The Light of Things

Come forth into the light of things, 

let Nature be your teacher." 

~ William Wordsworth

Even short walks in the park can be surprising and uplifting. My mother often talked about the dark days of winter. And we have been and continue to be in the middle of some gloomy grey days. But the park is like a 5-year-old child holding up a grubby handful of crowpoison flowers* (we used to call them rain lilies).  Over and over again the park hands me an attitude-changing nosegay of birds (after all, they are the wildflowers of the winter). 

I bring their images home with me and save them in the memory of my devices, on a database or two, and sometimes here.  

The last two days included:

You knew one of the hawks would be here.

These ducks were feigning sleep in the middle of the creek.

These two were on the bank huddling - trying to stay warm. They might have been sleeping before we came along.

Sometimes the birds really look like flowers. This Carolina Chickadee fluttered off just as I snapped the shot.

But it came back and posed.

A crow on the bridge railing. They are everywhere in the park most days. And they appear to be building nests.

Finally a pop of color. It is so hard to get decent photos of woodpeckers as they are busy...blurring shots.

I get loads of good shots of the back, but almost never a clear profile - like today. Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Eastern Phoebe. These little birds repeat their name - "fee-be, fee-be." I often hear them and then have to follow the call to the bird.

The wind was blowing and it was cold. I love the look of this Great Blue Heron.

The experts are telling me this is the Osprey. There are days when I see it perched on a limb. I'm not much for recognizing something "on the wing."

American Pipit. I've seen flocks of pipits before, but never recognize them flying or feeding. When I see them "close-up" they are merely "little brown birds." they look much like a couple of other birds. I'm going to have to compare photos and figure out what I am missing.

NOTES:

* Crowpoison (Nothoscordum bivalve) - these seem to bloom everywhere and all through the year.

I love these little flowers.

FINAL NOTES: I'll end with a couple of things I have no other place for (and I want to save them)...the first is to show why it is good to leave a pile of shrub trimmings in your yard and a snag or two in a pond or creek. Birds take shelter there. The snag provides some security from predators and camouflage. The second is "yoga in the park."

The Snag and the Heron:

See the snag under this bridge?

I recently learned to look for the Great Blue Heron here...see it?

Now do you see it?

The heron decided it was time for breakfast and moved down the creek for the windblown photo (above).

 Yoga in the Park: 
 

This woodpecker was moving from tree to tree and working its beak into every little crevice.

Here it grips the trunk and moves its head 180 degrees (and then up) to work under the bark.

I have no idea how this bird managed this move. I guess we will call it "upward looking woodpecker." I'm not trying it.