My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and the mystery of it all.
The land is the real teacher. All we need as students is mindfulness.
Robin Wall Kimmerer
Magpies do not sing as a robin or meadowlark, they chatter. Constantly. As soon as I arrive they will land on the fence in front of me while still in my car and jabber away, and sometimes making good eye contact. I’m going with the assumption they are happy to see me. Hope you had a wonderful 4th of July!
I have a favorite place to park along Weld County Road 15 that is the entrance to a farmers field. They have no gate but I pull up, turn my car off and watch and listen. I find several meadowlarks and red-winged blackbirds in this area. The other night I was blessed with several robins who wanted to flaunt and sing for me.
“It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.”
David Attenborough
I am a believer that my time in the natural world makes life worth living! There are those times when I find myself in a dark place. Lots of triggers to take me there. Thankfully I have found, and now regularly take, trips to a natural area or just a walk around the neighborhood listening to birds sing that will lift me out of those dark places. When I move my focus on nature, changes always happen within my soul.
This Eastern Kingbird, at least that’s what I think it is, is not all that common in this area as we are at the edge of their migration patterns. We have many more of the Western Kingbirds. They are similar in shape but very different colors.
What a gift it is to see the beauty in the small things of nature as well as the larger gifts such as a sunrise or sunset or a sky full of clouds. On a walk a couple days ago at Watson Lake I ran into friend I have not seen in a 2-3 years. It was good to spend a few minutes catching up. Another small gift.
I like spending time along the edge of marshes to observe and listen to the different waterfowl. My only complaint is the bugs but the bugs are why the birds are here. Seems we have to have both. This is a Cinnamon Teal. A beautiful bird in my eyes. Breeding males have a red eye, long dark bill, and mostly vivid rusty plumage, with brownish back, white underwing. Female, immature, and non breeding male are mostly rich brownish overall. All adults have sky-blue patch in open wing, similar to other teal and shovelers. I don’t see them often because their populations have declined since 1968, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey, and they do prefer large permanent marshes, which I do not have near me. All information is from All About Birds by Cornell Labs I highly recommend you check out the link below to All About Birds and see their collection of photos of their wing colors.
The foundation of all spiritual practice is love.
the Dalai Lama
That you practice this well is my only request.
My hope is to practice love, as a spiritual practice, and that it’s not just something I preach. Have a great Memorial Weekend!
Took an evening drive to Weld County for some bird photos at a marshy area along County Road 13 and County road 78. Had an enjoyable evening watching, listening and photographing plenty of birds. This is a Western Kingbird. They belong to the flycatcher family so you can understand why they hang out in the insect laden marshes. They are actually a very lovely gray-headed bird with a yellow belly and a whitish chest and throat. The tail is black with white outer tail feathers. An easy bird for me to spot. I normally see them on fence wires or single branches such as this. They make this cute little repeated “kit, kit” sound.
cobalt blue and tawny
ms
perched atop wire throne
whistling for a mate
Good morning from Pineridge Natural Area. Clear skies and sunshine to start the day. Meadowlarks were sharing songs of joy with all the world. In fact birds were singing all around me. Over time I will come know them but for now I’ll just enjoy their music. This image shows how the rains from last week sure gave the meadow a touch of green.
When I leave the natural area I need to turn north on Overland trail and drive by an open field that is a Frisbee golf course. About a half mile after I’d turned I noticed this eagle sitting in the open field. I stopped and watched for several minutes with binoculars. The bird seemed rather nervous so I kept my distance. I finally decided to see if it would stay long enough for me to get my camera out and put on the longer zoom lens. I was able to take about 20 images then put my camera gear away because I did not want to disturb the bird anymore than I already had. I then watched them for another couple minutes with binoculars before it lifted off. I was shocked to see in its talons a large fish. Now, that would have been the shot but alas… This is about a 100% crop so it’s not all that sharp.
We must become so alone, so utterly alone, that we withdraw into our innermost self. It is a way of bitter suffering. But then our solitude is overcome, we are no longer alone, for we find that our innermost self is the spirit, that it is God, the indivisible. And suddenly we find ourselves in the midst of the world, yet undisturbed by its multiplicity, for our innermost soul we know ourselves to be one with all being.
Hermann Hesse