Just a few shots of what we found to a be a fine looking Snow Goose resting in some grasses not yet greening up just a few weeks ago.
By now those fields must be green and the goose departed for land far away.
Happy Friday and wishing you a fine weekend.
The Chukar , pronounced choo-karr. is a game bird introduced to North America and New Zealand from Eurasia. The Chukar typically inhabits high, dry and rocky terrain in Western North America. We have occasionally gotten a glance and sometimes a quick photo of them while out and about in the great basin region of the United States but our encounters were always short and to the point. That all changed a week ago.
While sipping our morning coffee this lone Chukar wandered into our yard. Probably an escapee from a bird dog training session or from a hunting ranch. This day we had a chance to observe and photograph this bird up close and for several hours as it hung around most of the day and into the early evening.
It was fun to get a good look at this Chukar however by days end they had wandered off into the sunset.
Up and over
The wind blows
The clouds move
I stand still
An immature White-crowned Sparrow soaking in some of the golden morning sunlight.
We love listening to adults sing their songs each spring and according to the All About Birds website:
A young male White-crowned Sparrow learns the basics of the song it will sing as an adult during the first two or three months of its life. It does not learn directly from its father, but rather from the generalized song environment of its natal neighborhood.bird
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-crowned_Sparrow/overview
Imagine moving twice a year in a changing landscape that presents you with constant danger.
A new article published on all about birds titled “Is Bird Migration Getting More dangerous” details the dangers birds overcome and the challenges they face during the most dangerous time of the year for birds. A piece well worth the read as a tribute to the avian world on a celebratory day.
Peeking into the shrubs to get a view of the ever-present but what seemed to be always-hidden singer of a wonderful back and forth duet of sound that guided us on our walks in a costal forest. The Wrentit is a beautiful bird with a piercing eye that inhabits the costal scrub and chaparral along the west coast of the United States. They are prolific singers the fill the forests with song at all hours of the day making it easy to know they are present even if seeing them is a chore. Wrentits are non-migratory and it is reported that they may not travel further than half a mile from where they were born.
Memory is a funny thing. What was a moment of reflection becomes a reflection of a reflection.
Seasons pass and come again blurring into one.
A season that never came.
A season that never left.
Places you’ve been seem close yet far and never how they are.
Yes, memory is a quite peculiar thing.
Bluebird sky and sleeves rolled up.
Although the snow is still piled high a day like this leaves no doubt spring is on its way.
It’s only early March and no doubt more flakes will fly and cold will return but in the meantime grass long buried is exposed and a nice meal to be had.
