Hello folks who wonder if one guaranteed way to see Gollum in real life is by hiding someone's smartphone,

Let's say you are one of the employees at your company who always eats at their desk alone, not because you want to be more productive during lunch, but because you don't like hanging out with those people constantly talking about the new bachelor season or the new reality show about the 1200 lbs family. You just want someone to discuss the latest true crime story you are following. Alas, this group of people is not ready to hear your interests. But one day, after the company closes a deal with a major client, your colleagues hop over to your desk and ask you to join them at the bar to celebrate this sales milestone. You prefer to spend your evenings on your couch in your PJs watching Dateline. "Let me see what is on the other side of the road, maybe I'll have a good time" you tell yourself.

After 2 hours of socializing and talking about the meaning of life, what everyone would rather do in another life or crying about their recent breakups, your manager comes to your table and shouts that he is buying the next round of drinks for the entire team. "Shots! Shots! Shots!", the crowd cheers. You get a cute but tiny glass filled with some alcohol, but you are not sure what to do with it. You then proceed to ask for a straw. But the room is loud, so you shout, "Can I get a straw please for this drink!" The room suddenly goes deafeningly silent and all eyes are on you now. Awkward. Told you to stick to the usual Dateline schedule.

Birds (most of them) have a peculiar way of drinking water. Like you or me who can take a sip of a wine gracefully without lifting our heads to savor the wine and detect the 56 distinct flavors in it, birds have it cut out the hard way. Birds never evolved to drink wines and hence never developed the ability to suck liquids into their throats. So, what do they do? They will fill their beaks with a small amount of water and then tilt their head to let that water flow into their throat and then repeat this process till they quench their thirst.

If you ever sit beside a bird bath, you will observe this behavior. Like these goldfinches during a hot afternoon. "Drink chilled beer, not water, you idiots. We are in a drought" I shout.


This distinct behavior is easy to spot when a Canada Goose is drinking water like it is doing shots. I mean, it kind of makes sense doesn't it, all these birds are as noisy as the fraternity or the sorority you remember in college.


The frequency of encountering Mallards or Coots on a lake is the same as YouTube showing an ad while watching a video. So, it was a pleasant surprise, when I spotted this guy swimming in Shoreline Lake, Mountain View.


Surf Scoter males will sport a distinct multi-colored bill with black plumage. Wait, what? You don't want me to assume its gender without confirming with it first. I knew you were waiting for me to fall into the trap, so I did my homework. I checked its twitter bio first.


Anyways, these Surf scoters are ducks that spend most of their lives out in the sea and will visit the Bay Area during winter. They can be often seen snacking on clams and mussels. Alas, it was not a good day for this poor fellow, who was so close yet so far from its lunch.


Ever wondered how owls fly silently so that the victim is not aware of their impending doom? No need to wait, I found this dead Western Screen Owl on the side of the road who has some answers.


One of the reasons is because owls have these serrated edges which break the airflow mob which would otherwise generate a lot of noise on hitting the wings into smaller groups thereby reducing the noise during flight.


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