World Bird Wednesday XIX

                                                                                                                                                                              

Writers Block 

Once in a while my brain locks up and nothing of note comes to mind. The muse, of course, is fickle and ideas can be as rare as hen's teeth. I knew this day would come and so I have hatched a plan. I am excited to use the space next to the Mute swan and Tree swallow to introduce you to the work of Jack William Binder, 10 year old son of Sgt. Craig Binder my friend and fire fighting brother in arms. Jack William is a poet and an all around creative guy who never ceases to amaze us with his insights into the human condition. He is an old soul, as the mystics say, and speaks with an authority and clarity that often chills me. Here is one of his recent reflections, "The Artist," that expresses eloquently the soul of a youthful creative spirit.

The Artist


I am a creative guy who likes art.

I wonder if my art will ever be hung in a museum.

I hear my art make noise as I work on it.

I see it moving in my mind.

I want my art to come to life.

I am a creative guy who likes art.

I pretend to swim in the oceans I draw.

I feel the roughness of the bark off the trees I draw.

I touch the fur or the scales off the animals I draw.

I worry my art wont be good.

I cry when my art is a sad drawing.

I am a creative guy who likes art.

I understand the story of other people’s art.

I give compliments to everyone’s art work.

I dream I am famous for my art.

I try to get A’s in art class.

I am a creative guy who likes art.
 
             Now it's time for World Bird Wednesday
 
This is the home of World Bird Wednesday. A place for bird photographers from around the world to gather and share their photographs and experiences as they pursue Natures most diverse and beautiful treasurers, the birds. The Blogosphere connects like minded people from around our planet like no other technology can do. World Bird Wednesday will be open for posting at 12 noon Tuesday EST North America through midnight on Wednesday.


You are invited to link your blog with other bird photographers in a weekly celebration of these most diverse and intriguing of Earth's residents, the BIRDS.



                                                          
 
#1. Simply copy the above picture onto your W.B.W. blog entry. It contains a link for your readers to share in WBW. Or you can copy this link on to your blog page to share W.B.W. http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/
 
#2. Come to The Pine River Review on Tuesday Noon EST North America through Wednesday midnight and submit your blog entry with Linky.

#3. Check back in during the course of the next day and explore these excellent photoblogs!


You don't have to be a Bird Watcher or expert photographer to join in--just enjoy sharing what you bring back from your explorations and adventures into nature.The idea of a meme is that you will visit each others blogs and perhaps leave a comment to encourage your compadres!


          The thumbnails below are links to our contributors blogs where you can view their beautiful posts.
                                 
                       Come on it's your turn!

All Things Must Pass

The puzzled look on this Horned lark reflects my own lack of enthusiasm for our current snow emergency!

Winter decided to drop a late March load of snow on our heads. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was a cruel blow but lets just say that the ice left the river a week ago and the first flower of spring, a crocus, popped it's head out of the earth two days later and I partook of certain foolish rites like putting away the snow shovel and getting out the rake . The spring birds had started to arrive and I was zipadedoda happy trimming trees in the orchard and picking up sticks the yard. Winter is the house guest that stayed to long, finally leaves and unexpectedly returns a week later bags in hand with a cheery "Hi, how are you!"

The quintessential harbinger of spring in the North country is the Robin but not this year!

In like a lion out like a lamb? If there is snow on your upper beak March 24th there will be little comfort in cliches!

I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.

                                                          Mae West
                                                                                            1893-1980

World Bird Wednesday XVIII

                                                                Morons!

Something rather strange went down this week while I was out collecting photographs over by Dow's Chemicals Plant in Midland at Whiting Overlook Park. Overlook Park was created for the citizens of this fair city to be able to view the birds that flock there in large numbers to partake of Dow's retention ponds that are used to cool processes and therefore remain largely unfrozen for much of the winter.  I go there to practice photography, my camera  pressed up against the chain link and barbed wire fence that separate the park from the company ponds. This day I was standing by the fence trying desperately to catch a picture of the swallows that fly madly over the ponds catching bugs. On the other side of the fence a red pickup truck pulled up, window rolled down, and a guard shouted out at me, "Hey, you can't take pictures here!"     "Well okay", I said, "This doesn't seem right. I'll check with the Police and get back to you on that one."  I'm not inclined to take on face value the word of corporate security as to what I can or can not do in a public park but I like to know the cards in my hand before I bet. I wandered back up the hill, got in my car and prepared to leave. Just then a big white SUV adorned in a array of fog lights came barreling up as I was pulling out. The SUV did not park but followed me out of the drive and down Poseyville road. I decided to do the old OJ Simpson slow chase and drove 20mph in the right lane. The SUV stuck right on my tail. I gave him the slip pulling a quick left turn in traffic and went over to another pond to continue my days shooting. When I got back to my car this time a Midland County Sheriff  was there to greet me. He was a nice kid and assured me that Dow Chemical could not prevent me from taking pictures in a public park but that Dow was concerned I might be doing some industrial spying or worse and so called the cops on me. Do you think maybe the guards could have spoken with me at some point over the last six months I've been going there? Great, I've got corporate security people following me around town immersed in the delusion that their reach extends beyond Dow's gilded gates! Morons.

Introducing our new young Bald Eagle showing off his stuff at Whiting Overlook Park.

        Now it's time for World Bird Wednesday!


This is the home of World Bird Wednesday. A place for bird photographers from around the world to gather and share their photographs and experiences as they pursue Natures most diverse and beautiful treasurers, the birds. The Blogosphere connects like minded people from around our planet like no other technology can do. World Bird Wednesday will be open for posting at 12 noon Tuesday EST North America through midnight on Wednesday.

You are invited to link your blog with other bird photographers in a weekly celebration of these most diverse and intriguing of Earth's residents, the BIRDS.


                                                   

#1. Simply copy the above picture onto your W.B.W. blog entry. It contains a link for your readers to share in WBW. Or you can copy this link on to your blog page to share W.B.W. http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/


#2. Come to The Pine River Review on Tuesday Noon EST North America through Wednesday midnight and submit your blog entry with Linky.

#3. Check back in during the course of the next day and explore these excellent photoblogs!



You don't have to be a Bird Watcher or expert photographer to join in--just enjoy sharing what you bring back from your explorations and adventures into nature.

The thumbnails below are links to our contributors blogs where you can view their beautiful posts. The idea of a meme is that you will visit each others blogs and perhaps leave a comment to encourage your compadres!

                    Come on it's your turn!



World Bird Wednesday XVII

               Paying Homage to a Japanese Sensibility

One thing I know for sure is that the people of the Earth have focused their attention and prayers on the islands of Japan since news of it's monstrous cataclysm reached the far corners. Suzanne and I watch transfixed as the horror compounded itself in quickly unfolding chapters through the filter of our TV. The feeling of impending doom and helplessness is crushing. The pictures are difficult to fathom. This is no 1950's sci-fi premonition of a nuclear fueled cataclysm the likes of which crowd the shelves of video and pulp fiction libraries everywhere and so power the bad dreams of childhood. One does not stir from a true nightmare so easily, it lingers past awakening. The mind goes numb contemplating the scenes we are not seeing. As a member of the emergency response community my emotions get the better of me as I contemplate the working people charged with operating the hoses and valves that pump sea water into those crippled reactors in a sacrificial attempt to quell the nuclear inferno in the belly of the beast.The stakes on the table dwarf the power of words to express the urgency of their task. The Japanese people, with their quiet resolve, appear remarkably calm and well ordered in the face of it.  I wish them strength and wisdom.  

 .

There is, I think, a Japanese sensibility, melancholic, poetic, piercingly sad and serene all at the same time. Occasionally I see the cross pollination of this style in my own pictures. This collection is a recognition of the elements of this iconic Japanese art form as they occurred spontaneously in my images rather than being the intentional goal. I remember looking through a series of Japanese prints collected by Vincent Van Gogh and being taken for the first time with the balance and force of the Shinto inspired elements of earth, air, and water. It was a look into the best part of the Japanese collective soul and a spirit worth emulating. In it I see a uncluttered oneness of spirit with nature. The Japanese garden, unlike my western Eden, has not fallen and the enviable innocents and naivety of a divine peace and order is clearly felt. Today though, artistic musings seems small consolation and frivolous when so many nations face crisis man made and otherwise.  If there was no Hell man would have invented it, and so we have. The duality of human nature, as it juggles peace and destruction, is the constant subtext of our short and remarkable turn on the surface of planet Earth.  My heart is with those souls in The Land of the Rising Sun as they endeavour to untangle this knot.

       Now it's time for World Bird Wednesday.

This is the home of World Bird Wednesday. A place for bird photographers from around the world to gather and share their photographs and experiences as they pursue Natures most diverse and beautiful treasurers, the birds. The Blogosphere connects like minded people from around our planet like no other technology can do. World Bird Wednesday will be open for posting at 12 noon Tuesday EST North America through midnight on Wednesday.

You are invited to link your blog with other bird photographers in a weekly celebration of these most diverse and intriguing of Earth's residents, the BIRDS.


                                                                 

#1. Simply copy the above picture onto your W.B.W. blog entry. It contains a link for your readers to share in WBW. Or you can copy this link on to your blog page to share W.B.W. http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/


#2. Come to The Pine River Review on Tuesday Noon EST North America through Wednesday midnight and submit your blog entry with Linky.

#3. Check back in during the course of the next day and explore these excellent photoblogs!


You don't have to be a Bird Watcher or expert photographer to join in--just enjoy sharing what you bring back from your explorations and adventures into nature.


The thumbnails below are links to our contributors blogs where you can view their beautiful posts. The idea of a meme is that you will visit each others blogs and perhaps leave a comment to encourage your compadres!

                                Come on it's your turn!

Randomness

Here's a group of our fine feathered friends that I managed to focus my lens on this last week. These are driving around pictures, the product of randomness and having a ready camera laying on the front seat when opportunity knocked. 
  This wild turkey was in a group making their way across the road as Suzanne and I whizzed by in our little red Chevy. They were iridescent in the strong sun and quite spectacular. We stopped and I quickly ripped off a few shots trying hard to get between the sun and the turkeys to gain the light. Most of the pictures were out of sorts but this one caught a bit of the excitement before the rafter crossed Pine River Road and disappeared into the woods.
    The Red-tailed hawk below was spotted along the motorway on a ride to Detroit. I had seen several along the way but couldn't pull over safely to get pictures. Finally bird and traffic connected and this raptor held long enough for me to roll the window down and snap a few chances. The eyes, however, were dark on the images I manage. This one  had a slightly different mirrored sunglasses look to the eye, sort of a terminator bird and so caught my fancy.
  

     Over by Eagle pond a young Bald eagle left his perch to peruse the area for dinner. An aggressive gull didn't appreciate his airborne presence and rode him ragged until he fled.

     Below we see the Kestrel I have been chasing. I know of three places he hunts and I stay sharp when I'm cruising those haunts just in case the gods smile!

World Bird Wednesday XVI

The Great Blue Heron Revealed

In the back of my house the Pine River has been locked in ice since December 8th. That is three solid months and the novelty of skating and skiing on it has worn thin. During the warmer months we are treated to the sight of Great Blue Herons slowly, carefully, stalking the shallows for the frogs and fish. At night I hear their haunting croaking as they fly away to some secret place. When Suzanne and I paddle our kayaks these ultra shy birds stay a step ahead of us, flying away as soon as our quiet boats round the bend. I constantly have to remind myself when walking out of the house, my mind preoccupied with some chore, to open and close the door silently lest I spook a Blue or Green heron and miss a chance to see them making their living.
So what an unbelievable pleasure for this budding birder to have before me the sights of the Venice Rookery. A privileged look into the nursery of the Great Blue Heron!

        Now it's time for World Bird Wednesday

This is the home of World Bird Wednesday. A place for bird photographers from around the world to gather and share their photographs and experiences as they pursue Natures most diverse and beautiful treasurers, the birds. The Blogosphere connects like minded people from around our planet like no other technology can do. World Bird Wednesday will be open for posting at 12 noon Tuesday EST North America through midnight on Wednesday.

You are invited to link your blog with other bird photographers in a weekly celebration of these most diverse and intriguing of Earth's residents, the BIRDS.


                                                       

#1. Simply copy the above picture onto your W.B.W. blog entry. It contains a link for your readers to share in WBW. Or you can copy this link on to your blog page to share W.B.W. http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/

#2. Come to The Pine River Review on Tuesday Noon EST North America through Wednesday midnight and submit your blog entry with Linky.

#3. Check back in during the course of the next day and explore these excellent photoblogs!

You don't have to be a Bird Watcher or expert photographer to join in--just enjoy sharing what you bring back from your explorations and adventures into nature.

The thumbnails below are links to our contributors blogs where you can view their beautiful posts. The idea of a meme is that you will visit each others blogs and perhaps leave a comment to encourage your compadres!
                      Come on it's your turn!

Old Love

I found two of my old army men digging through my families garden on Detroit's lower east side.  This guy is encrusted with 1963 dirt. Having him back in my hand put me in a playful mood as I remembered how, with my buddies Sean and Dan,  played war all day creating long dramatic battles that were fought in the miniature world, in our imaginations, and there in the neighborhood as we ran freely. Back then we judged a kid on his ability to "die." If another kid caught you with his virtual machine gun, a weapon more than likely morphed from a stick, you needed to spin in agony hurling your own gun skyward and then fall earthward in a broken mess in order to make any kind of positive impression. Our beloved Dads were WWII veterans and we were raised on the black and white war movies of the era. They framed our play time and gave us some context for judging melodrama.
   Can a toy have soul? In this case, for me, the answer is obvious. Occasionally I still take out this relic and play! Old Love!

World Bird Wednesday XV

The Great Egret  (Ardea alba)

These photos were taken on a bright  afternoon just outside of Sarasota, Florida in an area known as the Celery Fields. These wetlands had been drained in the last years of the 1800's for agricultural use. The main crop grown here was...celery! In 1994 the land was purchased by Sarasota county and re-crafted again into wetlands capable of storing excess rainwater. Soon after the birds returned and it is claimed 185 species have been observed here in the years since. Florida is catching on to the fact that bird watching is a big eco-tourist attraction.

Blown Highlights Are Us!

It was a tough test trying to get pictures of these brilliant white waders that weren't blown out. How wonderful it would be to spend a month photographing these magnificent critters instead of a couple hours. I'm sure there are ways to compensate for such conditions that I'm not aware of other than waiting for an overcast day. Mid-day sun is sure good for getting the fast shutter speeds necessary for Birds in flight though.

  

        Now it's time for World Bird Wednesday XV
    
      This is the home of World Bird Wednesday. A place for bird photographers from around the world to gather and share their photographs and experiences as they pursue Natures most diverse and beautiful treasurers, the birds. The Blogosphere connects like minded people from around our planet like no other technology can do. World Bird Wednesday will be open for posting at 12 noon Tuesday EST North America through midnight on Wednesday.


    You are invited to link your blog with other bird photographers in a weekly celebration of these most diverse and intriguing of Earth's residents, the BIRDS.

                                                      

#1. Simply copy the above picture onto your W.B.W. blog entry. It contains a link for your readers to share in WBW. Or you can copy this link on to your blog page to share W.B.W. http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/

#2. Come to The Pine River Review on Tuesday Noon EST North America through Wednesday midnight and submit your blog entry with Linky.

#3. Check back in during the course of the next day and explore these excellent photoblogs!


You don't have to be a Bird Watcher or expert photographer to join in--just enjoy sharing what you bring back from your explorations and adventures into nature.

The thumbnails below are links to our contributors blogs where you can view their beautiful posts. The idea of a meme is that you will visit each others blogs and perhaps leave a comment to encourage your compadres!

                     Come on it's your turn!