Big Bird Extrodinaire

The header for this month is a bird, it is Spring after all. This bird is really huge, made of brass, larger than the average bear. It is near a thruway/expressway on the outskirts of Florence. I don't know why this big bird was made, but it is cute right?

All of Italy is an expressway! The traffic in Florence, as in all of Italy is brutal, as we were leaving Florence, we even had a motorcycle accident happen right in front of us. We were all concerned, but were told that the driver was OK.

The motorcycle, scooters and bikes all squeeze between the cars when the cars stop at lights, filling up all the spaces, then when the light changes, the 2-wheelers squeal off, ahead of the pack of cars.

They use their 2-wheelers in Italy a lot more efficiently then we do in America. We once saw a person holding a child in front of them-no helmets for either. Did I say more efficiently, or should I have said more dangerously? The mirror of the bus obscures her head, but notice the shoes? The women always dressed nicely in Italy!

The quick drivers get from A to B, sometimes even zooming around D and E if needed. I can not imagine driving a car there, we were even challenged to walk across the street!

Bird update

I love when this guy comes to visit:

He is a Red Bellied Woodpecker, but I double-dog-dare you to find the red on the belly! Maybe a hint of tan or yellow mostly, but if you look right near where the belly touches the suet cage-you will see a small spot of pink.

Isn't the red on the neck nice?

If the red comes up the nape of the neck and down onto the front of the head, near the beak, it is a male. If the red stops at back of head, it is a female. This one seems to be a male because you can see the red blotch just above it's beak. We have a different special suet cake with seed, nuts and fancy suet just for woodpeckers, but rarely see one on there. Well, at least the other birds are enjoying the feast.

And we are very happy that we have our regular beautiful visitors.