A note: Today is Betsy’s birthday. Happy 17, Betsy!

I have been using the 10X Olympus C2100 this weekend and, even though the lighting is gray and poor, the results are spectacular. The most successful pictures so far are from my living room looking into the big Mesquite tree, about 25 ft. away. The results are so good that I might move the bird feeder away from the window to make it more attractive for longer stays.

Seen in the Mesquite tree:

Lesser Goldfinch Bridled Titmouse (a new species for my list)

I have been wanting to get a good picture of a White-crowned Sparrow male for some time. It seems to be no problem with this camera

Today, even though it was cold and gray and windy. I walked down to the river. I am never disappointed when I do so. Never. There are a pair (well, two of them) of a Flycatcher I will have troubles with. I had thought them to be Kingbirds (no surprise) but once I saw the photo I had to change my mind. Actually, I doubt that Kingbirds like this tight riparian habitat here as opposed to open fields. I am afraid that he will have to simply be a …. Wait! The photo gives me the name. This is a Say’s Phoebe. I was going to write it off as an unspecified Flycatcher due to its body type and its hawking behavior. This is new ground for me. It is the first time I have made identifications from my photos and not from binoculars. The camera is no substitute, but it works great.

While sitting there I saw a Black Hawk land in a small Cottonwood a ways upstream. These birds a listed as rare, but I have seen them in this area for years. They never seem to travel very far from the river. They are always impressive and so graceful. Every time I see one I feel that God is flying past patrolling his river and checking things out. The picture below caught him leaving the tree but I never saw that happen in the view finder. I do wish the lighting had been better.

There is a mammal who is making the river area into a maze of highways. I assume that is Beaver doing it, but I can’t imagine why. There is a complete trail system that parallels the water course. These trails are not made by humans.

Today I spent sometime at the river as was pleased to see several Wood Duck males hanging out with some Mallards. They are such wonderful ducks to behold that I am always happy to see them. Their markings are so perfect that they seem to be like ceramic figures.

My trusty digital camera has developed a problem and I felt compelled to replace it. Of course, it is replaced with bigger and better and I am going to Phoenix tonight to pick up my new 10X zoom camera. The old one is only 3 X. Look forward to some wonderful pictures here since this journal is the primary reason for the purchase.

This morning as we were driving home form church, I saw more Ravens than I ever saw at one place before. There has been a great of hay spread along highway construction and that may have attracted the birds. But it wasn’t the number only that drew my attention. They were displaying in what I can only describe as a cylinder of birds. There must have been close to 100 of them spiraling up from the ground to a height of perhaps 100’. It was a fairly tight spiral and gave the impression of a spinning cylinder .

Kachina Wetlands is a network of large ponds filled with treated effluent and located on the north side of Kachina Village. The ponds are richly vegetated with reeds brought in from nearby Marshall Lake and the result is a fabulous bird habitat.

This afternoon, so early in the year, the attraction is mainly ducks. But as we entered the area the focus was on a huge Bald Eagle soaring and circling above the ponds. He was low enough so that even the decurve of his beak was obvious. He simply soared forever, it seemed. Later, he came back to fly once again over the ponds and this time he was lower. The effect on the dozens of ducks was immediate as they took off in small groups and gave the impression of mass confusion. However, I know from ethnology that the confusion is intended for the predator who has a difficult time deciding which morsel is dinner. But as the Eagle gained altitude (I doubt that he really cared about the ducks who would have had more to fear from a large hawk) he drew the attention of three Ravens who began to soar with him. Two of the Ravens kept very close to the Eagle and appeared to want to intimidate him. Now that I think of it, I saw the same kind of behavior here with Ravens and a Red-Tail. It is almost as though they fly an escort until the predator is a safe distance away and gone.

New birds today. New to me. I always get excited when I see a bird that I have not identified before. As a serious scientist I always felt compelled to look down upon “life-listers” but now I have no such ax to grind and I can enjoy the “been there, bought the tee-shirt” behavior. But, unlike the life-listers, I watch and try to understand the birds. Good for me, but, still, it was fun today to add two new species. I had never seen a Northern Shoveler before today but there were many of them on the ponds. They look like Mallards that have gotten too much paint put on them. I loved the brightness of them in the sun. They have a beautiful shade of brown set against a snow white. I wish to see them more often. The two photos are from the web since I had little chance of getting near the birds today. Another duck that I had not seen before was the Bufflehead. There must have nine or ten of them but I could not get a good field identification form the book. It took a web search of actual photos to get it right. Now that’s a lesson learned. Birds of No. America gives the bird a very green head. Maybe so under some lighting conditions, but these birds looked very black from where I stood and watched. They are, by the way, very busy diving duckies.

Other birds were seen today. There were quite a few Canvasbacks and Mallards. Only a few Coots were there. Several red-Wings were heard calling form pine trees (recall the flock in my Cottonwood) but one pair were actually seen today. There were many Juncos including possibly 8 in a small flock as opposed to several that seemed to function as individuals.

Also, I saw the Gray Fox again. He was once again in a tree about 20 ft. off the ground. It was another Cottonwood very near the one where I first him. As before, he jumped down and trotted off to the downstream direction. This time he seemed not to be in any great fear of me.

I saw a pair of Rough-winged Swallows doing what they do so well over the river. I also saw a female Wood Duck land (actually hit) a big Cottonwood. She bounced off on the first attempt to land but she came back and proceeded to walk up and down the branches. I hope I find a male living here – they are wonderful to see.

After he was gone I sat down at the upstream island and was still for half an hour. The bird songs were all back. I watched the reeds for a long time and realized that there were no Red-Wings anywhere. It felt all wrong. But other things were happening. I saw a Black Phoebe way upstream. He was feeding back and forth across the river and I smiled as I always do when I see one. My eye went back to the reeds and I watched a Song Sparrow moving along the very edge of the water as he hopped from fallen reed to fallen reed. He was either very thirsty or he was feeding in the water. That’s odd – aren’t all sparrows seed eaters? Imagine how much I don’t know. It came to me that I used to learn from teachers and books but now I seem to be learning by watching. I learn fewer things to be sure, but they are all my things and each one is exciting. I make no great discoveries – I am sure that I could find that same observation in the literature and I have no doubt that it is well known that Red-wings flock in the winter. Still, I didn’t know it until I saw it with my own eyes. Those two tidbits were never taught to me. Yes, now I know that Song Sparrows feed in the water’s edge. I take that very, very personally as mine. How truly blest I am to know those two things: the bird feeds in the water and I learned by watching. I have always envied the early biologists who came here from the East. Everything they saw was new and everything they said was a discovery. Well, maybe we are not so very different – that naturalist and me. He was more productive but my discovery is no less personally rewarding than his.

Oh, and speaking of the Red-Wings: a male came up from somewhere in the reeds and I heard his Red-Wing call. But it was higher and much more musical than I have ever heard before. Pretty soon another male surfaced; then two others. Eventually they all crossed the river to the tall Cottonwood and sat together. And then what seemed wrong now seemed right.

I noticed that the Song Sparrow kept its tail raised as if it thought it was a wren. Imagine my surprise when a Bewick’s Wren appeared at the same water’s edge doing the same things! My sanity and self-confidence were somewhat stabilized when I saw them both there at the same time.

Thank you, Lord, for giving me the time to simply sit and learn. And, Lord, help to learn more as I watch. Help me to dream on as I discover me with you when I sit to watch and ponder.