More Lifers and a Sense of Hope

I went birding this morning with a local birder in my area and it was a lot of fun. He showed me a bunch of new places around the Blackstone area that I had never gone to before and boy did it pay off. I now see why people recommend you go birding with more experienced birders because he was able to point out things to me that I would never have known on my own.

Lifer!!! Wood Ducks!!! The one waterfowl bird I had to see this summer no matter what. HA, I say that about all of them, but I am serious about this really I am. I hiked to a small pond and there they were. I was able to get three photos of them before they did that alarm call of theirs and flew off. The call was so alarmed that I actually felt bad for bothering them. Heck, the way they were screaming you would think I had a weapon pointed at them instead of my camera. Will remember to use extreme caution and tiptoe lightly next time I meet up with them.

LIFER!! Field Sparrow. HA! Yes I know, this is probably a common bird but you must remember that I started birding last May and it was all backyard birding for the most part until this past November. Birds that many of you have seen before are all new to me and this was one of them. Very nice call they have.

Not a lifer but a picture of the goose who has terrorized me in the past. I was never able to get a photo of him before because he would chase after me and I would run to my car in fear. People feed him so he automatically assumes you are going to do the same and when you don't he uses his size and bill to intimidate you. Last time he did this I threw him three slices of bread and ran to my car and skidded out of the dirt parking lot to get away. This Graylag Goose was tame as a kitten today though and didn't even look twice at me. I am hoping he isn't on his best behaviour solely for attracting a mate. I can't even imagine two of them running after me demanding bread. ;o)

The Pileated Woodpecker in Grafton continues to be a daily presence and he is really fixated on one tree in particular. Today I watched him work on that hole for about 15 minutes and I couldn't get over all of the wood chips that were coming from that tree. He was a determined guy this afternoon.

Now allow me to introduce you to the Misses. She went right to the tree he was on and when she landed he took off??? She then inspected the hole for a few minutes and took off after him. I hope she liked his handy work because he has been doing it for the past three weeks now and I would hate to see him have to start from scratch. ;o)


I decided to save the best for last. Yes the photo is lousy but it was tough to get this picture because we were so far away from this bridge railing and water was blocking our path. Plus, a good birder never disturbs a nest! What you see below is a Common Raven sitting on her nest!! LIFER and a super sweet one at that.

I seriously never thought I would get to see a Raven in my lifetime. I remember when I was a student in my Life Sciences class that our teacher went down a list of extinct or endangered birds and this was one of them. It is amazing how birds learn to adapt to human development and destruction at times.

I have been reflecting on the incredible birds I have seen the past couple of weeks and it has awakened my sense of hope. Hope is something we all yearn for but how does one define it? The advertisers bombard us with the promise of hope in hopes we will buy their product which usually lets us down. The politicians use it as a campaign slogan and all too soon we realized that it's politics as usual. It is easy to be a pessimist of hope in the day and age we are living in now.

But then I realize that hope cannot be bought with neither a dollar nor a vote. Hope is something we experience every day. We hope for a beautiful day with each lovely sunrise, we hope for spring when we see the first crocuses bloom and we hope for life when we see the Common Raven sitting lovingly on her nest.