Morning Birds

I like to start my day on the front porch with my Bible, my devotional books, my binoculars and my bird identification books. Add breakfast and coffee and I'm set for 30 minutes or so.

Most mornings I can predict pretty closely which birds I'll see: cardinals, white winged doves, house finches, house sparrows (yes, I know I need to trap them), field sparrows, white crowned sparrows, chickadees, carolina wrens, turkey vultures, red wing blackbirds, cowbirds, barn swallows, mockingbirds, etc. We have a northern harrier that must have a nest in the trees on a neighbor's property, I see it regularly. Sometimes I get a glimpse of the caracaras that live somewhere around here.

I put out a lot of bird seed in the form of loose ground seed, seed cylinders, and various suet feeders with fruit and insect suet.

Every now and then I see a bird I'm not expecting. This week, I saw two bluebirds - I'm always thrilled when the bluebirds show themselves - I've got bluebird houses out, but I don't know that we've ever had a successful clutch. But I also saw a glimpse of a bright yellow bird. A little later I got a better glimpse. I had a yellow warbler!!!!! I hope it stays around!

I need to spend more time on the back porch as well. I know we have a family of wrens that is frequenting the seed feeder back there. The titmice also seem to prefer the backfeeder, although ocassionally I see them in the front.

It really is a great way to start the day - watching the birds, hearing their sweet songs and calls and trying to focus my mind on things bigger and grander than myself.

Lake Tanglewood birds

One of the things I enjoy at Lake Tanglewood are the mornings with the birds. If I were going to be up here longer I would put out bird feeders - the seed cylinders and the suet feeders. This morning I wanted to enjoy the birds at my sister-in-law's house. So I got out fairly early and went and sat on her patio.

My morning bird list:
house finches
cedar waxwings
Western kingbirds ( yes . . . I know there are several birds,(flycatchers) that are similar - but because of where I am I think these are truly the kingbirds rather than fly catchers)
Bewicks wren - I got several good looks with the binoculars - but I had to check online to be sure which wren - white eyestripe, gray breast- must be bewicks
Northern harrier - He was soaring way overhead - hard to see the white spot on rump. I also went back online to check - white breast, dark head. I'm pretty sure of this id.
Bullocks oriole - He did not give me a good look, but based on better looks last year - bright orange with black on the head -
Turkeys (on the way to Mary's house)
Curve billed thrasher
Turkey vulture

And, after birdwatching, I got to sit and have some coffee with Mary and Walter . . . a good morning.

Turkey Gobbles

When you travel in an RV, you wake up in the same bed every morning. However, the sounds around you are different for each location. I know I'm at Lake Tanglewood when I wake up to the sound of turkey gobbles right outside the RV. Wild turkeys roost in the trees of a ravine by my sister-in-law's house. They pass right behind the RV on their way to forage each morning.

I do my "morning time" in the front seat of the RV. I enjoyed a new set of morning bird visitors yesterday. There is a pair of western kingbirds. After having been in the valley, I had to double check and make sure which kingbirds I was seeing - there are such subtle differences. But I'm pretty sure I'm seeing western kingbirds.

I was delighted to see a Bullocks Oriole - so much brighter orange than the photos in the book. A couple of hermit thrush bounce along the ground in the brush and grass in front of the RV. And I was delighted to see a blue gray gnatcatcher working the cedar tree in front of me.

As I went to the jeep to go over to my mother-in-laws, I could hear a Carolina wren.

And my scripture for the day: Psalm 96

Sing to the Lord a new song
sing to the Lord all the earth
Sing to the Lord, praise His name . . .

Let the heavens rejoice,
Let the earth be glad:
Let the sea resound,
and all that is in it;
Let the fields be jubiliant,
and everything in them.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy . . .

A Photographer's Winter Morning

Early morning is a special time. Symbolically it is the start of a new day. While I am not a "morning" person, sunrises are worth getting up for. As a photographer, getting to your photographic spot well before dawn is important. Part of the experience is seeing the world turn from a dark, black and white place in a crescendo of brilliant colors. That first hint of glow in the east is a promise of a new beginning. And the sky joyfully gets brighter and brighter until the glory of the sun finally breaks the horizon in a golden burst.

The early morning is also a good time to view animals. We had a chance to go back to Bosque del Apache in New Mexico. In the winter months thousands of snow geese, sandhill cranes, and other water fowl migrate here to spend the winter. Arriving at the refuge before dawn allows one to experience these beautiful creatures' morning rituals.

The snow geese stay together in flocks of several thousand. They come and go in a noisy group of powerful, beating wings and loud, honking calls. This year they seemed to make one initial move before dawn filling the sky in the distance with beautiful white graceful V-shaped lines. So our first task each morning was to discover which pond they had chosen. Our first morning was the coldest, the ponds had a layer of ice. We found many of the snow geese asleep on top of the ice. The beautiful golden rays of the rising sun gave them almost a heavenly lighting. It was fun to watch them wake up, go through their morning grooming rituals, and then doze off again, floating in the water with their heads tucked under their wing.



As a photographer, I wanted to capture their incredible take off. I discovered that you do have a few moments warning. Something will startle them, they all begin honking. Sometimes it is a false alarm and they settle back in to splashing and grooming. But other times, that caucophony of sound is the signal, and they all leave the pond at once.


Each day I positioned myself in a different place to try to capture the magic of thousands of birds in close proximity taking to the air at once. I tried slow shutter speeds to catch an artistic blur and I tried faster shutter speeds to get sharp details on each bird.




The sandhill cranes have a total different morning regimen. The frantic flight of the geese leaves them undisturbed. The cranes leave for the feeding grounds in family groups of two to five. They run across the ice or water in order to gain enough momentum for flight.


There are also signs to watch for to be prepared to capture their take off. You will see a group begin to stretch their necks out together in one direction. It is almost as though they have to psyche themselves up. If you are patient and quick with your shutter finger, you can catch them in the act of running and slipping clumsily on the ice before they are finally airborne in an incredible graceful flight. Because so many congregate on the ponds, you have plenty of opportunities to practice your panning and your eye-hand coordination to capture their beauty and grace.