tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24756388990549450422024-02-23T21:02:40.773-05:00The Pine River ReviewSpringmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09094132506583563094noreply@blogger.comBlogger158125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475638899054945042.post-3805479793762699612013-01-21T16:39:00.003-05:002013-01-22T14:42:14.693-05:00I'm a Bluebird<br />
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I hit the bird lottery this week when a flock of Bluebirds visited my yard. They were feeding on the chokecherries incorporated into leafy arrangements of pine branches and sticks nestled in the big ceramic flower pots that sit on our deck by the river. The Bluebirds stuck around the general area for a couple of days before abruptly disappearing into a snow squall. <br />
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For the most part conditions were dark and I had to push my camera to it's limit. Fortunately, the objects of my affection tended to hold steady and I tried as best I could to settle my jittery hands.<br />
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A week later I am still craning my neck hoping my blue and cinnamon friends will return to the
branches of the oak tree where they staged their forays into the berry
laden twigs.<br />
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We who live in traditional Bluebird territories have a responsibility to provide suitable housing for these beauties as they compete with more aggressive starlings and sparrows for nesting opportunities. Bluebird resurgence is a credit to human intervention.<br />
Sometimes it's a simple choice, to have or have not. <br />
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<a href="http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/bluebird/plans.htm" style="color: lime;" target="_blank">Click here to see the "one board" Bluebird house plan!</a></div>
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Consider the next four shots as you would a short movie. I think they tell a story and... I will resist the urge to caption them.<br />
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<span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;">I'm a Bluebird!</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/mOjxLDcRniE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe> </div>
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Sir Paul McCartney's wonderful "Bluebird," take a listen.</div>
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<a href="http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">To participate in World Bird Wednesday click here</a>. ;-)WBW!</div>
Springmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09094132506583563094noreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475638899054945042.post-26331301938411706392013-01-02T18:19:00.000-05:002013-01-02T20:50:14.763-05:00Heavenly Skies Prevailing<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIsST6ss0wjNxAVzxmHQJwUhQOdCer8weyW4QYfCt9-_5C2lJTZ4gjZjLsGKZ30fEnSgdUCczGmMVmNLg2ZcC8tAdU54_oB3D-bRvmUwKYnckXckixg0wHXQs8NxmpK0wxKfSWcCkGM5tR/s1600/IMG_2192a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="584" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIsST6ss0wjNxAVzxmHQJwUhQOdCer8weyW4QYfCt9-_5C2lJTZ4gjZjLsGKZ30fEnSgdUCczGmMVmNLg2ZcC8tAdU54_oB3D-bRvmUwKYnckXckixg0wHXQs8NxmpK0wxKfSWcCkGM5tR/s640/IMG_2192a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: lime; font-size: large;">And at the top of the tree...</span><br />
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It would have been easy to stay in a somber mood. Featureless clouds dominated the solstice skies and the spooky sad Minor chords of Christmas hymns had long ornamented our musical selections. I was starting to morph into a Gregorian monk. In concert, their forces made a contemplative state of mind irresistible. Even the trusty waters of the Pine River locked up glacier tight with ice flows. How startling it was to see the river asleep again. Of course, those of us masquerading as adults know the water flows quietly underneath; that should be a good metaphor for something. Suzanne suggests it aptly describes the vacant look on my face. Not much movement on the surface but, she infers, I must be considering something below. <br />
She further remarks, "Thank goodness we don't have to make a conscious effort to breathe like whales do."<br />
Was Suz insinuating I would not make a very good whale? To absent minded perhaps?<br />
I told her I had been contemplating the universe (dressing it a little grandly) and I suspected, whales do much the same thing when they're not occupied with their breathing.<br />
"Do you think I would make a good whale?" I ask her.<br />
"You'd soon get tired of eating krill."<br />
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Suzanne is right, I do crave variety and a plankton diet would grow weary, however; I do <em>not</em> get tired of taking bird pictures. During holiday travels my trusty Canon T2i stacked with a 400mm L lens rode shotgun. It was high time to track down the raptors hanging in Michigan's canopy like so many flashy ornaments. <br />
Red tail hawks stalk prey from the limbs of road side trees and make good subject choices under light starved, leaden skies. There are leafless holes to angle tight shots through and the edge of my half closed car window, buffered with a bean bag, makes for a superbly stable platform. I focus at five times magnification until the image is sharp and trigger a short burst of perhaps ten pictures - refocus - fire another series...Whisk, the cars go by. Jittery hands make for lousy pictures at these slow shutter speeds. Now we're having fun!<br />
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I had been playing hell with auto focus. I reasoned there was something wacko with my lens when I could not track birds in flight effectively. Sitting on my rump at Overlook Park I had no choice but to take matters into my own hands, tracking the diving gulls while manically twisting the lens into adjustment. It turned out in the end the T2i was not set to center spot focus, a setting I never adjust. Go figure.<br />
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Working perfectly, auto focus would more than likely have botched this shot preferring the foreground gulls as opposed to the young Bald eagle as it's point of reference. The eagle flew frustratingly close and stayed chronically unfocused before settling into a tree a few hundred yards away perching with two other eagles. I was definitely getting a work out.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="color: lime;">The three wise men...</span></span><br />
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Should I press in close and disturb their calm? Good sense does not often prevail at moments like these and I was left debating my conscience while my busy hands eagerly readied the camera for close ups. <br />
There would be a tiny window of perhaps 30 seconds to attempt a dozen pictures before the eagles spooked at the presence of a human being in their midst and flew off. I did not want to cross that line.<br />
The adult bird was partially clear of branch clutter and holding nicely when I emerged underneath them. Click, click, click, and I backed out, the threesome holding steady.<br />
Later in the evening our skies cleared and Suzanne and I partook of wine soaked star gazing. We looked out at the line formed by the three stars of Orion's belt and followed it to Sirius, the brightest of all stars, now resting on the Eastern horizon. A meteor streaked momentarily between them. An angel, no doubt, encouraging the Wise Men on their profound journey.<br />
I share with you my wish, on that shooting star, for a safe and awe inspiring New Year. "May a thousand angels guide thy steps and keep thee on thy way."<br />
Peace to all who read these words, Dave.<br />
<a href="http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: lime; font-size: large;">;-)WBW!</span></a><br />
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Springmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09094132506583563094noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475638899054945042.post-39374604376677100762012-11-28T00:54:00.000-05:002012-12-18T21:42:09.330-05:00Ahhhhhh...Leftovers!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After the eating binge so recently concluded (and the decimation of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meleagris_gallopavo" title="Meleagris gallopavo"><em>Meleagris gallopavo</em></a> achieved nationwide) I am ready again to sit still and pick through the bones of my recent photo sessions. </div>
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A Brown creeper searching for insects is a fairly rare sight climbing up and around the trunk of the maple tree just outside my living room picture window. You will often catch me laying in wait with my camera cradled on the sill, the pane slid barely open. It is no coincidence a couch is parked right underneath. There is a wonderful confluence of terrains with the river, forest, and farmlands all close by, there's no telling what may perch for a moment in this particular tree. </div>
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I had been chasing the elusive Northern flicker popping back and forth between the trees until it showed up foraging for insects in the boulder pile at the base of the aforementioned maple. I happened to be at my post by the window and suddenly my heart was thumping. <br />
My super thin depth of focus at 5.6f, was part of a grand compromise with an ISO of 400 to achieve a shaky shutter speed of only 1/320. Finding focus on the energetic bird wasn't a sure thing, fortunately I had a few keepers. </div>
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Thank heaven for good pictures because describing the Flicker, appreciating its confusion of dots and dashes, would take a thousand telegraphs a thousand years. </div>
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A Red-breasted nuthatch is a new neighbor, my first sighting ever just this Autumn. I'm pretty sure he's flying solo.<br />
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A male Downy woodpecker in his quest for nourishment.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgratOl6XdJuF20zhP6TbWM3Qn60S7EehW2qeQNL6_s-GkfxlMQcP4YRgIk_Wy9Upp_05waC8bAiEqM0mQK8wESbtefEkaW_fvByEdb10YUbwFmAURrbeqiw06hLyyNRbnif3uunw0hvWDN/s1600/IMG_0337.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgratOl6XdJuF20zhP6TbWM3Qn60S7EehW2qeQNL6_s-GkfxlMQcP4YRgIk_Wy9Upp_05waC8bAiEqM0mQK8wESbtefEkaW_fvByEdb10YUbwFmAURrbeqiw06hLyyNRbnif3uunw0hvWDN/s320/IMG_0337.JPG" width="320" /></a> I have intentionally left this picture small in hopes you might click to enlarge it. It has a micro-focus on the Wax-wings right claw, nothing else on bird or background is clear. Somehow my eye travels right to that very spot and freezes. Up to size and spread across my 15" monitor I think the effect is kind of riveting. </div>
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The pale bandits have cleaned the cherry tree of fruit and will not be back until there is a fresh harvest. That won't be for a good long time but even so, there will be others, the great diversity nature favors, and I shall be waiting for them by the window.<br />
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Springmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09094132506583563094noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475638899054945042.post-85998439393816274752012-11-12T23:13:00.000-05:002012-11-27T15:52:43.128-05:00With Respect to Cavegirls...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN5zydnVtH9kUyAg3BuQfptg9SwFXVyJUniY1OvbevNcLWs7lR_sijK40-H9l_2XTkRnHmUKOs157jx68-t2O2Owpi6rVpsDvuC4lHAjCl94oIHLjqS6NguJok3MC1gzZ-Df8jBt7gQhMX/s1600/IMG_5859a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN5zydnVtH9kUyAg3BuQfptg9SwFXVyJUniY1OvbevNcLWs7lR_sijK40-H9l_2XTkRnHmUKOs157jx68-t2O2Owpi6rVpsDvuC4lHAjCl94oIHLjqS6NguJok3MC1gzZ-Df8jBt7gQhMX/s640/IMG_5859a.jpg" width="400" /></a> It seems that Fall has moved by me with astounding speed from the first unexpected tinges of red and gold in the hardwoods to these latter days of burnt orange, peppery grays, and of course, the omni-present browns that crunch underneath my feet. I have stayed pretty close to home for the most part this Autumn season except to visit Shiawassee Wildlife Reserve once on a preemptive photographic attack before it's borders were closed off to all but the bird shot slinging shot gunners. Fortunately, my own backyard can keep me busy with photo ops. Such is the blessing of living inside the wild and gun fire free boundaries of the Chippewa Nature Reserve along the Pine River. The wintering birds are arriving and I'm getting acquainted with a troupe of regulars that will have become old and dear friends by winters end. Take this Red-bellied woodpecker as an example, I've had plenty of opportunities to capture it's profile in the cloudy all day twilight so common in a Michigan November. The difficult trick, and it has become something of an obsession, has been to catch him (her?) clearly in-flight. Believe me, those wings are beautiful spread out airborne. That shot, when it comes, will take <em>light</em> and <em>luck</em> to pull off and Luck <em>has been at hand,</em> providing for example; a flock of Cedar-waxwings just at the golden hour scarfing up dried cherries in the orchard. I have been able to creep close and drop the shutter on these genteel souls often. So, the luck is there.<br />
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Now all I need is light. </div>
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<span style="color: lime; font-size: large;">Eaten Alive</span></div>
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Night drops like an iron curtain at 5:30. After that the woods and river that surround my home crowd in with a deep and impenetrable darkness. When your out in "The Dark" and most especially alone, deep shadows can transform branches into bears and boulders into tusk wielding wild boars. Those under functioning hunter gatherer instincts, formed over 200,000 years of living in the field, can flood your central nervous system with an uncontrollable dread, the fear of being hunted and eaten alive by fellow creatures. I have seen this outdated instinct run amok in my partner Suzanne who has come to live with me in the pseudo wilderness outside fortress Detroit, leaving the street-light drenched safety of city nights behind. The call of the wild is heavy upon her and she feels a little threatened by it, just my opinion. </div>
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Yes, there is an increasing population of wild feral hogs in the general area and it is open season all year 'round on them, even the odd male bear has been seen to roam through the county in the early spring dejectedly looking for territory... But really, the circumstances surrounding the last person eaten alive by a wild animal in Mid-Michigan probably had a saber-toothed tiger associated with it.</div>
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I have no problem walking through the neighboring woods at night, (that's how brave I am!) I kind of like the feel of hair standing up on the back of my neck. From here we can charge across the road and hike for miles through the familiar forest, lucky us. We do so nearly everyday and Suzanne is wonderful to walk with, when the sun shines. Her amazing sense of hearing and smell fill in nicely for my siren ears and other smoke reduced sensations. </div>
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However; as visibility subsides and the other senses heighten in importance, she detects the aroma of things that are not there. Walking at night sets her on edge. Her freshly fueled ancient instinct to check for the possibility of wild animal threats burns brightly and unashamedly against a truly dark nightfall. At the witching hour the prehistoric Bio-chemistry that boils up from below bubbles away any small comfort statistical analysis can bring. In a single adrenalin filled heartbeat imagination can easily best boring old common sense.</div>
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Last night Suzanne served us more than a morsel of shear fight/flight terror. We had just arrived home and I went in to unlock. Suz was alone outside unpacking the trunk when a pack of coyotes within a spears throw of our front door started howling loudly and plaintively. She yelled for me to come quickly. The blood curdling din, such as I have never heard, did not abate and the look of vindication on her face, that <em>I told you so</em> moment, well, I'm sure that has not changed in a hundred thousand years. </div>
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Give the cavegirl credit, she had it right this time. </div>
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<span style="color: lime; font-size: large;">Speaking of Howlin' Wolf...</span> </div>
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I have been pushing my study of bass guitar perhaps a little to hard. My left hand is in a uproar. I am rehabbing, but what I need right now is to lay off. The Rickenbacker lays tilted against the couch pleading, "What's up man, wanna play?" How can I not say yes? So I pick it up and bang on it long enough to test for pain and stiffness and set it back down. I've got a gig Wednesday night; blues and rock for three hours straight, no breaks. Stupid right? That's why I'm being so good about icing and heating, I sure don't want to be dragging around a lame hand when things get cookin'.</div>
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I am in dire need of diversion.</div>
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Many a blues man has remarked about a supernatural influence on their playing. A crossroads moment if you will, when a sort of deal is struck with destiny. Did Robert Johnson truly sell his young soul? I've often thought Bob Dylan's deal involved never being able to come off the road in exchange for his genius and fame. These are extreme cases, often fate pushes it cause in subtler ways.</div>
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I was tired of woodsy solitude and made the trip to town. Always I hit the second hand stores. Here I find my people, a little tattered around the edges, with that shy, yet wonderfully optimistic personality obsessive/compulsive people tend to have. Like them, I look for odd bargains and project materials mostly, occasionally I find something more. When I started poking through a bin of cassette tapes I had no idea what I was getting into. One after another old blues titles emerged; Robert Cray, Robert Johnson, Bobby Blue Bland, B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon, John Lee Hooker and on and on 'till my arms were filled with 50 of the little treasurer chests. What a gift, and they were half off too, the whole lot set me back only ten bucks! </div>
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As I play through these gems, so eloquent and soulful, I wonder, who originally collected them and why and how did they wind up on a shelf for me to stumble upon in a second hand store? Like the movie, "The Red Violin," the history of ownership can be as interesting as the object itself. </div>
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Certainly this find was a good push in the right direction for me, positively enlightening, and yes, I feel a little personal visitation from the <em>powers that be</em> was involved. The whole experience had that peculiar otherworldly vibe. Could moments like these soon be outlawed? </div>
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In my country, before our Supreme Court, rests this question: Should it be <em><u>illegal</u></em> for Americans to resell or give away their privately owned copyrighted material such as books, C.D.'s, and DVD's? </div>
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Copyright owners argue that they should be paid every time their work changes hands. If our Justices come down in favour of publishers interests over the rights of property owners used book stores, thrift shops and their E-quivalents like Amazon and E-bay, will be restricted from selling used items such as these. The very premise of a lending library or a neighbor to neighbor sale might be threatened.</div>
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Consumerism could reach new depths with this "buy and burn" idiocy.</div>
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Will new rule?... and the Hand Me Down Blues sung from sea to shinning sea? </div>
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<a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2012/10/29/supreme-court-grapples-with-copyright-law-and-the-resale-trade/" target="_blank"><span style="color: lime; font-size: large;">Click here to learn more about this issue!</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-upu8kxXWoP8/UJx7-axi4qI/AAAAAAAADW8/R5c3kwz47rY/s1600/IMG_8297.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-upu8kxXWoP8/UJx7-axi4qI/AAAAAAAADW8/R5c3kwz47rY/s640/IMG_8297.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" closure_uid_jmgw7e="2" hda="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7LCSKx8zlW4u1sYgo75PDflmV0Hj6G6-O45tjjrHmyalnuQnPXNLIcyhIc8wOmJdJGX7_kns-UYmD4nGSVxjxrK7l7N1iH17pE389bxRmUhjiE576bO-SSUsARVBgErbtM8F762BLigIz/s200/Wild+Bird+Wednesday.jpg" width="166" /></a> <span style="font-size: large;">Be there or be square! ;-)WBW!</span></div>
Springmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09094132506583563094noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475638899054945042.post-18886763239381138222012-09-04T12:40:00.000-04:002012-09-05T08:17:39.138-04:00;-)WBW!<span style="color: lime; font-size: x-large;">What's Shakin'...</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fFBtrJgtc8U/UDBJBW8jsqI/AAAAAAAADPw/zrcALx3qprc/s1600/IMG_3315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fFBtrJgtc8U/UDBJBW8jsqI/AAAAAAAADPw/zrcALx3qprc/s640/IMG_3315.JPG" width="398" /></a></div>
Hummingbirds are darting around my backyard like stray electrons and I fell victim to the urge to dust off the 400mm and try for some clicks. <br />
I had been holding faithfully to the tenants of my own self-imposed bird photography austerity program. My resolve is apparently slipping. Can this hobby become an untenable addiction? I'm here to tell you.<br />
I knew I was getting into trouble when I could not see a bird without jumping reflexively into action, taking any chance to achieve a picture. It's taken some time but I can now actually take a paddle in my kayak (without the camera) and enjoy scanning the landscape for things other than avian life. And get this, I can even see that "well lit" bird and not lament the fact I don't have a camera in hand. This is progress for me, not being so driven. I can be a simple son of nature again and not a thorn in the side of every bird I get within a hundred feet of.<br />
Hummingbirds, however, have made me less cautious and I have risked this hard fought, if tenuous "cure," (my new relaxed attitude that is,) and taken up the camera again. It sure felt good, fraught as it is with danger, like a call from an old girlfriend. I should know better than to tug on the devils tail. My best interests lay in a more balanced approached to life, it's easy to get carried away.<br />
Still, I want to share! <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fvBFanD2sS8/UDBHJJDEgXI/AAAAAAAADPo/B9WuXcbGefk/s1600/IMG_3021a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="398" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fvBFanD2sS8/UDBHJJDEgXI/AAAAAAAADPo/B9WuXcbGefk/s640/IMG_3021a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I have dusted off another of my old toys, the '76 fireglo Rickenbacker bass guitar that has languished under my bed for to long. Laying down bass lines for a talent group of blues musician here in town is reviving an old passion. My mind has been awash with all things bass; scales, grooves, and electronics. I have been running over old Motown tunes trying to reclaim my funky heritage in the rhythmic rattling of rib cages.<br />
Shake it up baby!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmzuFYzPWmvYxdlxNNgBYZax34UzbMq5vsBMn4xbMP9cwOxBfUm90JarjHNBM_BgUSOfO1aIPeYTSCaRoG0KH2qF-vKqEboPbHN4CftQ6IRiQr7QXfWqVYXo52NFWcJ2Q0S_A_LsQDfsY4/s1600/IMG_3337a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmzuFYzPWmvYxdlxNNgBYZax34UzbMq5vsBMn4xbMP9cwOxBfUm90JarjHNBM_BgUSOfO1aIPeYTSCaRoG0KH2qF-vKqEboPbHN4CftQ6IRiQr7QXfWqVYXo52NFWcJ2Q0S_A_LsQDfsY4/s640/IMG_3337a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">"You'll never really know your friends from your enemies...</span><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">until the ice breaks."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"> Eskimo Proverb</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qiOfVi5YwPQ/UEV_NUnCffI/AAAAAAAADQs/vUarBkEKRGw/s1600/IMG_3804.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qiOfVi5YwPQ/UEV_NUnCffI/AAAAAAAADQs/vUarBkEKRGw/s640/IMG_3804.JPG" width="470" /></a> I saw an article recently reporting a new record ice loss for the Arctic ocean this summer. This years melt has exceeded 2007's record with three weeks to spare. According to satellite images we are losing a mind boggling 29,000 square miles of ice per day! The polar ice mass and Arctic region in general is acting like a heat sink with median temperatures raising much faster there than the planet at large. Old, stable ice that is formed by years of normally frigid temperatures has thinned to half its historic thickness and is diminishing into slush. </div>
For hundreds of years humankind has dreamt of a North-West passage; a quick shipping route from Europe and the North Atlantic to Pacific Ocean markets. For the second time in history, 2007 and this day in 2012 the North-West passage is wide open!<br />
Oil speculators are jockeying for the rights to newly opened Arctic oil deposits and the potential profits implied from exploiting these vast under-sea reserves. This carbon candy, along with the realisation of a mythical short cut uniting three continents, has corporate planners eagerly preparing to take advantage of a possible <em>complete summer Arctic ice melt</em> in the near future. This should be inconceivable. Climate models put the arrival of an ice-less Arctic summer as soon as five years away and almost certainly within a few decades. <br />
Think of it, with a ice free polar ocean, no longer would commerce be at the mercy of political unrest along the Suez and Panama canals with the bonus of travel distances being cut for massive ocean going vessels by 40%.<br />
It would be no small coincidence, a choice irony, if the very corporate and political concerns that stand to profit from such a calamity are the same ones propelling the problem. While we, the "Great Unwashed," ponder the peril, others are busy maximising their financial positions, making friends with the inevitable. That's called hedging your bet.<br />
One of our Presidential candidates bites his lip in mock despair when referencing the rising tide. I can follow the money trail that leads to those who anticipate this disaster greedily.<br />
Their message: Global warming? Don't worry people, it's probably nothing...go back to sleep.<br />
I believe the polar opposite.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0XLx1jl7WderN6BGHY1XCmx2Qe9uf6eqcdxdbm5OIUB-_EIDU1HJ8cYM_CqIONA7ATfOm_M47T8VdXhvDitzes7GaxzrjrOguUn5jjbl9WU-HKPyO5GAAmLLqhprQc3ihSbMdnf1teclr/s1600/IMG_2817.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0XLx1jl7WderN6BGHY1XCmx2Qe9uf6eqcdxdbm5OIUB-_EIDU1HJ8cYM_CqIONA7ATfOm_M47T8VdXhvDitzes7GaxzrjrOguUn5jjbl9WU-HKPyO5GAAmLLqhprQc3ihSbMdnf1teclr/s640/IMG_2817.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Springmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09094132506583563094noreply@blogger.com44tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475638899054945042.post-57719894535347007952012-07-18T14:12:00.000-04:002012-07-19T09:44:38.454-04:00Good News!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" closure_uid_jmgw7e="2" hda="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7LCSKx8zlW4u1sYgo75PDflmV0Hj6G6-O45tjjrHmyalnuQnPXNLIcyhIc8wOmJdJGX7_kns-UYmD4nGSVxjxrK7l7N1iH17pE389bxRmUhjiE576bO-SSUsARVBgErbtM8F762BLigIz/s320/Wild+Bird+Wednesday.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: lime; font-size: large;">Click on this picture to move to <em>Wild Bird Wednesday</em>!</span></div>
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Our good friend Stewart has picked up the ball I dropped with the conclusion of <em>World</em> Bird Wednesday and is continuing the WBW tradition with his new meme <em>Wild</em> Bird Wednesday. I could not have hoped for a better transition. Join me in participating with the WBW community at this new venue.</div>
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Carry on Stewart! Cheers everyone...Dave</div>Springmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09094132506583563094noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475638899054945042.post-59527995205296341322012-07-10T10:08:00.000-04:002012-08-15T08:01:20.739-04:00World Bird Wednesday LXXXVI<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGBFsEZdbkVtRIS8wNn7uGTXNRl84qg0TOzA6JWRffuKTqAybpjFdgXJ-yuPaJxmncrCQtaBFIMUpPHVLKhf6p9BS5hofDD7QEYRVLdRSt99Kl-pveRIAa3ub4GRUnGJkVmkIERla2Y3Ve/s1600/IMG_1511a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGBFsEZdbkVtRIS8wNn7uGTXNRl84qg0TOzA6JWRffuKTqAybpjFdgXJ-yuPaJxmncrCQtaBFIMUpPHVLKhf6p9BS5hofDD7QEYRVLdRSt99Kl-pveRIAa3ub4GRUnGJkVmkIERla2Y3Ve/s640/IMG_1511a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: lime; font-size: x-large;">Flying the Friendly Skies</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cOLyun0zje0/T_o_APiqWAI/AAAAAAAADOY/oaJfdpA8beA/s1600/IMG_1866.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="606" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cOLyun0zje0/T_o_APiqWAI/AAAAAAAADOY/oaJfdpA8beA/s640/IMG_1866.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I suppose everyone who raises a Dslr to their eye in hopes of capturing a bird in the wild will one day, perhaps in a fit of boredom, level their steely gaze on a dragonfly. I am no different. Chasing bugs to get their pictures is about as strange as I get, as strange as you <em>can</em> get perhaps. Couple that with the fact that dragonfly love is the most complicated and time intensive study one can take on <em>and</em> if your unlucky enough to get hooked on the color, vagaries, and alien good looks of these bugs to boot, you too will be considered one strange bird indeed.<br />
How naked is nature? Sex, death, and the fight for survival are all played out in raw theater. Look carefully and you will see the awful and the sublime living closely and improbably like poorly matched neighbors. When your looking for one, you will sometimes unfortunately find the other.<br />
Case in point. Suzanne and I were finishing up a lovely breakfast out at the Pine river when we spotted a young bald eagle cruising low over the water. When the bird returned a few seconds later we scurried out on the deck and were greeted with the sound of ducks quacking frantically. I grabbed the camera and bolted for the steps leading to the river bank. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3_e_Igp39zvBMNg3DfCOkT1j9tOyNXqXNQTuLu87oB_A8NZrkDmigfAzjkm545e7WZ3tFD8WDFs42qEZbMjvUuu3xM9br4JIFLFO7kX_FVP-rh1w1y19LUTJPP-PcjzwyZjyRFJpPAcTf/s1600/IMG_1516a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3_e_Igp39zvBMNg3DfCOkT1j9tOyNXqXNQTuLu87oB_A8NZrkDmigfAzjkm545e7WZ3tFD8WDFs42qEZbMjvUuu3xM9br4JIFLFO7kX_FVP-rh1w1y19LUTJPP-PcjzwyZjyRFJpPAcTf/s640/IMG_1516a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I guess it doesn't get much plainer than this. There's a kind of hard truth here that defies any attempt to anthropomorphise goodness, resourcefulness, or courage where it does not belong. <br />
Our eagle did not consume it's catch but dropped it back in the river and flew off in search of a more substantial meal. There is a one legged duckling swimming hard on the Pine river tonight.<br />
Just another random act of survival.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p8H2ycIcoUg/T_oDOEzrb5I/AAAAAAAADOI/316SZXPOjNI/s1600/IMG_1526a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="338" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p8H2ycIcoUg/T_oDOEzrb5I/AAAAAAAADOI/316SZXPOjNI/s640/IMG_1526a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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"Come away, O human child: To the waters and the wild with a fairy, hand in hand, for the world's more full of weeping than you can understand."<br />
William Yeats<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1hkAAhf1_bo/T_pJ6GmqRqI/AAAAAAAADOg/65On41LoWUI/s1600/IMG_1756.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1hkAAhf1_bo/T_pJ6GmqRqI/AAAAAAAADOg/65On41LoWUI/s640/IMG_1756.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: lime;">With this installment I am concluding the 86 week run of World Bird Wednesday. The Pine River Review will reemerge on a semi-regular basis. Take care birders!</span><br />
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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
beautiful treasurers, the birds. <span style="color: black;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">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!</span></div>
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<a href="http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOBECj8nvDruOlMz8FJgl2daXEVyuExNvs1_jt_CAjSe-QPJiYOaTCgcCJweSWD0Y9uTvPIXurLmE1SVTSLjEY7PxtlGSER_giXt-mxRaBBrY6SuKsEvihvcrikPMV9HWIv3z7amKUkSt/s200/IMG_1314ps.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#1</span></span>Simply copy the above picture onto your
W.B.W. blog entry, it contains a link for your readers to share in the fun. Or,
you can copy this link on to your blog page to share WBW. </span><a href="http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: black;">http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/</span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#2</span></span>Come to The
Pine River Review on Tuesday Noon EST North America through Wednesday midnight
and submit your blog entry with InLinkz.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#3</span></span>Check back in during the course of the
next day and explore these excellent photoblogs!</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">The idea of a meme is that you will visit each others blogs
and perhaps leave a comment to encourage your compatriots!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">Come on it's your
turn!</span></span></span></div>
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</script>Springmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09094132506583563094noreply@blogger.com52tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475638899054945042.post-26608903646889609212012-07-03T10:03:00.000-04:002012-07-08T10:26:06.362-04:00World Bird Wednesday LXXXV<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCA4dcqqY-AAB1Z58OYZSTy6E5r7Bv0JeaP8a-Loduh8TSC665KG1eo4QhDqLI8oVr3z2Q_S2Y23OmgQl_OpwtDeQa-O9uWQnkW5hplArsNiDX9njy0sLD946sC4DMMgsjJyZ1uKaUxW2Y/s1600/IMG_3683.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCA4dcqqY-AAB1Z58OYZSTy6E5r7Bv0JeaP8a-Loduh8TSC665KG1eo4QhDqLI8oVr3z2Q_S2Y23OmgQl_OpwtDeQa-O9uWQnkW5hplArsNiDX9njy0sLD946sC4DMMgsjJyZ1uKaUxW2Y/s640/IMG_3683.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: lime; font-size: x-large;">Let's Get This Party Started!</span>
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It's that time of year. The heat has reached triple digits and fireworks light our skies. It's time to party, crack the top on a few beers, and get a little crazy!<br />
I used to have a wild fascination with fireworks. That is until I inadvertently shot myself with a Roman candle years ago. I have a nice apple sized scar on the side of my knee to remind me just how hot pyrotechnics burn. Now I am a bit more cautious. Just last year my son and I lit one of those white hot bombs that explode with a chest rattling concussion. Instead of shooting high into the night, it peaked at about twenty feet and Kaboom...two very scared firemen hit the deck much to the amusement of our guests!<br />
That pure light against a black velvet sky is captivating. In my header picture a brightly lit Green heron flies through a shadowy background like a rocket taking flight. We bird photographers seldom reach for our cameras after dusk, that is our time to rake over our hundreds of brightly illuminated jpegs searching for something remarkable.<br />
In the spirit of our Independence from England that we Americans celebrate this week, I took my camera out and poked around in a dark and unfamiliar territory; a New World, if you will.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-24-bZxTG15E/T_Lv2ZpixoI/AAAAAAAADNY/1A-OVqyent0/s1600/IMG_6010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="396" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-24-bZxTG15E/T_Lv2ZpixoI/AAAAAAAADNY/1A-OVqyent0/s640/IMG_6010.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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First, a tip of the cap to the Spirit of '76</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"Far out!"</span></div>
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Anonymous</div>
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Okay, I'll admit our partying can go a bit far at times! This picture was made by mixing eight drunk hippies, two lighted Frisbee's, and a long exposure at 4:15 AM, well shaken...to be continued.<br />
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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
beautiful treasurers, the birds. <span style="color: black;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">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!</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#1</span></span>Simply copy the above picture onto your
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#2</span></span>Come to The
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#3</span></span>Check back in during the course of the
next day and explore these excellent photoblogs!</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">The idea of a meme is that you will visit each others blogs
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<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">Come on it's your
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</script>Springmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09094132506583563094noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475638899054945042.post-61574856912334411522012-06-26T10:32:00.001-04:002012-07-02T21:04:32.019-04:00World Bird Wednesday LXXXIV<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: black; font-size: x-large;">In Pursuit of the <span style="color: yellow;">Yellow</span> Headed Black Bird</span></div>
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Two years ago I was chatting with a lady who owned a sport fishing business along the marshy shoreline of Saginaw Bay. Day after day she experienced the comings and goings of this great bird flyway in a passive sense, not studying it exactly, but being surrounded by such rich avian life she was privy to tons of anecdotal information. She told me about the strange Yellow-headed black birds she would occasionally see. I was intrigued. As much as I bum around the back roads and marshes of the Saginaw Valley you'd think I'd have heard of such an interesting photographic prospect. I immediately put her marshy address on my list of birding hot spots and returned often in hopes of catching a glimpse of this bird. I never got lucky.<br />
The years passed, and the cycles of migration came and went without me getting a look at a creature my research showed should be at hand. It remained an itch that would not be scratched until last week when I came by some information purporting to give the location of the largest colony of Yellow-headed black birds in the Saginaw Bay watershed. In my minds eye I began to conjure a magnificent WBW entry replete with gorgeously detailed portraits of it's brightly contrasted plumage. <br />
I readied a thermos of coffee and a half dozen cinnamon apple cookies and thusly prepared, drove off in pursuit of the Yellow-headed black bird.<br />
As so often happens, fate had finer plans.<br />
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I was seeing a scattering of high clouds and hoped I would be blessed with those thinly overcast skies that would give me a choice variety of lighting conditions. No luck there, the cloud cover dissipated into nothingness along the bay. There would be the stark shadows of a bright June sun to deal with.</div>
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Very little bird life showed itself until, walking a dirt path along a dyke system about a mile and a half deep into the marsh, I saw a dead bush with a brood of Tree swallows perched on it's dry limbs. My presence did not stir them. Unfortunately the high ground of the dyke was not at a good angle to the sun so I began to swing wide out into the marsh and come up from the South-East to approach the swallows in harmony with the light. A little blood was being shed as pickers scraped my arms and legs. That was easy to ignore when adult swallows began flying in to feed the youngsters.</div>
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My shutter speed was at a smoking 1/1600, ISO 400, @ f7.1 and as I was shaking and fumbling with focus issues I needed all that. I kept shooting and I kept moving in. The action was fast, the view exquisite. I had the elation of witnessing an extraordinary sight and at the same time a sick feeling in my stomach, brought there by the doubt that any of it was convincingly locked in my camera. </div>
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Sunburned and bleeding I walked back to my car thoroughly broiled by my experience, Yellow-headed black birds having been eclipsed by the common Tree swallow. I rewarded myself with coffee and cookies. Then what do you know...darting through the sky over the cattails at a mad pace I saw it's yellow head and black torso. I had time to swing the camera out for a couple of good clicks.</div>
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I waited and prayed through the hot mid-day for a closer encounter but I would come no further this day and sailed my little car home content. </div>
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<span style="color: lime;">"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours."</span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"> </span><span style="color: black;">Henry David Thoreau</span></div>
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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 beautiful treasurers, the birds. <span style="color: black;"></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black;">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!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOBECj8nvDruOlMz8FJgl2daXEVyuExNvs1_jt_CAjSe-QPJiYOaTCgcCJweSWD0Y9uTvPIXurLmE1SVTSLjEY7PxtlGSER_giXt-mxRaBBrY6SuKsEvihvcrikPMV9HWIv3z7amKUkSt/s200/IMG_1314ps.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#1</span></span>Simply copy the above picture onto your
W.B.W. blog entry, it contains a link for your readers to share in the fun. Or,
you can copy this link on to your blog page to share WBW. </span><a href="http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: black;">http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/</span></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#2</span></span>Come to The
Pine River Review on Tuesday Noon EST North America through Wednesday midnight
and submit your blog entry with InLinkz.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#3</span></span>Check back in during the course of the
next day and explore these excellent photoblogs!</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">The idea of a meme is that you will visit each others blogs
and perhaps leave a comment to encourage your compatriots!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">Come on it's your
turn!</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb2hWnr2ZpzG7iG1U2Qc8SyFMWB5NwuilaNjamb3e__JWtpOvwfCbVusLJmWPDExsZ-RXrohbt8XQLWjVJ81HMoHF65tP_zZVCjTt3Iic14fkUSEV2RlEYrIS3MHsV1gM8_UhMaaiHqCvM/s1600/IMG_9769a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb2hWnr2ZpzG7iG1U2Qc8SyFMWB5NwuilaNjamb3e__JWtpOvwfCbVusLJmWPDExsZ-RXrohbt8XQLWjVJ81HMoHF65tP_zZVCjTt3Iic14fkUSEV2RlEYrIS3MHsV1gM8_UhMaaiHqCvM/s640/IMG_9769a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: lime; font-size: large;">It's All a Blur </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJIM_nanDEVJ1zV7HoT9_k30tXcRIMMAWptb6vDNlyiEDAapb2EdwUGgrk9sWtFTLdpSCJDk0kHBuHtrFj3YwwiXoOIED8ZqrzQCQmt62VfGaNwyrJLpNO8HvJyzwsVob0FXz78c2RPyH/s1600/IMG_7803.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJIM_nanDEVJ1zV7HoT9_k30tXcRIMMAWptb6vDNlyiEDAapb2EdwUGgrk9sWtFTLdpSCJDk0kHBuHtrFj3YwwiXoOIED8ZqrzQCQmt62VfGaNwyrJLpNO8HvJyzwsVob0FXz78c2RPyH/s640/IMG_7803.JPG" width="458" /></a>When folks talk lovingly about the aesthetics of photography one of the qualities they will gush about is bokeh. The word <em>bokeh</em> is derived from a Japanese expression meaning blurry, foggy, or even moronic. <br />
In photographic terms it describes the creamy, out of focus background setting off a detailed foreground subject.<br />
There are a few ways to achieve this uncluttered look. One is to have a naturally distant background. These oriole captures were taken on a river bank, the far side woods 150 feet away. Even at f8 the birds are set off much the same way a diamond ring is displayed on black velvet. Nothing competes with the bird for our eyes attention in these compositions. While this makes for a great guide book photo the look is rather two dimensional and lacks tension.<br />
In my mind the trick is to leave enough detail in the blur to suggest an emotion other than blah! <br />
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Another super creamy bokeh... and I like the out of focus leaves counter balancing the oriole.</div>
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<span style="color: black;">Derive happiness in oneself from a good days work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Henri Matisse</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZcKX4zlIoEc/T9__ETYfTaI/AAAAAAAADHo/rFd8QXax4X0/s1600/IMG_5214a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZcKX4zlIoEc/T9__ETYfTaI/AAAAAAAADHo/rFd8QXax4X0/s640/IMG_5214a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Another way to create good bokeh is by using a narrow depth of focus, dropping your f stop to it's lowest number especially on a longer lens, something 50mm or more. The narrow layer of focus in this composition is rock solid on the eye of the grackle, everything else is a blur. My 400mm lens is set at 5.6 and the trees of the river bank start about 15 feet beyond the bird. The bokeh crackles like lightening and has something of that elusive third dimension.<br />
Bokehlicious!<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8YTsyseHZhg/T9_15rED3KI/AAAAAAAADHg/yFACbYZ38xM/s1600/IMG_0813.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8YTsyseHZhg/T9_15rED3KI/AAAAAAAADHg/yFACbYZ38xM/s640/IMG_0813.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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This is the home of World Bird Wednesday. A place for bird photographers from
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCNYk00NSpMJ6eB2gFws6QL1ltfCiR_9zKxow9xjr0eTiD4bJ61vNxF4LDuzt2sk9IRCZ0qyQWSroMZfBG75Iv1xc87R8T7YtsyyGvWwtwLyjBSU5cFtS3hwH7F8nYbuAmZ5_cbR72D_Z5/s1600/IMG_3127.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCNYk00NSpMJ6eB2gFws6QL1ltfCiR_9zKxow9xjr0eTiD4bJ61vNxF4LDuzt2sk9IRCZ0qyQWSroMZfBG75Iv1xc87R8T7YtsyyGvWwtwLyjBSU5cFtS3hwH7F8nYbuAmZ5_cbR72D_Z5/s640/IMG_3127.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: lime; font-size: large;">Catch of the Day</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOLbU81GLMePD4D0YKx1LKTNoFXlQUb_tYMWf07GDbIK2flRDhoXsSBGFbHJTfaplm4T6tFlU069bNPmRYkDtFrrMUnMdrbirxTSDH1eiq732749zWZ3O_X3tp6IwHWsF7OuYyv3ZErYiu/s1600/IMG_9594.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOLbU81GLMePD4D0YKx1LKTNoFXlQUb_tYMWf07GDbIK2flRDhoXsSBGFbHJTfaplm4T6tFlU069bNPmRYkDtFrrMUnMdrbirxTSDH1eiq732749zWZ3O_X3tp6IwHWsF7OuYyv3ZErYiu/s640/IMG_9594.JPG" width="366" /></a></div>
Michigan's wetlands are full of life. Insect, plant, and fish production is in full swing and the herons have arrived to take advantage of it. The trick, of course, is finding them. The American bittern, to your right, is a real find. They stalk the reed beds hunting for fish and reptiles that make up their diet. When Bitterns sense they have been spotted, they freeze, their head and slender neck held high imitating the long leafed cat tails. Take your eye off of them for an instant and poof, they melt into the back ground.<br />
Other of the local herons are not so reclusive; such as the Green, Blue, and Night herons. These birds simply fly away the moment they detect your presence. While it's tough enough getting a clear shot, lighting conditions further complicate the challenge of capturing these waders. Back-lighting has always been a problem for me. I like to have the sun over my shoulder, but who doesn't? <br />
It seems like I see birds quickly after entering a patch and not so much later. I take pains to plan a route that optimises lighting angles and make sure to click off a few test shots before taking the plunge. Thing is, my exposure might be set for shadow play but what happens when suddenly, a spooked heron takes to flight in a super bright sky, can I remember to change the shutter speed on the fly? <br />
Since bird photography is still, and always will be, the art of the happy accident I wonder; what do you do to prepare mentally and technically for a day of photography? Of course, nothing happens unless your out there trying!<br />
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P.S.<br />
The thumbnail board that is created by adding your blogs to WBW is an amazing display. Your artistic bent has taken thumbnail composition unto the next level. Thank you for your kind participation as a World Birder and creating this fantastic virtual quilt!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir1_g4mF-MVRHhACups1KGLyd1hdnCnAZCqoNhdk6cDo5UD_RohcIEGnPZaVfj3M82Cxv9h33Ddyrc3Pv9OmBGJmVJhyiLR09uDH8ZbVzL7RWVMxBDhW9TGrI97QPsLsft19fun6p2lpuO/s1600/IMG_1477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir1_g4mF-MVRHhACups1KGLyd1hdnCnAZCqoNhdk6cDo5UD_RohcIEGnPZaVfj3M82Cxv9h33Ddyrc3Pv9OmBGJmVJhyiLR09uDH8ZbVzL7RWVMxBDhW9TGrI97QPsLsft19fun6p2lpuO/s640/IMG_1477.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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This is the home of World Bird Wednesday. A place for bird photographers from
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pursue Natures most beautiful treasurers, the birds. <span style="color: black;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">You don't have to be a Bird Watcher or expert photographer
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</script>Springmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09094132506583563094noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475638899054945042.post-44610704338114127802012-06-05T09:54:00.002-04:002012-06-15T07:24:38.306-04:00World Bird Wednesday LXXXI<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WnnqBaLZPss/T9sbZFntmaI/AAAAAAAADGM/gtPaGpXdAg8/s1600/IMG_0734A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WnnqBaLZPss/T9sbZFntmaI/AAAAAAAADGM/gtPaGpXdAg8/s640/IMG_0734A.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c0QVndkj_2Y/T8wEX3rqReI/AAAAAAAADB8/pb5P-2b1mmU/s1600/IMG_8132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c0QVndkj_2Y/T8wEX3rqReI/AAAAAAAADB8/pb5P-2b1mmU/s640/IMG_8132.JPG" width="444" /></a><span style="color: lime; font-size: large;">Terror Birds!</span></div>
My late night reading in the early months of retirement has taken me far adrift. Having lost my moorings to the regular hours and work schedule that keeps much of the world thinking about practical matters I surf at the mercy of whimsy and chance encounters. Oh, the shocking things one stumbles across.<br />
I think it is human nature to trust other people, to take for granted they are what they say, that they don't have a dark past or some hidden skeleton hanging high in the family tree. Perhaps I am being a bit naive in this same way when it comes to the gentle creatures I spend so much photographing.<br />
Of course birds are wild animals and we should make no bones that their everyday actions consist of certain bloodthirsty behaviours that would bring you or I a life sentence in prison. Anything resembling civilised conduct in the animal kingdom is probably a hallucination brought on by our own misspent sentiments. I am weak that way. Still, imagine my shock when I discovered the evidence of a axe murderer in the fossil record!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRe6jfnmpqsGpxtCjH-tz_Oxw8WnoGdhyphenhyphen_hyrTsexRRn_rz4uGRddMYgT-21vyMjR84Z7zCbNkC3MrmF_TM0ue2mAeYoKSCCsVGJoE9fvsOc6xzTxvx4NT9GJm68RyCVjTXmcnkM2lkCFB/s1600/terror-bird-fossil-discovered_24805_600x450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRe6jfnmpqsGpxtCjH-tz_Oxw8WnoGdhyphenhyphen_hyrTsexRRn_rz4uGRddMYgT-21vyMjR84Z7zCbNkC3MrmF_TM0ue2mAeYoKSCCsVGJoE9fvsOc6xzTxvx4NT9GJm68RyCVjTXmcnkM2lkCFB/s320/terror-bird-fossil-discovered_24805_600x450.jpg" width="320" /></a> But let me regress about about two million years...</div>
up to that point the landmass of South America was an island continent. The isthmus of Central America was soon to be formed by volcanic irruptions that would make a way for the vastly divergent creatures of N. and S. America to mingle. Unlike the North, where giant mammals and cats ruled the day, in the Southerly Continent avian life reigned supreme, the apex predator, <em>Phorusrhacids,</em> was a ten foot tall flightless bird weighing in at three hundred pounds with a massive hatchet like head used to bludgeon its prey.Terror birds indeed! <br />
Picture credit Ohio University.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h6DTG2PvOwE/T8wLlUFNLRI/AAAAAAAADCs/mSCkYCHqykM/s1600/IMG_7923a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="412" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h6DTG2PvOwE/T8wLlUFNLRI/AAAAAAAADCs/mSCkYCHqykM/s640/IMG_7923a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Terror birds dominated South America for an estimated sixty million years in various forms. Recent fossil discoveries in Texas and Florida indicate the the arrival of TB's in North America may have even pre-dated the so called Great American Interchange of species when the continents where permanently connected by the land bridge. The mysteries abound. Imagine the Saber tooth tiger facing off against <em>Phorusrhacids, </em>that fight surely happened<em>.</em> <br />
It was once thought these predators became extinct about the time man arrived in the new world about ten thousand years ago, that possibly our spear technology spelt an end to them like it did so many of the Mega beasts of North America. Not guilty! Floridian fossils had become mixed with those of more recent epochs in tidal waters causing some theoretical misconceptions. Trace elements indicated these misplaced fossils where about two million years old, not ten thousand! However; no one believes we have made a discernible dent in the true history of these astonishing birds. <br />
What ended it all? Well, maybe it's not over yet. The <em>Seriemas</em> birds of South America are thought to be the closest living relative of the ancient Terror Birds and exhibit the same grizzly technique when hunting larger prey, beating it into submission. Could the Terror Bird reemerge if fate deals our planet's current apex predator (us) a fatal blow?<br />
I must stop drinking coffee so late in the evening!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Click here for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFAIYNkb7FE&feature=related"><span style="font-size: large;">Bonus Terror Bird Video from NG!</span></a></div>
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<br />
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 beautiful treasurers, the birds. <span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black;">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
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</script>Springmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09094132506583563094noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475638899054945042.post-81004717430001848922012-05-29T09:50:00.000-04:002012-06-03T20:56:16.717-04:00World Bird Wednesday LXXX<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qE_7UuINDqU/T8wHm-rlK6I/AAAAAAAADCU/lvZgNhyxLqU/s1600/IMG_8714.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qE_7UuINDqU/T8wHm-rlK6I/AAAAAAAADCU/lvZgNhyxLqU/s640/IMG_8714.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: lime; font-size: x-large;">Compose Yourself</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fHdGCbhxmkE/T8QiN834apI/AAAAAAAADBs/WKCD5w_4P3g/s1600/IMG_8719.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fHdGCbhxmkE/T8QiN834apI/AAAAAAAADBs/WKCD5w_4P3g/s640/IMG_8719.JPG" width="398" /></a></div>
I chanced upon this Black Crowned Night heron speckled with fluff from the neighboring cottonwood trees. Obviously annoyed with the situation, the stately bird flexed it's smooth plumage and efficiently cast off the debris. In another moment composure returned and the sleek outline of the heron was once again intact.<br />
It is a remarkable experience to take to the fields, forests, and wetlands in search of bird life, never really sure at the onset what wonders we might see. Yet we go anyway.<br />
Do we observe in the beasts of the air, in their habits and peculiarities, something of ourselves reflected there? Perhaps we see in these animals traits we would wish for; patients, courage, agility, steadfastness, and of course beauty. <br />
How we bloggers assemble our pictures and stories reveals a great deal about us personally. In this artistic sense, we are <em>composing ourselves</em> into our works. <br />
Fate has given us all a different frame of reference, a unique way of looking at things. On one hand we share a uncommon love for birds and photography, on the other, we bring a lifetime of interesting personal experiences to the mix. Your singular vision in concert with others is what makes the weekly trek around this planet we call WBW such an exceptional adventure.<br />
Thank you for sharing!<br />
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<br />
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 beautiful treasurers, the birds. <span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black;">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!</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#2</span></span>Come to The
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#3</span></span>Check back in during the course of the
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zUzKuoIvpiM/T8wIC0nOJeI/AAAAAAAADCg/108OgAdeMhE/s1600/IMG_9873a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zUzKuoIvpiM/T8wIC0nOJeI/AAAAAAAADCg/108OgAdeMhE/s640/IMG_9873a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: lime; font-size: x-large;">Sharing the Solitude</span></div>
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The Red-knot in flight.</div>
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Suzanne and I made a bold move and lashed our kayaks to the top of our ancient pop-up camper and headed out for a romantic weekend at the Tawas Birding Festival. This was our first experience participating in such a event. The town of Tawas, located on the North East tip of Saginaw Bay was ready to welcome the crowds of quirky bird watchers. "Welcome Birders" was emblazoned on every business window and sign. It felt nice to be wanted. <br />
This is a tourist town noted for a massive sand bar that curls like a witches finger out into the blue waters of Lake Huron. A picturesque light house marks Tawas Point, one of the last nesting sites of the endangered Great Lakes population of Piping plovers. Just a few miles inland the breeding grounds of the Kirtland warbler, another extremely rare bird native only to a tiny portion of the Jack Pine forests of mid-mitten Michigan, beckons the faithful. Marshes abound as well, giving ample opportunity to search out a vast variety of winged creatures that fly over and through this legendary region.<br />
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The Piping plover with its many colored survival bracelets.</div>
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A Red-start emerged from the thicket for a meet and greet.</div>
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The Baltimore oriole is intensely colored and draws appreciative crowds.</div>
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<span style="color: lime;">“All conservation of wildness is self-defeating, for to cherish we must see and fondle, and when enough have seen and fondled, there is no wilderness left to cherish.” </span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"> Aldo Leopold</span></div>
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How strange it was to walk among the murmuring throngs of bird lovers with massive 500mm lenses slung around their necks. Here the rumor of a Indigo bunting caused a near stampede.<br />
Isn't bird photography at it's heart a solitary recreation? The herd mentality that makes sense in Disney World seems misapplied here. Is there such a thing as a wilderness around here anymore? Are these natural hot-spots so rare, and the appetite of the public so acute that we are willing to cue up for a chance to experience them? When does a natural attraction become a zoo?<br />
I get the same strange feeling when I see a Piping Plover with four neon bands around it's legs. It is odd logic that this endangered bird must be captured and decorated so often to help it remain viable in the wild.<br />
The fashionable plovers look like they might be as comfortable running from store to store at the mall as on our sandy shores. <br />
It's not that I don't understand the great work at hand here but the sheer simplicity of the experience of bird watching and photography is somewhat lost in a crowd.<br />
Still, it is good to know the passion for our bird life is being shared so widely. The impact this kind of popular attention makes on the local political and financial power brokers should mean greater efforts will be taken to protect these awesome treasures.<br />
Either that or they'll build a amusement park.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQweX3-I_xV1ts-1PoMAMYNyDNxz94tUT0CyhF5mSDAe3F4lf_X0QPmIIFS7JUCF3cl1h9hMppuPkqsYWTRRbA3ag0LymL7S1NKvC4JQ7BfWmFFVVqWACU8HNrt0hF7bD7f6SsQTRjbwoJ/s1600/IMG_9498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQweX3-I_xV1ts-1PoMAMYNyDNxz94tUT0CyhF5mSDAe3F4lf_X0QPmIIFS7JUCF3cl1h9hMppuPkqsYWTRRbA3ag0LymL7S1NKvC4JQ7BfWmFFVVqWACU8HNrt0hF7bD7f6SsQTRjbwoJ/s640/IMG_9498.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
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 beautiful treasurers, the birds. <span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black;">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!</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOBECj8nvDruOlMz8FJgl2daXEVyuExNvs1_jt_CAjSe-QPJiYOaTCgcCJweSWD0Y9uTvPIXurLmE1SVTSLjEY7PxtlGSER_giXt-mxRaBBrY6SuKsEvihvcrikPMV9HWIv3z7amKUkSt/s200/IMG_1314ps.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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W.B.W. blog entry, it contains a link for your readers to share in the fun. Or,
you can copy this link on to your blog page to share WBW. </span><a href="http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: black;">http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/</span></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#2</span></span>Come to The
Pine River Review on Tuesday Noon EST North America through Wednesday midnight
and submit your blog entry with InLinkz.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#3</span></span>Check back in during the course of the
next day and explore these excellent photoblogs!</span></div>
<br />
<br />
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<span style="color: black;">The idea of a meme is that you will visit each others blogs
and perhaps leave a comment to encourage your compatriots!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">Come on it's your
turn!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime; font-size: x-large;">Welcome To My World</span></div>
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It was a wild day of bird photography.<br />
I had received a call from my buddy Bob about an eagles nest near his home in the thumb area of Michigan. He hadn't seen it himself of course, but his friend had given him rough directions to the location. Bob's enthusiastic description of the nest did not suffer for dramatic detail.<br />
"Dave, it looks like a bathtub up in the top of the tree and baby eagles are standing on the edge of the nest!"<br />
He was skillfully pushing all of my hot buttons so off I went, my minds eye filling in all the details Bob may have missed. After an hours drive on a bright morning, I made a right at the restaurant, went two miles more to a freshly paved road, made another right, than further to the second curve. I was there, but where was the nest? Slowly I made my way up and down the road scanning the tree line that skirted the river and way off, about a thousand yards across a freshly plowed field, was the rumored nest. There was also that agonizing sign we all know so well, Private Property-No Trespassing.<br />
I hatched a plan. There was a slice of public land up stream that provided access to the river. Would it be possible to walk the river edge and gain a decent vantage point? I found a deer trail through the brush down the high bank and with camera in hand I trudged off, carefully calculating every foot fall. Four steps down, disaster struck. My feet went out from under me and I was instantly sliding down the slick incline feet first, my camera held high. It was a fast thirty foot trip to the rivers edge my bottom frosted thick with mud like a good chocolate cake. The lack of friction and the power of gravity notwithstanding, my heals caught the rocky edge and saved me from a dunking. The river was deep and cold, the clay bottom treacherous. This was a stupid plan, there was no walking this river. I scuttled back to my car, a muddy frustrated mess, clutching bushes in one hand for support and the unscathed camera in the other.<br />
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My next plan involved a hike through the woods on the opposite side of the river. I found a private campground that I thought wouldn't be to far from the nest site and the folks there gave me permission to walk their property and that of the adjoining hunt club. Off I went again. <br />
A long hour later I emerged from the woods and onto a country road my legs scratched and itching from a thousand tiny scrapes with the local plant life. I had seen the nest tantalizing close, just around next river bend but here again I was blocked by more farms and no trespassing signs.<br />
What did I have to lose? I walked up the long driveway to an immaculate farmhouse imagining how my muddy clothes looked hung on a sun burnt, bleeding body. An elderly lady came to the door and I began to explain my plight, soon her husband joined us. <br />
What would you have done if you were a couple of old timers confronted with such a person?<br />
Yeah, I'm from Detroit. I would have straightened my back and Ma would have gone for the gun and called the law in one swift motion.<br />
What<em> they</em> did was; hobble out to the barn, (Pa was recovering from a less than satisfactory hip operation), get a electrically driven two seater cart and drive my ragged butt back to the eagles nest that hid deep on their property.<br />
The Sun was to high and bright for bird photography, though the adult eagles swung through the air magnificently just overhead. <br />
Pa left me to enjoy the ambiance alone. I took a number of shots, moved position, and clicked some more. I could see no fledglings. In the frenzy I reached for my glasses to check exposure. They were gone! Good grief. I looked for an hour over the rough riverbank with that sinking certainty that the search would be in vain. I walked back to the farm house to check the four wheeler. Nothing there. After walking the property yet again, my head bent down scanning the ground for eyeglass frames and not into the sky for eagles, I gave up. Pa volunteered to give my a lift back to my car, Ma asked me if I'd checked my pockets in that sweet condescending way.<br />
"Yes, a hundred times."<br />
I was wearing camo cargo shorts with a hundred pockets and I patted them all to illustrate how diligently I had searched. My hand stopped suddenly on a little side pocket... oh my goodness. I reached in and pulled out my glasses. Pa thought this was the funniest thing he had ever seen. He put his eighty-five year old arm around my shoulder and with a hearty, sympathetic laugh said, "See Son? The mind does go first." And then he added,<br />
"Welcome to my world!"<br />
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Taking leave of my new friends I drove North to Fish Point Reserve and low and behold, there amongst the reeds was a rare sight for Michigan, a White-faced Ibis. A perfect sun shown on a patient subject. I basicly rolled down the car window and started shooting. No blood, sweat, or tears involved.<br />
A grand end to a wild day!<br />
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</script>Springmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09094132506583563094noreply@blogger.com63tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475638899054945042.post-28113615522832043212012-05-08T09:28:00.002-04:002012-05-20T19:54:46.179-04:00World Bird Wednesday LXXVII<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: lime; font-size: x-large;">It Seemed Like Such a Nice Little Bird</span></div>
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All of my bird photography this last week has been of the backyard yard variety. No matter. Miss Suzanne and my buddy Joe the Bird Whistler were up visiting over the weekend and with those two nature lovers in the house the combined aura was sure to attract the new and unusual to my Pine River digs. <br />
Suzanne and I have a lovely daughter who thoughtfully presented me with a birdhouse last Christmas. It has been hanging on a shepherd's hook next to the high bank along the riverside. This weekend we noticed a commotion in and around it's confines and after a quick flip through the field guide I learned that we had a pair of House wrens (<em>Troglodytes aedon</em>), setting up housekeeping.<br />
Thunder showers and leaden skies have been the order of the week and I have sought birds that would sit still and frequent regular perches. My ISO stayed locked on 400 and shutter speeds hung in there around 1/250 seconds at best. In these dismal conditions we could not have picked a more entertaining pair of birds to study. Every twig and stick flown in to begin the nest building ritual was accompanied by a remarkably loud and melodic virtuosity. For a "little brown job" the House wren's bustling energy and charming sing song performances easily trumped May's other early arrivals even with their flashier neon plumage.<br />
We welcomed the little devil into our hearts. <br />
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Observe please the unspectacular profile of the wren. Once upon a time, back a hundred years, people built specialised bird houses to attract wrens into close quarters with their homes, such was the power of it's enchanting song. It's vigorous nature and voracious appetite for annoying insects endeared it to humankind and the House wren became family. Wrens flourished in our domestic shadow.<br />
Until, that is... it was observed, for all it's winning ways, the wren harbored a wicked secret. Away from the admirable nest building and romantic crooning it was discovered sneaking into the nurseries of other cavity nesting song birds, such as the beloved Bluebird, and piercing the unprotected eggs fatally with its needle like beak.<br />
Ornithological journals of the 1920's are lit up with the passionate debate; in good conscience could the House wren still be given special treatment now that its murderous ways had been revealed? Should their lovingly constructed nest boxes be dismantled on moral grounds? Would their lovely song be as enjoyable knowing its dark side?<br />
Some argued the wrens good qualities gave it special dispensation and, after all, this tendency to murder the young of others as they slept egg bound wasn't likely to disrupt the natural order in any meaningful way.<br />
Others suggested that to follow natures indiscretions with a moral compass calibrated to human sensibilities was ludicrous. This, in their mind, was a behavior to be admired in a undersized competitor fighting for it's very survival in a dog eat dog world.<br />
Regardless, the House wrens reputation took a hard blow to the chin.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vvAWQZspMMY/T6cLOFGbu1I/AAAAAAAAC6g/V43RzSFw-jU/s1600/IMG_7595a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="562" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vvAWQZspMMY/T6cLOFGbu1I/AAAAAAAAC6g/V43RzSFw-jU/s640/IMG_7595a.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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It is hard sometimes on these pages to get a good perspective on the relative size of our perching birds. To help, I placed a penny on a stick often used by my resident pair of House wrens and waited for a landing. <br />
Weight? The hard working adult wren can tip the scales at around 12 grams, just shy of four cents worth. (3.1 grams per one pre-1982 copper penny)<br />
In contrast, a mature Rose-breasted grosbeak weighs in at about 21 cents. You get the picture!<br />
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;-)WBW! </div>
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This is the home of World Bird Wednesday. A place for bird photographers from
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<span style="color: black;">You don't have to be a Bird Watcher or expert photographer
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</script>Springmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09094132506583563094noreply@blogger.com42tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475638899054945042.post-30892030147873198592012-05-01T10:35:00.000-04:002012-05-01T22:41:55.217-04:00World Bird Wednesday LXXVI<br />
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<span style="color: lime; font-size: x-large;">April Showers</span></div>
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As any bird photographer quickly learns, the ability to quiet one's mind and sit for long periods is a primary advantage in getting those really choice pictures. Of course, it helps to choose your perch wisely. There are so many variables. <br />
If a guy wants to see pretty girls in bikinis he should go to the beach; but unless he's very patient, he should wait for a sunny summer day. In this admittedly tortured analogy "the beach" is my magnificently bloomed cherry tree and the "pretty girls" are any bird that happens to land gracefully enough to make a good centerfold framed by those beautiful buds. In my mind's eye I could see great things and I was willing to wait patiently for their arrival even if it wasn't the perfect sunny day. The blooms were fading and my window of opportunity was closing fast.<br />
This cherry tree is a fairly reliable bird magnet in it's own right but just to be sure I parked a seed feeder in a near by tree to amp up the activity and for my own creature comfort, out came my mini chair blind. <br />
The clouds pressed low in the chilly sky, coco coffee was the drink of the day and I had a big cup with me when I slipped into the chair and pulled the camo' cover over me like a Lady bug shell.<br />
Thirty minutes later my resolve to "get that picture" emptied with the last lukewarm drop of coffee. Suffering for your art is cool in theory only. I teetered on the slippery edge of sheer boredom when a shadow swept to my left and a Coopers hawk with its fiery eyes lit on a wire by the road. So that's why the song birds had been so quiet! <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tRQyK89CZI0/T6BBNmKWoKI/AAAAAAAAC6I/h5mPrxzmzcY/s1600/P1190651.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tRQyK89CZI0/T6BBNmKWoKI/AAAAAAAAC6I/h5mPrxzmzcY/s200/P1190651.JPG" width="170" /></a> It wasn't a minute after Rasputin flew off that a <em>earful </em>of Cedar waxwings landed on the branches before me and began to chow down on cherry blossom petals. Aha! <em>This</em> is what a cocktail of good planning, patients, and luck tastes like! I congratulated myself knowing these birds wouldn't be going anywhere for a good two minutes and I had 'em right where I wanted them. I clicked off a couple of test shots to double check exposure, can't be to careful...wait...what's that on my screen? </div>
Please change battery!<br />
Now for the walk of shame back to the house... past the snickering coffee pot to retrive the extra battery and sprint back to the tree. Like a swimmer who's lost his suit in the surf, there was no graceful way out of this jam.<br />
Cedar waxwings are not easily spooked, would they wait for me and spare the tattered remnants of my self-esteem?<br />
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Thankfully, a couple birds lingered and I chased a few others into my neighbors orchard where the waxwings dined on apple blossoms. Normally serendipity is not to be trifled with and as if to illustrate the point, it turned out only those first few shots before the battery went down were usable. I am all the humbler for it.<br />
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Out on the road yesterday, April showers swept over the flatlands and marshes south of the bay. A good day for fishing if your a Common tern. I hunted for bird pictures more out of reflex than the thought of getting anything as good as his fat minnow. <br />
The Great egrets have come back to Saginaw Valley's wetlands in mass and along about Five o'clock one held for me as it preened and fished. Unaccountably warm brown tones juiced the edge of the reed bed. I had my header picture in the bag and was happy at the end of this weeks adventures!<br />
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<br />
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 beautiful treasurers, the birds. <span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="color: black;">You don't have to be a Bird Watcher or expert photographer
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#2</span></span>Come to The
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<span style="color: lime; font-size: x-large;">A Farewell to the Fire Scene</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PWXNx03xP1o/T5YFtroK7-I/AAAAAAAAC4I/75rDdiUW88w/s1600/IMG_5681ab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PWXNx03xP1o/T5YFtroK7-I/AAAAAAAAC4I/75rDdiUW88w/s640/IMG_5681ab.jpg" width="396" /></a></div>
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Lets begin at the end. It was my last day at the firehouse. This is a day every firefighter experiences; it is the lucky fireman who walks out knowing it's his last. <br />
That's me, lucky. <br />
I reluctantly left the Detroit Fire Department at 59 years of age, twelve months earlier than the mandatory retirement age of Sixty. The last five years I had been the Senior Fire Engine Operator of Engine 23. Through those years I have seen a remarkable group of professional firefighters push back against the firestorm that relentlessly consumes the City of Detroit one building at a time. With a destitute, barely functioning Government backing them up, front line smoke eaters, the folk whose job description is "first one through the door", have been walking point for over twenty years straight. Indeed, the average age of a Detroit firefighter at this writing is 45 And that's an old 45. Struggling smoke blind through a tangled jumble of "god knows what," tugging a stiffly charged attack line to the seat of the fire, is designed for fresh and hardy twenty year old men and women. The Motor City firefighters of today have never been <em>off the pipe</em> in all their long years and like nowhere else on the planet, in Detroit, you are guaranteed a fire every working day of your career. <br />
There is no safety net, it is not work for sane people, yet these hard scrabble public servants are capable of astonishing feats.<br />
It is a privilege anyone associated with the fire service would relish; to be a fly on the wall when the inner circle of this century old firehouse gets down to relighting their old <em>box alarms</em>. Everything that <em>cannot</em> be learned in the curriculum of a good fire science degree is shared first hand. Like how it feels when your ears start to melt off. Here the old saying applies: If you wanna know, you gotta go. <br />
I feel like I speak as an outsider already. The newly departed have a sense of urgency and clarity to their reminisces by virtue of their new perspective floating as they do just above the fray. <br />
I want to say thank you to everyone who has helped me get to this day of retirement but my ghostly fingers pass right through what used to be brick and steel and I can not find a way.<br />
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The Yellow Rumped Warbler is the first of this jumpy species to return to Michigan in the spring. I chased a pair around a heavily wooded corner of my riverside lot yesterday but the sun was high and bright, complicating the many good looks I had with dark underbellies and twiggy shadows. They dodged around from branch to branch happily gobbling up insects and paying me no mind. The Northern Flicker in the header, on the other hand, visited for only a few seconds while I concentrated on the Yellow Rumps all afternoon and wouldn't you know it, the Flicker snaps were the catch of the day.<br />
Also on a happy note I found a pair of Tufted Titmice nesting in an old woodpecker hole with great afternoon sun. I think maybe the wildlife is getting used to my being around more. The chipmunks practically ignore me!<br />
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I am happy to acknowledge China, New Caledonia, Antiqua, Barbuda, and Montenegro as first time countries to visit World Bird Wednesday this month. </div>
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Cheers,</div>
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Dave</div>
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</div>
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 beautiful treasurers, the birds. <span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="color: black;">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
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#2</span></span>Come to The
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#3</span></span>Check back in during the course of the
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</script>Springmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09094132506583563094noreply@blogger.com57tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475638899054945042.post-79332314941389090192012-04-17T08:58:00.003-04:002012-04-23T19:58:41.173-04:00World Bird Wednesday LXXIV<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: lime; font-size: x-large;">Jumping To Conclusions</span></div>
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It hasn't been a great half-century for woodpeckers in North America, in all likelihood two woodpecker species on this continent; the <em>Ivory billed </em>of Cuba and the American South, and the largest woodpecker in the world, the <em>Imperial</em> of the old growth forests of the Sierra Madre Mountain Range in Eastern Mexico, have had their extinction moments. Pause for thought.<br />
But <em>are</em> they extinct with a capital E? Is there still hope? Are these confounded Ivory-billed woodpecker sightings true?<br />
Who the heck knows... <br />
Still, you can't help but get that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach now that the Ivory-billed is being called the Elvis bird. When a hopeful sighting of the missing woodpecker comes in from the Arkansas "Big Woods" it never arrives with a picture. Usually the lucky person who spots the world's rarest bird somehow fails to drop their binoculars and pick up their camera in time. There's more evidence of Sasquatch. <br />
Cornell University has verified a 2005 video, the Luneau tape, as having an Ivory-billed woodpecker in it. This is the only visible proof that these birds survived into the new millennium. Cornell has justly earned its considerable reputation and their analysis of this vaunted video rivals anything done to the much clearer film of the Kennedy Assassination. On the reliability of their findings valuable resources were rushed to aid what may have been the last Ivory billed woodpeckers then on the planet. It hasn't gone so well since.<br />
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In a world where good news is acutely needed, the undoing of an apparent extinction deserves our time, money, and resources. There are none but the worse cynics that hopes the Imperial and Ivory-bill are gone, but without a <em>conclusive</em> <em>picture</em>, support for the expensive search process has begun to fray around the edges. <br />
Even Cornell's desperate $50,000 reward for a verified sighting remains unclaimed after years. Why not make it a $5,000,000 reward? Wouldn't it be worth it to possibly save a species? I wonder if Cornell U would pay on a Cuban Ivory-bill Woodpecker if any there survive?<br />
Undernourished hopes are all we have that our collective conscience can avoid the stigma of having been on watch when these birds ended their existence. The deathwatch is agonizing.<br />
Scientist postulate it would take a minimum twenty or so Ivory billed woodpeckers to repopulate the now regenerating forest.<br />
If they are still hanging on: God help them and forgive us.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/NIAd0LsIYVw?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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A short video describing the high tech search techniques.</div>
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I was sitting on the couch, the window open, with camera in hand shooting front yard feeder shots when a male Pileated woodpecker landed in the maple tree. My eyes got as big as flying saucers. The prosperous Pileateds are less fussy about their old growth forest requirements than their unfortunate cousins, the Ivory-bills and Imperials were. This handsome bird came back around over the next day thrilling Suzanne and I with great looks and photographic opportunities.We never saw the female. Believe me, my camera was never far from my hand all weekend long.<br />
Here's hoping someone in the Old South collects that 50 G's for a similar capture of an Ivory-billed very soon!<br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#2</span></span>Come to The Pine River Review on Tuesday Noon EST North America through Wednesday midnight and submit your blog entry with InLinkz.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#3</span></span>Check back in during the course of the next day and explore these excellent photoblogs!</span></div>
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</script>Springmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09094132506583563094noreply@blogger.com55tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475638899054945042.post-148286023816459222012-04-10T08:41:00.002-04:002012-05-04T09:15:32.630-04:00World Bird Wednesday LXXIII<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: lime; font-size: x-large;">The Lesser of Two Equals</span></div>
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One of the most difficult birds for me to photograph are the jet black species such as crows, ravens, and Red-winged blackbirds. In these early days of spring, the American robins and RWblackbirds are about all you see, true harbingers of the season. How do you balance the over saturated red and yellow shoulder patches with the light killing depths of the black body? One answer is to wait for the perfect cloudy day or...ignore those dramatic dynamics and concentrate on the subtle colors of the gentler members of the harem when they pop out of the reed beds and show themselves. I could pretend to express a personal preference for these well camouflaged, sparrow colored ladies, but the truth is the guys are generally a little to tough to handle. My virtual waste basket is stuffed with near misses. The perfectly exposed, dramatically posed, male Red-winged black bird photo remains a rare treasure and a worthy quest.<br />
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One of these days I will see the Yellow-headed blackbird that lives in small colonies here in the Saginaw Bay area of Michigan. I imagine the difficulties in managing a good picture will be equally frustrating and therefore just as desirable.<br />
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I visited Crow island on a bright Easter Sunday and found an active pond behind a concrete fabricating facility. How come these hot spots seem to be juxtaposed to the most unlikely neighbors? Tree swallows spun through the air in abundance!<br />
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Even the Blue herons didn't seem to mind the cement dust. The fishing must have been great.</div>
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And so it went this week...<br />
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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 beautiful treasurers, the birds. <span style="color: black;"></span><br />
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</script>Springmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09094132506583563094noreply@blogger.com50tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475638899054945042.post-57103564730505585882012-04-03T10:32:00.005-04:002012-04-09T20:51:48.737-04:00World Bird Wednesday LXXII<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Em-zLByfNEw/T4OEC4dBZZI/AAAAAAAACx0/lSQHboOuJLo/s1600/IMG_2113a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Em-zLByfNEw/T4OEC4dBZZI/AAAAAAAACx0/lSQHboOuJLo/s640/IMG_2113a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="color: lime; font-size: x-large;">Nesting</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzIjuoa8QWzbRSOZ9kPFhhttHMRvqVAKLx-9WGf6a8-RLgnnSZOnaEe10MAmaTCFLTfCmlts0jqdGs6DWXNArKeS7GCFPf5tBkGzehpgrDwHf3quawnUFb0z2376j__69RzFhj_1OXx8YL/s1600/IMG_2080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzIjuoa8QWzbRSOZ9kPFhhttHMRvqVAKLx-9WGf6a8-RLgnnSZOnaEe10MAmaTCFLTfCmlts0jqdGs6DWXNArKeS7GCFPf5tBkGzehpgrDwHf3quawnUFb0z2376j__69RzFhj_1OXx8YL/s640/IMG_2080.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="body">God gives every bird his worm, but He does not throw it into the nest.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="body"> P. D. James</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj19PsWIbrEz929Nb9S0hIO9S-Fmm2PYTIfkCgDqKXLbsCfZ5X6zU9MIb35yiMCD_vDG2vytVHKVNTR1bHS8Y_nsnyfy0Q33CU2RCps5-IyHNseqOjNff1uRvVUvfziuggYGF2RT3HMuJP-/s1600/IMG_2648.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj19PsWIbrEz929Nb9S0hIO9S-Fmm2PYTIfkCgDqKXLbsCfZ5X6zU9MIb35yiMCD_vDG2vytVHKVNTR1bHS8Y_nsnyfy0Q33CU2RCps5-IyHNseqOjNff1uRvVUvfziuggYGF2RT3HMuJP-/s640/IMG_2648.JPG" width="402" /></a></div> <em>And He doesn't build the nest either!</em> <br />
I think one of the very fine things human beings do is to set up bird houses and feeders. The payoff is that we get to closely observe our feathered friends as they eat and raise their young. Not all birds care for our charity and remain fiercely independent, but others, like Bluebirds, actually need our attention when it comes to housing. The invading armies of aggressive European starlings and English sparrows out compete bluebirds for the naturally occurring cavities and holes that the pretty blue species depends upon. Between 1920 and 1970 there was a sharp decline in the population of Bluebirds, and this icon of happiness, once as common as the American robin is today, began to fade from the scene. Like death from a thousand tiny cuts, it seemed everything conspired to diminish the Bluebird's light. The near eradication of beaver, and in turn the elimination of their left over stumps, had the unintended consequence of limiting nesting opportunities. Even the change over from wooden to metal fence posts on farm boundries took it's toll.<br />
That humans have a conscience; an inner voice that prods us toward an enlightened end, is an essential mystery. All the great thinkers, both religious and secular have struggeled to explain it's origin. The Bluebirds fate hung on this instinct to do good. <br />
So it was the human community led by Dr. Larry Zeleny, <em>intentionally</em> began to build millions of bird houses specifically to save the Bluebirds, and it has helped, populations have rebounded at the estimated rate of 5% a year since the alarm was sounded in 1978.<br />
I have never been so proud to be human.<br />
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His soft warble melts the ear, as the snow is melting in the valleys around. </div><div style="text-align: center;">The bluebird comes and with his warbles drills the ice and sets from the rivers and ponds and frozen ground.<br />
Henry D. Thoreau, March 2, 1859 </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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The young Snow owls of the 2012 eruption continue to fight for survival. Here is the second of this group I have seen. I spotted this beauty deep in <a href="http://www.saginawbaybirding.org/NPWA.html">Nayanquing Point Wildlife Reserve</a>, what fantastic luck!<br />
Is the idea of a Wildlife Reserve an oxymoron?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0ugou5WA3Do/T3qAoSb4-WI/AAAAAAAACww/IwJCMKga874/s1600/IMG_0016a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="398" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0ugou5WA3Do/T3qAoSb4-WI/AAAAAAAACww/IwJCMKga874/s640/IMG_0016a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Fast</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FafZgEOHu7M/T3pwNh4TSxI/AAAAAAAACvg/Ho4VNJElLlQ/s1600/IMG_2565.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="602" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FafZgEOHu7M/T3pwNh4TSxI/AAAAAAAACvg/Ho4VNJElLlQ/s640/IMG_2565.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Beautiful</span><br />
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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 beautiful treasurers, the birds. <span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"> 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!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#1</span></span>Simply copy the above picture onto your W.B.W. blog entry, it contains a link for your readers to share in the fun. Or, you can copy this link on to your blog page to share WBW. </span><a href="http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: black;">http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#2</span></span>Come to The Pine River Review on Tuesday Noon EST North America through Wednesday midnight and submit your blog entry with InLinkz.</span></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#3</span></span>Check back in during the course of the next day and explore these excellent photoblogs!</span></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;">The idea of a meme is that you will visit each others blogs and perhaps leave a comment to encourage your compatriots!</span></div><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">Come on it's your turn!</span></span></span></span></div><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The Road to Nowhere</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2xVttXIEhVAyUreecTLUBTFaybor0ON6m4E-Ts5MOhV0dv76ETDR4tTAIWUPqvHhM37JINVpzrUBwfHBBxC4sKU4lHzVOdj1-chK7Mn2NFp28kAdRCEZgwFJDLRrVDBBXvJxJuWnnlFCn/s1600/IMG_1608.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="572" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2xVttXIEhVAyUreecTLUBTFaybor0ON6m4E-Ts5MOhV0dv76ETDR4tTAIWUPqvHhM37JINVpzrUBwfHBBxC4sKU4lHzVOdj1-chK7Mn2NFp28kAdRCEZgwFJDLRrVDBBXvJxJuWnnlFCn/s640/IMG_1608.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">"The answer is blowing in the wind."</div><div style="text-align: center;"> Bob Dylan</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div> After the summer weather of the last couple of weeks the recent drop in temperature has put the kibosh on the migration. I traveled out to Tawas Point, a tiny peninsula on the North West end of Saginaw Bay, being dead sure I would see some spectacular sights there. The wind whipped around me as I trudged the shoreline and except for a colony of ring billed gulls the skies were quiet. <br />
Gasoline is expensive by American standards right at the moment, any field trip comes with a hefty price tag. My photographic strategy used to be taking advantage of my trips to Detroit to visit birding hot-spots between here and there combining work and pleasure in the process. I don't think I appreciated fully the variety of habitats that conveniently played out before me during this commute.<br />
One would naturally think more spare time would equal more chances, that retirement would be a boon to the cause, quite the opposite is the case. I am thinking of taking some mini trips with my little pop-up camper and staying overnight at some of my more distant haunts to maximize time in the field.<br />
It is still only March I tell myself, relax, but I am anxious to retool my life. As a leaf recently detached from its familiar place on the limb, I wait to see where I am blown. <br />
Like gasoline, patients is in short supply around here!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5HlxvAaGnqfHbOPBZQRYfMhVrEhLiD_tOBqy-br1OFVnYT2u_uqw_SSJh_z6aZ_PxUpxqBwZAZa8RTwTpAoMvAR-snRGtlCEzeZdASHCDNTRAP0LRqt0eTMavIAA_AMLKEdzs92K5lcFf/s1600/IMG_1595.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5HlxvAaGnqfHbOPBZQRYfMhVrEhLiD_tOBqy-br1OFVnYT2u_uqw_SSJh_z6aZ_PxUpxqBwZAZa8RTwTpAoMvAR-snRGtlCEzeZdASHCDNTRAP0LRqt0eTMavIAA_AMLKEdzs92K5lcFf/s640/IMG_1595.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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Soon after High School I landed a job working on the assembly line at Chrysler's Lynch Road plant. It occurred to me then that I was driving a car to work to make cars so I could afford a car to go to work to make cars. At that early age I had already owned several. The change over from riding a bike to driving an automobile widened my world dramatically. Besides the Soul music of Motown, Detroit's other gift to the world was a free wheeling independence.<br />
I am thinking how now I would like to down shift back to my childhood and re-embrace the idea of a bicycle centered approach to transportation. Did you know the bicycle is the cleanest and most efficient form of transportation ever invented? Burning dinosaur bones to get from point A to point B now seems like a stupid indulgence. The dent driving a car makes in ones pocket book and the environment at large is obvious. To use one for short trips into town is ludicrous. <br />
Remember when you didn't consciously have to <em>make </em>time to exercise? I see these 90 day fitness regimes whipping folks into shape and think about the inevitable slow decline that begins again on day 91. <br />
Didn't we have something brilliant as kids, when we were self propelled; and being so motivated we were naturally fit? I am ready to test this theory of self-sustaining fitness and pledge to always ride my bike when it will do just as well or better than my car. There I have said it, the first baby step in actually doing it!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RnDbXr7Pk2E/T3D0FU4UX3I/AAAAAAAACtg/5-L_Fj3pET8/s1600/IMG_0988.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RnDbXr7Pk2E/T3D0FU4UX3I/AAAAAAAACtg/5-L_Fj3pET8/s640/IMG_0988.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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Every good bird photographer knows the first secret to taking great pictures is to have your camera with you at all times. No camera = No picture. <br />
I bike about five miles into town and in the process roll through some wonderful wetlands. When I saw a used camera back pack at my local hole in the wall camera shop I snapped it up. Problem solved.<br />
Born to be wild!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6rzPbqptcUDxHn54b2ure63ZklxoBHUd8GKXbUypl6Mv18IOEqN4_Jy5LKpvg5dYegJU3a-bYYOtG0nv5knjf18rx3p8lomOz8YtO4_tBtECFA6_3VIPEB9bMFxi20MQsP0_bHr7ZOft6/s1600/IMG_1258.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6rzPbqptcUDxHn54b2ure63ZklxoBHUd8GKXbUypl6Mv18IOEqN4_Jy5LKpvg5dYegJU3a-bYYOtG0nv5knjf18rx3p8lomOz8YtO4_tBtECFA6_3VIPEB9bMFxi20MQsP0_bHr7ZOft6/s640/IMG_1258.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">"How differently things would be for you if you could fly!"<br />
Spoke the swan passing by.</div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> 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 beautiful treasurers, the birds. <span style="color: black;"></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"> 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!</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOBECj8nvDruOlMz8FJgl2daXEVyuExNvs1_jt_CAjSe-QPJiYOaTCgcCJweSWD0Y9uTvPIXurLmE1SVTSLjEY7PxtlGSER_giXt-mxRaBBrY6SuKsEvihvcrikPMV9HWIv3z7amKUkSt/s200/IMG_1314ps.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#3</span></span>Check back in during the course of the next day and explore these excellent photoblogs!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</script>Springmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09094132506583563094noreply@blogger.com48tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475638899054945042.post-67600962019085439172012-03-20T10:11:00.009-04:002012-03-26T18:27:29.994-04:00World Bird Wednesday LXX<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie83VmrDxT9jBHzL2jgOi1EV2CMU0awBCG5Zmz9obohS6fFdSgthDJXouffxRcCUSycz7YEZRQu_0K46x-zjoDbRBIo6k38JDeis8gb_kr5ANSTyp4Qwax0iuRJf1T6FsIl3lsR_aukCEt/s1600/IMG_0122.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie83VmrDxT9jBHzL2jgOi1EV2CMU0awBCG5Zmz9obohS6fFdSgthDJXouffxRcCUSycz7YEZRQu_0K46x-zjoDbRBIo6k38JDeis8gb_kr5ANSTyp4Qwax0iuRJf1T6FsIl3lsR_aukCEt/s640/IMG_0122.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: lime; font-size: x-large;">A Swan Song</span></div><br />
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"Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative."</div> Oscar Wilde<br />
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Whose complaining about two weeks of 70 and 80 degree weather in the middle of a Michigan March when our average highs are traditionally only 42? Not I. The brave daffodils are in bloom three weeks early, we are in a hurry, nature and me. <br />
Burning up with spring fever, the tropical weather has lit the fuse on my inner handyman, already the fruit trees are pruned, I am knee deep into installing a new window in the barn <em>and</em> establishing a new vegetable garden just for kicks. It was time for a break.<br />
I started getting a little nervous about missing the migration given the remarkable weather and took a early season drive to Fish Point Preserve to see if anything was shaking. Tornado warnings were in effect in the counties North and South of the lower shore of Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay. Large flocks of Tundra swans, Canadian geese, and Trumpeter swans had collected in the stubble fields to avoid the violent skies. I had never seen a Tundra swan migration before! A species that mates for life, and perhaps beyond, the bond was mirrored in the synchronicity of their wing play during the slow descent to earth. Love is literately in the air, a stirring marriage of body and mind. So sublime is their singularity of passion, if one of the pair should come to a premature end the other will prefer to spend the rest of it's days flying solo and unattached; except to the memory of that one lost soul mate. <br />
The grounded throngs numbered in the thousands, at least that's my guess, about two or three percent of the entire Eastern North American population corralled for the evening by the wicked weather. Breeding pairs of Tundra swans are among the first to arrive in the Arctic, by then they are ready to be alone, defending a breeding territory of nearly a mile square. The non-breeding cygnets remain elsewhere, flock bound in daycare, while the adults are off doing...it!<br />
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</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfvOfEaNy0u59KTSCEPRCfNkRpa2IllnimG9NfKZtxW__XKANmsmTpa3hlAyQMq34VGIa8FDe2swpmzJQFgX9wxi24HO1Y2TyIJsR1M7LnnlKJuq2HwXOe2BjsZDEcC9BHkodFW4su7Bfj/s1600/P1190510.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfvOfEaNy0u59KTSCEPRCfNkRpa2IllnimG9NfKZtxW__XKANmsmTpa3hlAyQMq34VGIa8FDe2swpmzJQFgX9wxi24HO1Y2TyIJsR1M7LnnlKJuq2HwXOe2BjsZDEcC9BHkodFW4su7Bfj/s640/P1190510.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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"The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart."</div><div style="text-align: center;"> Buddha </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-B7VUF0ha2B7U0G2a0jkYKT3251F6osBcQDr6gqCBcywW2BxZdIN6dynlJH3kNN32CabUgXNdO9lDmb1aU3GMV0Hj7k4OOtOet54lU0giBg4hcGzKYVUo_Ivcm5YGeTWT1jOyauYqMgPD/s1600/IMG_0015a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-B7VUF0ha2B7U0G2a0jkYKT3251F6osBcQDr6gqCBcywW2BxZdIN6dynlJH3kNN32CabUgXNdO9lDmb1aU3GMV0Hj7k4OOtOet54lU0giBg4hcGzKYVUo_Ivcm5YGeTWT1jOyauYqMgPD/s640/IMG_0015a.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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There were other targets to entice my attention like a pair of mad dashing Killdeer cutting up overhead.</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k9fprvVfYWA/T2NuO-ypDvI/AAAAAAAACq0/qNUQZ7NNnAU/s1600/IMG_1321.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k9fprvVfYWA/T2NuO-ypDvI/AAAAAAAACq0/qNUQZ7NNnAU/s640/IMG_1321.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">My first GB heron and Great egret of the year were fishing in the paper dry reed beds of the marsh.</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp-n08zKlzT4rsdE9cDJzxeG5O7v8aZXjkwL1qP0Qot7Uiv3K-HDqD6utc4KBK0ZSjxooAv8HYZWsE-m1HcRrrABtPpv74CzSylNj5PQpU_-3-z6Ublra67TbVZwldczC0kV-puVvx_rS-/s1600/IMG_0103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp-n08zKlzT4rsdE9cDJzxeG5O7v8aZXjkwL1qP0Qot7Uiv3K-HDqD6utc4KBK0ZSjxooAv8HYZWsE-m1HcRrrABtPpv74CzSylNj5PQpU_-3-z6Ublra67TbVZwldczC0kV-puVvx_rS-/s640/IMG_0103.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">This nervous pair of love sick geese wanted nothing but to be left alone, obviously a first date!</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ttWMB45r-po/T2iOIWJhz8I/AAAAAAAACs4/7dRzNQRF2_A/s1600/IMG_0375.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ttWMB45r-po/T2iOIWJhz8I/AAAAAAAACs4/7dRzNQRF2_A/s640/IMG_0375.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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Post script....<br />
Yes! Mom received her Ipad and loves her little window on the world. She likes the comfy size. Her abandoned laptop has a stack of mail and clippings on it. It appears Microsoft has lost another customer and Apple can start tracking a new "over ninety" demographic!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm4D3TRIHPvNlb7tFH5NhJVOt_rku7PWUOiE7g3svNr_lAnrKWzDvZDS9kpDbMaWxk-bE5HloaSAz96eD1otDF-LcySMbz2aZu5PfAS9k-H1w55P6qDKYmWQ68pK1Zo3kTfKUua5lhwDZz/s1600/IMG_0325.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm4D3TRIHPvNlb7tFH5NhJVOt_rku7PWUOiE7g3svNr_lAnrKWzDvZDS9kpDbMaWxk-bE5HloaSAz96eD1otDF-LcySMbz2aZu5PfAS9k-H1w55P6qDKYmWQ68pK1Zo3kTfKUua5lhwDZz/s640/IMG_0325.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: lime;">You might want to try clicking on one of these pictures and enjoy the slide show!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">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 beautiful treasurers, the birds. <span style="color: black;"></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;">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!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOBECj8nvDruOlMz8FJgl2daXEVyuExNvs1_jt_CAjSe-QPJiYOaTCgcCJweSWD0Y9uTvPIXurLmE1SVTSLjEY7PxtlGSER_giXt-mxRaBBrY6SuKsEvihvcrikPMV9HWIv3z7amKUkSt/s200/IMG_1314ps.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#1</span></span>Simply copy the above picture onto your W.B.W. blog entry, it contains a link for your readers to share in the fun. Or, you can copy this link on to your blog page to share WBW. </span><a href="http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: black;">http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#2</span></span>Come to The Pine River Review on Tuesday Noon EST North America through Wednesday midnight and submit your blog entry with InLinkz.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#3</span></span>Check back in during the course of the next day and explore these excellent photoblogs!</span></div><br />
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</script>Springmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09094132506583563094noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475638899054945042.post-76796639119383144302012-03-13T09:10:00.009-04:002012-03-17T09:24:24.074-04:00World Bird Wednesday LXIX<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOVaOI0iUxHZ8j8M9u-eboZ7MGnvo_m0B1Kw174M0CH6XPO32LFu74cEgG_UGWITU3NzLLKICEEmmGrqRDI-XYK9cWNboEU8wzZMWrDA5VK-LZZ8ip7lCEW7fxat9i6HqYolUJct49T1-0/s1600/IMG_3232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOVaOI0iUxHZ8j8M9u-eboZ7MGnvo_m0B1Kw174M0CH6XPO32LFu74cEgG_UGWITU3NzLLKICEEmmGrqRDI-XYK9cWNboEU8wzZMWrDA5VK-LZZ8ip7lCEW7fxat9i6HqYolUJct49T1-0/s640/IMG_3232.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7MUA2qt-8CA/T15QMCuX12I/AAAAAAAACow/Uvh8EyRDwFM/s1600/100_6437.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="528" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7MUA2qt-8CA/T15QMCuX12I/AAAAAAAACow/Uvh8EyRDwFM/s640/100_6437.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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This fine looking young lady just happens to be my Mother whose 90th birthday we celebrated this week. A couple of summers ago while she was visiting, my neighbor Chris knocked on the side door and of all things he had a starling perched on his shoulder. The bird was completely sociable and took to my Moms shoulder comfortably for a meet and greet. Our little friend seemed healthy and flew off into the trees to wait for us if we went into the house and was eager to resume our inter-species dialog when we reemerged. He was our constant companion and shared in all manor of human activities from carpentry to gardening showing no fear of the noise or fuss. Why did this bird crave our attention?<br />
That starling beak is a wicked looking weapon viewed from close range and I had the uneasy feeling he might decide to poke my eyeball. I couldn't quite get my mind around being the object of this birds affection. Chris's young twin boys were afraid of the dive bombings we were being subjected to as well. This was a wild animal after all! <br />
I had heard old stories of Michigan's logging camps that told of how the shanty boys would hand train forest birds as personal pets. This young starling came pretrained as a sorcerers apprentice. What to do? On one hand I liked having this connection with a wild creature and the mystery it implied, on the other I felt he needed to resume a more natural routine. My adult instincts ruled the day. I took the starling deep into the Chippewa Nature Centers property about a half mile from the house and released him there. That was it. I felt lost for a few days after that, and a little guilty, like I had taken unfair advantage of a friends trust. The tree tops now cradled only distrustful strangers when I looked up. I still live in hope he will swoop down and take his place on my shoulder again. I think now, I could make a different choice, and let serendipity run it's course.<br />
Oh! What did Mom want for her 90th birthday you ask? An ipad! Intellect marvelously intact, she is ready to make her run at the century mark.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ap0Zsi4xlrg/T15duUfVmlI/AAAAAAAACo4/jVYLDg1r9rg/s1600/IMG_4128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="594" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ap0Zsi4xlrg/T15duUfVmlI/AAAAAAAACo4/jVYLDg1r9rg/s640/IMG_4128.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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I must have caught this Common grackle in an unusual light because they're usually beyond black. There have been quite a few new comers working the leaf litter this week.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRCbEPinNtK-Yf2oWG9ldsD6Zeti5JDRS9i5EfiKe0piZkAKMj04Cp-tytMr8kMOqLI_CFK2XTumwlzP-a_WBb1YnJHnzSbPhCmZvQPdun4iCMyMUi7-UbFLmAgOFx4l0QVapdPXJnEw0E/s1600/IMG_3567.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRCbEPinNtK-Yf2oWG9ldsD6Zeti5JDRS9i5EfiKe0piZkAKMj04Cp-tytMr8kMOqLI_CFK2XTumwlzP-a_WBb1YnJHnzSbPhCmZvQPdun4iCMyMUi7-UbFLmAgOFx4l0QVapdPXJnEw0E/s640/IMG_3567.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
I was able to work in a little gull time this week keeping my eye sharp. Southerly winds are pushing the migrators toward the Great Lakes basin and I have plotted some early field trips starting today. It will be good to submerge myself into the wetlands again. Already the Red-winged blackbirds and American robins are back in town.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi5unqLDPtHY2Zgbs3Vv_L5f33zBVtg8rydBzjGghXaL__jQH2y-2lm532iHU7T8nbmCYDpOZeEoz0lIuuyga31qZhHyxmikA3OUfxBo79pKwWHNjVwc-mu-FgrWsrApE-Yb_7PvdQCS82/s1600/IMG_3195a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="528" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi5unqLDPtHY2Zgbs3Vv_L5f33zBVtg8rydBzjGghXaL__jQH2y-2lm532iHU7T8nbmCYDpOZeEoz0lIuuyga31qZhHyxmikA3OUfxBo79pKwWHNjVwc-mu-FgrWsrApE-Yb_7PvdQCS82/s640/IMG_3195a.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Something about this circlcular composition of gulls pleased me. Thanks to the Bagel Lady for her assistence!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7zIUe8M_VY_eg6Sv1xKYMF0hN2d9YOo49MCehQHtalA0LdXfOAMm-Z9vLGHIdiAGDwN-J3t_XCxpOqu9gxMSDZA4sUs7rc8A7qxR0oH4_qdDWDSR_L89xX5TlHeIljdOLCqgnvKO2jUK8/s1600/IMG_3639.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7zIUe8M_VY_eg6Sv1xKYMF0hN2d9YOo49MCehQHtalA0LdXfOAMm-Z9vLGHIdiAGDwN-J3t_XCxpOqu9gxMSDZA4sUs7rc8A7qxR0oH4_qdDWDSR_L89xX5TlHeIljdOLCqgnvKO2jUK8/s640/IMG_3639.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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Rafts of ducks are everywhere along the Great lakes flyway. Above, a common merganser takes to flight in the freshly thawed marsh. Below, Greater scaups wander in toward shore in range of my 400mm lens.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ejZf37OpHSI/T1wUUTQVWYI/AAAAAAAACoU/-7rbCUST5o0/s1600/IMG_3769.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ejZf37OpHSI/T1wUUTQVWYI/AAAAAAAACoU/-7rbCUST5o0/s640/IMG_3769.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">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 beautiful treasurers, the birds. <span style="color: black;"></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;">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!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOBECj8nvDruOlMz8FJgl2daXEVyuExNvs1_jt_CAjSe-QPJiYOaTCgcCJweSWD0Y9uTvPIXurLmE1SVTSLjEY7PxtlGSER_giXt-mxRaBBrY6SuKsEvihvcrikPMV9HWIv3z7amKUkSt/s200/IMG_1314ps.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#1</span></span>Simply copy the above picture onto your W.B.W. blog entry, it contains a link for your readers to share in the fun. Or, you can copy this link on to your blog page to share WBW. </span><a href="http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: black;">http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#2</span></span>Come to The Pine River Review on Tuesday Noon EST North America through Wednesday midnight and submit your blog entry with InLinkz.</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#3</span></span>Check back in during the course of the next day and explore these excellent photoblogs!</span></div><br />
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</script>Springmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09094132506583563094noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2475638899054945042.post-14054592265896227142012-03-06T08:17:00.002-05:002012-03-10T21:14:50.347-05:00World Bird Wednesday LXVIII<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUzveSxru03kV6NPPod5NqU1W3OeNeZ1h_MOfNIB3CNb_vvu-tY8bOAOFzk5pFtXMIAau3B4__Sj1FIzW9nS3k83fhK-MeiiC4TK_0qq_peecJEvGcqJFA_jN4ICl8u5Q423yzNVZesWgI/s1600/IMG_2928.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUzveSxru03kV6NPPod5NqU1W3OeNeZ1h_MOfNIB3CNb_vvu-tY8bOAOFzk5pFtXMIAau3B4__Sj1FIzW9nS3k83fhK-MeiiC4TK_0qq_peecJEvGcqJFA_jN4ICl8u5Q423yzNVZesWgI/s640/IMG_2928.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="color: lime; font-size: x-large;"><strong>Such Is Life</strong></span></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tgl3UWsMvZc/T1Tv-0n_yPI/AAAAAAAACmg/obAs6HPpIwc/s1600/IMG_2661.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tgl3UWsMvZc/T1Tv-0n_yPI/AAAAAAAACmg/obAs6HPpIwc/s640/IMG_2661.JPG" width="398" /> </a> I could probably use a Wordless Wednesday or a free pass of some kind this week. My mind is sludged up and I am out of sync with the rest of life. The birds are not sitting quite long enough... or there's a branch in the way or...Wah,Wah,Wah! It's that time of year in the Northern Hemisphere when all of us here participate in the mandatory self annihilation of a late winter nervous breakdown. What could be the remedy? I made a concerted effort to go after Blue jay pictures using every dirty trick I could conceive of. There's a gorgeous <em>band</em> in the area and I was doing okay at attracting them into the photographic set I had made out of a White pine branch bribing their compliance with peanuts and kerneled corn. Of course, I was not quick enough or intuitive enough to get <em>that</em> shot. It's impossible to force the issue when Vex, the God of frustration, finds divine comedy in your sincere bumblings. "Such is life," is what my friends and I used to say back in the day when our plans went awry. The expression helped our young heads sound worldly wise to life's vague mysteries. There is almost nothing this blithe saying doesn't sum up. It is the hammer and the nail. I spent two days trying to get a stinking Blue Jay picture and all I got is a long distance shot of two starlings eating rotten apples. Such is life! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8I-YEHdrhJPPqm_MO_-SAvtuiBWR0PxZMDMESofD_NZ0nxyyMtCeYdhYpsUZm5N7ofZfnJZAjg4pg7jVrpUiUCG_FM4BGSbuOCgqiPqNBywDpLC6f3Ey50K7Dq_Wor_s3FtyabzQMyrbK/s1600/IMG_2801.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8I-YEHdrhJPPqm_MO_-SAvtuiBWR0PxZMDMESofD_NZ0nxyyMtCeYdhYpsUZm5N7ofZfnJZAjg4pg7jVrpUiUCG_FM4BGSbuOCgqiPqNBywDpLC6f3Ey50K7Dq_Wor_s3FtyabzQMyrbK/s640/IMG_2801.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">An ill mannered dinner companion leaves before the check arrives.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UvJzzGdfV8A/T1VwjJe1vuI/AAAAAAAACnA/TymoL6Ny1NE/s1600/IMG_0099.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UvJzzGdfV8A/T1VwjJe1vuI/AAAAAAAACnA/TymoL6Ny1NE/s640/IMG_0099.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">This pleasant pheasant picture was taken last year around this time. Those were the days!</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cnkxaXs-QNQ/T1Qk-hdt1wI/AAAAAAAACmA/jQ_rI2OKdAA/s1600/IMG_2375.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cnkxaXs-QNQ/T1Qk-hdt1wI/AAAAAAAACmA/jQ_rI2OKdAA/s640/IMG_2375.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Help an old retired fireman out, pretend this is a Blue Jay.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N1863VZ9GRk/T1YLmiwboaI/AAAAAAAACnc/xYlAF03fxi8/s1600/IMG_0955.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N1863VZ9GRk/T1YLmiwboaI/AAAAAAAACnc/xYlAF03fxi8/s640/IMG_0955.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">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 beautiful treasurers, the birds. <span style="color: black;"></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;">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!</span></div><br />
<a href="http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOBECj8nvDruOlMz8FJgl2daXEVyuExNvs1_jt_CAjSe-QPJiYOaTCgcCJweSWD0Y9uTvPIXurLmE1SVTSLjEY7PxtlGSER_giXt-mxRaBBrY6SuKsEvihvcrikPMV9HWIv3z7amKUkSt/s200/IMG_1314ps.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#1</span></span>Simply copy the above picture onto your W.B.W. blog entry, it contains a link for your readers to share in the fun. Or, you can copy this link on to your blog page to share WBW. </span><a href="http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: black;">http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#2</span></span>Come to The Pine River Review on Tuesday Noon EST North America through Wednesday midnight and submit your blog entry with InLinkz.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">#3</span></span>Check back in during the course of the next day and explore these excellent photoblogs!</span></div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;">The idea of a meme is that you will visit each others blogs and perhaps leave a comment to encourage your compatriots!</span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">Come on it's your turn!</span></span></span></div><br />
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