Austin, Texas and an Ode to Grackles

The view from the patio of our hotel in Austin.

Our hotel was very clean, meticulously so. It was odd to me then when I went to sketch on their lovely patio, it was covered in Grackle droppings... I had to cover my chair in a towel as a protective barrier.

I was later informed by our friends that grackles are the bane of outdoor eating and patios and keeping areas "poo free" is very difficult.

I suspect that these are the birds that Hitchcock was depicting in his movie...

So I did this:

On the last evening of our vacation, we had another encounter. We went to see Django Unchained at the insistence of our friends at the Alamo Drafthouse. After, we got dinner at a Chili's at one of those fancy outdoor malls they have been building.

The trees were so covered in grackles that you could hear their calls in the car. Even to me, who is hard of hearing, they were loud. As we left, Troy had to dodge poop.

NOT an exaggeration...

It reminded me of Walton Ford's painting of carrier pigeons...