The miracle of eagles

The wind whispered stories. The sky flared pink. I thought it might rain, but it didn’t. 

  John Updike said that if he could be any animal, he’d be a turtle, because he liked the sound of rain on a roof. If I could be any animal, I’d be a crow. I've always wondered what skunk tastes like.

  A song sparrow sang on my birthday. A kestrel did a fixed-wing dive at a perched crow. It did little more than irritate the crow. The crow was so much larger that the kestrel looked like an oversized mosquito, filled with ferocity. A red-tailed hawk made an attempt to capture a rock pigeon feeding on the ground. The raptor was unsuccessful.

  Friends reported eagle nests along lakes not far from where I live. Bald eagles have been nesting in my home county for a good number of years, but it still seems to be a miracle whenever I see one.

Spring is coming, but it's taking the long route.

John Hay wrote that without birds, the days would go by without definition. I watched Canada geese fly over, some in flocks and some in pairs. One flock was flying in a V-formation, honking while booking it northward. One goose was far behind the rest. It had a formation of one. I imagined it honking, "Hey, guys, wait up." 

  I heard a red-tailed hawk’s raspy scream that sounded as a raptor should sound. At least, that’s what Hollywood directors must think. Whenever a raptor appeared onscreen during my young years, the shrill cry on the soundtrack was almost always that of a red-tailed hawk. 

  A branch provided purchase for the tiny feet of a junco. I watched starlings perch on utility wires. They are a species adapting to its environment.

  Soon the frost boils will be blooming on our roads. Does spring bring the birds or do the birds bring spring?

Al Batt

From here to there

From an old fire hall in Minnesota. 

To this in Chicago. 

Life is an incredible journey. 

While I worked in Texas

Mockingbirds entertained me. This lovely photo was taken by a friend named Bryce Gaudian. 

Winter redux

The sign was meant to welcome spring, but Old Man Winter thought it meant that all was forgiven and he should come back.

With the ice, I might be able to hear songbirds walking and hopping. 

Snowmelt from utility wires tried to connect the dots on the snow below. 

I was once the mayor of Grackle Junction

I'm not certain as to its location. 

A birdie with a yellow bill

Told me that spring is coming. A starling's bill turns yellow this time of the year.  

Spring comes early

If you drink this stuff. 

A statue of a birdwatcher

In Salina, Kansas. 

Out of the frying pan

And into Brandon, Iowa. 

I would like to welcome those who are seeing the Welcome to Welcome photo

Welcome. 

Nesting birds.

In Hungary, I was told that white storks nesting on a house brought good luck and protection from fire. 

My father thought that barn swallows provided the same service,

Birds and bricks

A young member of my extended family likes birds and LEGOs. This is what happens when those two passions intersect.   A blue jay.

A hummingbird.  The green violetear.

And a European robin. 

Why?

This is why it is called a red-bellied woodpecker. 

And this is not called a red-bellied woodpecker. 

Signs of the times.

In Texas.  Especially be on the look out for snakes traveling 11 mph.

And in Minnesota where the bumps in the roads bump the signs. 

And in Alaska, where there is an open season on signs with no bag limit. 

In Minnesota, we stop for hawks. 

The end from Alaska. 

It was close

But my good luck held. 

I'd driven over bad roads to get there. This is how I knew.

What I'm looking at is usually looking back at me.

My binoculars have taken up with a swallow-tailed kite

I like the spiffy decal and my binoculars aren't complaining. The 8.5 X 45 binoculars seem to be a good fit for me. I look. I see. 

A shadow and a swagger

  I watched a squirrel run over the wind-hardened snow filling the road ditch as it fled from my place for the friendly confines of a neighbor's. It was a dangerous scamper. It was running the gauntlet of possible red-tailed hawks. Raptors enjoy fast food.

  I saw a groundhog later in the month that contains Groundhog’s Day. To the big rodent, it was Groundhog’s Month. It ventured forth cautiously and then scampered back quickly to the safety of its burrow. Maybe it had seen its shadow. According to folklore, if it’s cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on Groundhog’s Day and it doesn’t see its shadow, spring will come early. If it’s sunny and the groundhog sees its shadow and retreats back into its burrow, winter weather will persist for six more weeks. Maybe it is frightened of its shadow? A crow walked the same ground. The groundhog could never match the crow’s swagger. The crow probably saw its shadow and liked it.

Minnesota winters can be harsh

We hang in here for the swell awards.