The Birds Continue To Amaze

Well, it finally happened!

I was sitting on the deck against the water-facing side of the pond house searching the shoreline for a spotted sandpiper.  The sandpipers have been the most regular bird present at the pond in line behind the red- winged blackbirds and tree swallows. I enjoy watching the sandpipers scamper along the water’s edge and pecking for food.

All of a sudden, without a sound, a Great Blue Heron flew into view from the side of the pond house.  The heron was flying low over the water and landed in the grass at the far side of the pond. 

I was amazed.  So were the dogs.  At first sight, they started to chase as they do with all birds, but when the heron landed, the dogs just stopped in what seemed to be a bit of shock.  The birds they chase never land and the birds are never quite this large.  I think they were confused as to what to do.  Buddy and Snowball just sat and watched as I did.

The heron stood quietly towering over the grass.  Camera in hand, I got a few shots off.  I wanted to zoom in closer, but since the heron is so tall, I had to turn the camera to better frame the entire form.  That turning caused the heron to exit. Ugh!

Once in flight, the heron made its way past me into the far side of a nearby walnut tree.  The heron barked all the way.  This is the only the second time I actually heard a heron bark indicating that the heron was startled. The vocals were a bonus to the already fabulous spectacle.

I could see the heron through the somewhat sparse, early leaves of the walnut, but not good enough to witness any kind of observations.  I looked away for a moment and the heron was gone.

I had been waiting for years for a heron to land at the pond while I was there.  A few herons have come close by flying low, but as soon as the dogs were eyed, the herons just continued flying on and out of sight.

Today, an optimism turned to reality. 

But, that was not the end of my excitement.  As I made my return walk home, I saw a brown thrasher sitting on the fence line adjacent to the area I call ‘the bird sanctuary’. This area is very overgrown with trees, shrubs, grasses and weeds.  Glenn wants to clear the sanctuary, mainly due to the undesirability of autumn olive growing there, bringing this small island of diverse growth back to and adding it to the surrounding pasture. Autumn olive shrubs are not desirable growing in a pasture because they take up valuable space where grass should be growing, yet they provide seasonal bird cover and berries for food in the fall.  After the birds eat the berries, they drop the seeds into the pastures where the nuisance shrub takes hold. Glenn has to manually eradicate the shrub from the pastures because the livestock will not eat it.   I insist that the sanctuary remains for the benefit of the birds’ habitat and for the benefit of my bird-watching.  I have seen many a rare-to-me bird here. So far, I am winning this conflict.

 

About two weeks prior, I had a quick glimpse of a brown thrasher in the sanctuary. This brief sighting caused me to formulate my self-imposed goals for this summer which are to photograph a brown thrasher and a wood thrush. Seeing both birds are a very rare, sighted only about twice each and each time the birds were partially hidden by foliage, occurrence to me.  Therefore, seeing the brown thrasher in the open was thrilling. Regrettably, Snowball was ten steps ahead of me.  Yep, that thrasher flew off before I was to get photographic documentation.  Fortunately, for me, the thrasher flew into a nearby tree and was perched on a branch in full view.

I got my pictures. One rare bird photographed, one to go.  And, it is only mid-May.  I have plenty of time to view the wood thrush this summer, I think.  I hope.