Birds
Read MoreContentment
Great Blue Heron
Ardea Herodias
Watching this great blue heron in a local marsh, I was reminded of a Robert Bly poem about the perennial inability of so many people to find peace and contentment in the present moment — the eternal now. We have much to learn from herons.
WANTING SUMPTUOUS HEAVENS
By Robert Bly
No one grumbles among the oyster clans,
And lobsters play their bone guitars all summer.
Only we, with our opposable thumbs, want
Heaven to be, and God to come, again.
There is no end to our grumbling; we want
Comfortable earth and sumptuous Heaven.
But the heron standing on one leg in the bog
Drinks his dark rum all day, and is content.Eastern Phoebe
Sayornis Phoebe
There is hardly a day in which I do not see at least one eastern phoebe. In the spring, they build nests on the ledges above the columns on our veranda, and, soon thereafter, we welcome their new offspring into the world. They're not flashy birds, but always charming and elegant.Brown-headed Cowbird
Molothrus Ater
I was observing a flock of several hundred brown-headed cowbirds when all of the birds, except this one, were startled by something and flew away en masse. This guy stayed on its perch and seemed to acknowledge my presence without fear. Cowbirds are common, of course, and few pay very much attention to them. Isolate one with a cameral or binoculars, however, and you can see that the cowbird possesses its own kind of unique beauty, sustained by a solid structure and subtle coloring.Savannah Sparrow on Cold Winter Morning
Savannah Sparrow Passerculus Sandwichensis It's a very cold winter morning in upstate South Carolina, but this Savannah Sparrow is staying warm by fluffing its feathers (sometimes referred to as "puffing up"). This increases the "dead-air" space between the feathers and skin, and thereby traps warmth and helps the bird retain body heat. It's estimated that this process can increase the bird's body heat by as much as 30%.
Savannah Sparrow
Passerculus Sandwicheysis
Savannah sparrows are among my favorite birds, and I especially enjoy photographing them along the fence lines of local farms. Whenever possible, as in this image, I try to make the fence part of the design. From my perspective, the curvilinear shape of the sparrow is more interesting when seen in the context of the straight horizontals and verticals.Red-Shouldered Hawk
Buteo Lineatus "Some things happen only once, twice in a lifetime. The world is full of signs and wonders that come, and go, and if you are lucky you might be alive to see them. I thought the world was ending, but my hawk had saved me again, and the terror was gone." Helen MacDonald, H is for Hawk
Great Egret
Ardea Alba From Mary Oliver's poem, "Egrets," these closing lines echo my own sentiments about great egrets: Even half-asleep they had such faith in the world that made them --- tilting through the water, unruffled, sure by the laws of their faith, not logic, they opened their wings softly and stepped over every dark thing.