunch of other birds in the vicinity, it was easy to compare and contrast with all of its friends. As I looked around, most of the other birds seemed to be using both legs. In fact, this bird seemed to be the exception rather than the rule. That seemed to invalidate the keeping its leg warm theory: if it was cold for this one bird, it should've been cold for the other birds, too. It's not like they were of vastly different sizes or builds. You'd figure lots of other birds would be doing the same thing.
The more I thought about it, the more I started to feel bad for this bird. It was likely injured, and had no choice but to stand like that. Poor bird, you know? In fact, when something scared off all of the birds, I even wondered how it had gotten in the air. It must be harder to generate lift with one leg than with two, right?
Eventually, after we'd gotten home, I actually got curious enough to search for some official answers (read: do some Google searches). As it turns out, my initial theory about the cold had been correct: birds stand on one leg to keep the other leg warm. This fact, coupled with the fact that the bird was under no duress and managed to fly away just fine, meant that the bird I photographed had likely just been cold. No injury, no pity, just plain cold.
I left my opinion on the matter in the title line.
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