Grandalas

Nature 1 Minute

I stumbled across this beautiful picture while looking for something else. The bird is a Grandala and lives primarily in India.  I couldn’t find much info on this lovely bird, except for this from Wikipedia:

The grandala (Grandala coelicolor) is a species of bird in the thrush family Turdidae. It is the only species placed in the genus Grandala. It is an arboreal insectivore. It ranges across the northeastern Indian Subcontinent and some adjoining regions, existing primarily in the low-to-mid altitudes of the Himalayas. It is found in Bhutan, India, Myanmar, and Nepal, as well as Tibet and other areas of China.

The body length of the grandala is 20.5-23 cm, and it weighs from 38 to 52 g. The plumage of the male is blue-gray, only the tail and wings are black. The plumage of the female is brownish with white stripes; rump gray-blue; the tip and underside of the wing feathers are white. Birds usually make the sounds “dew-ee” and “dewee”. In young birds, the plumage is similar to females, but does not have a bluish tint on the rump and upper tail integuments.

Grandala is a social bird; they feed on insects, fruits, berries.

The grandala lives in a vast territory. In India it is found in the Himalayas from Kashmir (Kishenganga and Liddar valleys), Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand through Nepal, Sikkim, and east to Arunachal Pradesh. Though grandala is a common bird in that region, no scientific studies have been conducted.

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Published by pat frederick

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129 thoughts on “Grandalas”

  1. Morning All!
    very dark outside…it rained all day yesterday–not hard at all times, but steady. we had 3 strutting and very impressive tom turkeys in the yard even in the rain…goggling and preening. but we didn’t see any hens about.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Morning, Pat! It stayed partly cloudy off and on all day but nice temps and no more rain. Still dark here, too, at 56. Supposed to have a string of beautiful weather this week, highs at most low-80’s. I just want sun for those melons to finish ripening and to dry up the dirt underneath all those vines. Don’t want any mildew turning into mold!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Morning Filly!
        after the definite growing season is done, do you rip out or cut off the vines?
        we’re talking about the pepper and tomato plants. we usually just let them go but my mom says we should rip them out at the end of the season.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Depends on how lazy I am….LOL. IDK which is better, tbh – never thought about it much. I left them over the winter last year – I have dreams of big things with that bed – pulling the t-posts, fencing and lights and having it tilled. Jason may have a tiller – if not, I know Mark does next door – since Jason also mows Mark’s Mom’s grass, he would probably loan it to us. Then I want to re-do a tall trellis with t-posts and fencing down the center of it. That way I can keep the vines under control and easily accessible. But that is the BIG dream…we’ll see!

          I also waffle on that issue with my flower beds. On the one hand, they look like shit but, at the same time, those dead leaves provide some shelter thru the winter for the roots. It has crossed my mind several times already, the question of which way I’m going this year.

          When Jason comes over to help me remove the pile on my east DW, then I’ll go ahead and cut everything so it will all be gone at the same time. If I’m getting it cleaned up for the first time in 3 years, I want to get it ALL cleaned up to start fresh next spring.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. mu son’s best man has a small yard but his wife still wanted a garden. he built her wooden trellises for everything vine-y…tomatoes, pumpkins, beans or peas i forget…leaving open ares for pepper plants and such…it looks amazing.

            Liked by 1 person

              1. you know what he told us? he made as many as he could and filled the tiny backyard–not only to make her happy, but so he wouldn’t have to mow grass…LOL

                Liked by 1 person

              3. agreed!!!
                he’s the one who didn’t go to college and instead bought a tractor trailer truck (which he now owns) and operates his own trucking business…

                Liked by 1 person

  8. Citizen 817
    September 25, 2023 12:27 am

    @realDonaldTrump

    7h
    Senate Democrats should all resign based on Senator Bob Menendez! They all knew what was going on, and the way he lived. Why doesn’t the FBI raid Senate Democrat’s homes like they illegally raided Mar-a-Lago, where nothing was done wrong based on the Presidential Records Act. Menendez is a “piker” compared to some of those Election Stealing THUGS. Can you imagine how much Crooked Joe Biden has stolen, and what’s in some of his many homes? The FBI and “Justice” notified him that they would be going in to look,“in a few weeks.” In other words, get rid of the cash, gold, & documents, ASAP, before we get there. They didn’t give me any warning, they just showed up. Hunter lived with Crooked Joe in Delaware. It would be a “Treasure Hunt!” Crooked’s coffers must be loaded up with cash. I wonder how much they got paid for Rigging the Election? Menendez is one of many, a small timer at that. EVERY DEMOCRAT SHOULD RESIGN FROM THE SENATE! Our Border’s are Broken, our Election’s are Rigged. MAGA!

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Citizen 817
    Citizen 817
    September 25, 2023 12:28 am

    @realDonaldTrump

    3h
    The Republicans lost big on Debt Ceiling, got NOTHING, and now are worried that they will be BLAMED for the Budget Shutdown. Wrong!!! Whoever is President will be blamed, in this case, Crooked (as Hell!) Joe Biden! Our Country is being systematically destroyed by the Radical Left Marxists, Fascists and Thugs – THE DEMOCRATS. UNLESS YOU GET EVERYTHING, SHUT IT DOWN! Close the Border, stop the Weaponization of “Justice,” and End Election Interference – WE MUST HAVE HONEST ELECTIONS. It’s time Republicans learned how to fight! Are you listening Mitch McConnell, the weakest, dumbest, and most conflicted “Leader” in U.S. Senate history? HE’S ALREADY GIVEN THE DEMOCRATS EVERYTHING, THEY CAN’T BELIEVE HOW LUCKY THEY GOT. WE NEED NEW, & REAL, REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE, NOT A CLONE OF MITCH, & WE NEED IT NOW!!!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Like

  11. Citizen 817
    September 25, 2023 1:06 am
    Reply to Citizen 817

    Doctors say COVID is indistinguishable from the common cold

    COVID is becoming so mild that its symptoms now look like the common cold. The most common symptoms of the virus are now sore throat, sneezing, or congestion — the same as RSV, asthma, or a pollen allergy.

    The reason is because most Americans are now immune.

    https://www.wnd.com/2023/09/doctors-say-covid-indistinguishable-common-cold/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Troublemaker10
      September 25, 2023 3:08 am

      Ukraine first, America Last…

      *********

      What U.S taxpayers are getting for their money in Ukraine

      Excerpt:

      American taxpayers are financing more than just weapons. We discovered the U.S. government’s buying seeds and fertilizer for Ukrainian farmers… and covering the salaries of Ukraine’s first responders – all 57,000 of them. …

      …Russia’s invasion shrank Ukraine’s economy by about a third. We were surprised to find that to keep it afloat the U.S. government is subsidizing small businesses…

      …like Tatiana Abramova’s knitwear company….

      ….In total, America’s pumped nearly $25 billion of non-military aid into Ukraine’s economy since the invasion began – and you can see it working at the bustling farmers market on John McCain Street in central Kyiv.

      https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-aid-ukraine-60-minutes-transcript/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7d&linkId=237271216

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Hmm…too bad, I always kind of liked Varney!!!

    https://thenationalpulse.com/2023/09/22/fox-misled-viewers-on-poll-showing-trump-beating-biden/
    EXCERPT: “Fox Business’s Varney & Co. appears to have intentionally altered a graphic breaking down a Fox News presidential poll in an effort to mislead viewers. The poll, conducted between September 9th and 12th, shows former President Donald Trump leading incumbent Joe Biden 48 percent to 46 percent, but the graphic displayed by Varney & Co. on Monday uses what can only be described as a purposefully confusing method to label the results – giving the appearance that Trump is losing to Biden 46 to 48 percent.

    The flipped results and added complexity of the Varney & Co. graphic caused confusion on social media, with some users citing it as evidence of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis having the ability to win in 2024. The poll, in fact, shows the opposite.

    Stuart Varney, the host of the Fox Business program, is slated to be a co-moderator for the 2nd Republican primary debate on September 27th.” — The National Pulse

    Our Take: “It’s fun that this story broke on the same day it was announced that Rupert Murdoch is stepping down and handing over power to even-more-communist son Lochland. Misleading the audience is critical to manufacturing consent, and manufacturing consent is Fox’s prime directive these days.

    While the network is dead, it’s important to remember that it died with Roger Ailes who, in his business and communications brilliance, saw a market opportunity to cater news to the silent majority, gave conservatives a voice, and grew the network to be the envy of cable news.

    It’s been downhill ever since Ailes passed away in 2017 and, with stories like this, it’s clear that Fox hasn’t yet found its bottom.” — Ashe in America

    Liked by 1 person


  15. EXCERPT: “The Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office released video footage Friday they say shows a Pennsylvania State Police trooper strangling and abusing his ex-girlfriend in Dauphin County. The DA’s office says Ronald K. Davis, 37, of Williamstown, asked troopers in the Lykens barracks to have his ex-girlfriend involuntarily admitted to a medical facility on the morning of Aug. 21, claiming she was suicidal and depressed.

    Davis has been a trooper since March 2015. Officials noted he is married with a family in Dauphin County when he had an intimate relationship with the victim. Davis was told he would need to submit a form through the Dauphin County Crisis Intervention and then drove to where his ex-girlfriend lives – about 11 miles away – after saying he would “take care of it” himself.

    “It is improper for an off-duty trooper in plain clothes to seize an official document [involuntary mental health commitment] without authorization,” state police wrote in the affidavit. “In addition, Trooper Davis undertook this action after being told by a state police supervisor that on-duty members would handle the situation and that his assistance was not needed.”

    The rest and video here: https://www.pennlive.com/crime/2023/09/video-shows-trooper-tackling-ex-girlfriend-before-having-her-committed-police.html

    Liked by 1 person

  20. LOL…we never thought we’d have to be good to our word! LOL
    FTA
    New York City has unleashed restrictions on its contentious “Right to Shelter” law, which has drawn an influx of illegal aliens to the city.

    Under the new regulations, illegal aliens seeking taxpayer-funded shelter will now be limited to a 60-day stay, after which they must reapply for the program or face eviction.

    “We have now reached a point where we are full and must take action to move people seeking asylum more quickly through our shelter system,” Anne Williams-Isom, a deputy for health and human services told Politico on Sept. 22

    The decision comes after the unprecedented wave of illegal aliens drained the city’s budget and flooded most of the shelters.

    The “right to shelter” initiative emerged following the landmark lawsuit, Callahan v. Carey. The lawsuit culminated in a consent decree ruling that the state constitution obligated the government to provide shelter for homeless individuals, opening the door for illegal aliens to access this taxpayer-funded service.

    Starting Sept. 22, thousands of illegal aliens currently exploiting the system will face eviction, marking a significant shift in the city’s sanctuary approach to immigration.

    One source close to City Hall admitted to Politico that the new rule is aimed at persuading illegal aliens from coming to NYC

    “The sense is that people didn’t fully understand just how accommodating New York City was to migrants until now, from a lot of these areas, and now it’s a big reason that people are coming here,” the individual said. “But if the understanding is you’re not guaranteed a place to stay, that affects the flow.”

    https://headlineusa.com/nyc-mayor-begins-kicking-illegals-out-after-short-lived-right-to-shelter/

    Liked by 1 person

      1. you gotta wonder—what the hell did they think WOULD happen?
        you put out the welcome mat…drive your tax paying citizens to other states…what was the desired result?

        Liked by 1 person

        1. I don’t know where the line falls between the low-level grunt just doing what they’re told, on up thru the stages of somewhat in the know but not really, to KNOWING but too scared to do anything….on up to the people who REALLY know what they’re REALLY doing!!! 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

          Liked by 1 person


  21. “Cassini died 6 yeas ago today. Before it crashed itself onto the surface of Saturn it took one last picture of its home planet. That little tiny dot in the photo is us. Earth. Perspective is everything.”



    Liked by 1 person

  22. ….sigh…when I looked out the patio door, who is sitting there? Yep – GT! This time I could hear the mew….I put the food dish right in front of my interior door this time. I had placed it in a spot that I couldn’t see so went back out to move it – GT was headed towards it and shied but didn’t move away. Jeez, I’m such a sucker! SMH

    Liked by 1 person



  23. “The boy and his 11-year-old sister were stopped in Alachua, hundreds of miles from where they were reported missing by their mother earlier in the week. Police said the pair had made their runaway bid after she had confiscated their electronic gadgets. “Much to their surprise deputies observed a 10-year-old male driver exit, with his sister,” they said.”

    Liked by 1 person

  25. tesla super charger site has a secret small diesel plant to help

    FTA
    The Central California charging station is such a big deal that Tesla clubs even make it an appointment destination. Yes, they’ll rally-style drive to it just to honor its lineage and size.

    But as with many Tesla-related things, there is a secret, thinly obscured by an Oz-like curtain, at the Harris Ranch Supercharger. Hidden in plain sight across the way from the Harris Ranch Supercharger’s main stations, behind a Shell station, is a small diesel plant that has helped power Tesla’s footprint.

    The news was first broken by investigative journalist Edward Niedermeyer. In May 2015, Niedermeyer drove from his Oregon home to Harris Ranch to see whether “Musk’s latest bit of dream weaving could stand up to reality.”

    What Niedermeyer reportedly found was a little different from the company’s clean energy claims.

    “I discovered that Tesla’s battery swap station was not in fact being made available to owners who regularly drove between California’s two largest cities,” Niedermeyer wrote in a May 2022 exposé for Slate. “Instead, the company was running diesel generators to power additional Superchargers (the kind that take 30 to 60 minutes to recharge a battery) to handle the holiday rush, their exhaust mingling with the unmistakable smell of bulls—t.”

    The fact that a small diesel plant was helping power the additional chargers kicked off a series of events that unraveled the myth of Elon Musk for Niedermeyer: “Once you stop taking Musk at his word,” he wrote, “his heroic popular image evaporates, and a far darker reality begins to reveal itself.”

    https://jalopnik.com/tesla-supercharger-location-diesel-generator-report-1850804146

    Liked by 1 person

  27. Just watched the Fox forecast for the mid-Atlantic NE – still feeling the rain/wind effects of Ophelia thru tomorrow afternoon, into Wednesday…

    Liked by 1 person

    1. mom’s getting drenched.
      want to hear the absurdity of the family dynamic?
      my brother (the anointed one) convinced her to get a second sump pump for her basement(–the whole township is wet)
      so she ponied out the $$ for the one he thought would help. she got it 2 months ago and it is sitting in a box on her basement steps because he didn’t want anyone else but him to put it in for her.
      when we used to live in that area, we had a sump pump in our basement so hubby knows all about them and offered more than once to help, but the anointed one said he would do it, so mom said no. and there it sits
      sigh

      Liked by 1 person

        1. i know.
          hubby said when we go down next time he’s gonna tell her–call him and ask him to come over. if he can’t do it because of his back or whatever, he can just tell me what he wants done and i can do it. it’s a waste to have a new pump sitting there and your basement getting flooded.
          hubby said if that doesn’t work he gives up.

          Like

          1. How would she stop him? I agree but I think he should just do it, no matter what, and don’t waste time on calling that prick at all! OK, so, maybe she’ll get pissed – she’ll get over it when she has a fucking dry basement!!! Right?!?

            Liked by 1 person

            1. if only it were that simple…LOL
              my brother IS the anointed one.
              the sun rises and sets in his face
              he hasn’t done a thing wrong since he was born!
              i think rainbows shoot out his ass…lol

              Liked by 1 person

              4. no, it’s HER house and we need to respect that.
                WADR how forgiving would YOU be if someone came in and did things against your wishes.
                nope. i have to respect her wishes.

                Like

              5. I wouldn’t be stupid enough to turn it down but – hey – every family has their own particular dynamics! Not for me to say and I’ll zip it on this subject.

                Liked by 1 person

    1. we’re always fighting the wrong enemy. this is why the “right” and “left” were formed. they are the same arms of one being–but the constant fighting between the 2 keeps the focus off the head of the being–the true enemy–the elites.

      Liked by 1 person

  34. get rid of the impeachment, fund ukraine and the dems will block the effort to vacate the speaker chair….what scum!
    FTA
    A top Democrat in the House has detailed how her caucus is prepared to help Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy keep his job in exchange for ending the impeachment inquiry he launched into President Joe Biden’s actions just weeks ago.

    Congresswoman Katherine Clark (D-MA), the minority whip, promised she could marshal the votes to help McCarthy avoid an attempt by conservative Republicans to vacate the speaker’s chair which would require near-unanimous support from Democrats as well. Rep. Clark told POLITICO that she also intends to force McCarthy into a corner on aid to Ukraine and his ongoing negotiations with the White House to avoid a government shutdown.

    “We want him to live up to the agreement [on toppling spending] that he made [with President Biden]. We want to get disaster aid out. We want to continue our support for Ukraine. And we want them to end this sham of an impeachment inquiry,” said Clark.

    https://trendingpoliticsnews.com/high-ranking-democrat-reveals-scheme-to-end-impeachment-by-cutting-deal-with-mccarthy-mstef/

    Liked by 1 person

          1. I have several from my a-Mom’s garage – both in inches and metric…actually, I think all total I have 6 different sets of sockets around the place, one small kit in my LR cabinet. I bought 2 small kits some years ago (gave one to Mom) that contain sockets/driver, drill bits, nippers, pliers, small scissors, small screwdrivers, etc., all in a canvas kit that folds over into thirds, with a velcro closure and a carrying handle. Handy as can be!

            Liked by 1 person


  46. “Horse wearing reconstructed 2500-year-old Scythian horse armor, unearthed in the Altai Mountains in Siberia”


    Like

  47. OK – updated melon pics….the first one here is big enough to feed a family of 4!!!! For that matter, they both are!!! LOL – maybe I’ll use one of those to experiment with freezing it.

    There are 5 melons in this one pic!


    This one is at the south end of the trellis near the top:

    Liked by 1 person

  49. Liked by 1 person

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