The Little Things
Yesterday I was having a good walking day and KRP was off. So, we drove out to the wildlife refuges.
It was a windy day – not the best for taking photos of scenery. But we rarely have a day where everything come together. One where I am having a good day and KRP is off work. Normally I would not bother going out to take photos and drive around on such a day but now we take advantage of such opportunities. This time of year there are not many big birds hanging around and finding the little birds in the brush gets harder and harder for me. Chalk it up to age and optic neuritis. I did get a few good pics of the different foliage. The changes in the environment between seasons has always held my interest but now I take more notice of the sounds and smells. How the songs of the little birds changes whenever a bird of prey is around and the smells in the air as the winds change.
I had a geography teacher pull me aside on a field trip to tell me he had never had a student that paid so much attention to the details. That physical geography field trips were set up to notice the larger picture. The soil creep, the features, the formations of mountains and ponds etc. etc.. I remember asking how else would someone know where to look for the details without noticing the larger picture. He chuckled. I count him in my mind as one of my better professors. I still think along those lines to this day. It drives my friends nuts sometimes. I will look across acres of land and say lets go over there. Eh? no really that is the best spot I noticed where _____ or _____ could be. to me it is somewhat of a no brain-er, if the land come to a low point, or if the vegetation tends to support a particular species, then that is where we should go if we are looking for . … my pals and KRP find this annoying for some reason. Maybe because statistically I am usually correct but sometimes getting to where over there is can be a bit challenging.
This was not particularly a problem when I was doing most of the driving and the one pulling a stuck vehicle out of the muck. At least now the water ways are mostly dried up and the mud has turned into hard pan or dust. Ok that is my side of the story and I am sticking to it. For whatever reason I have a game I like to play now when out and about the delta area. I pick a spot and wait and wait to get a picture of some little bird. Not a rare bird or anything, just well – a little bird that is being illusive. I will stay in this spot until a manage to find the little bird in the brush and get a photo of it. Apparently sitting for long periods of time in one spot is not as fun and interesting to others. Umm.
A few pics that show the changes. (I took the photo of the canal for you Webster.)
I found a nice spot that a small area of water and spent some time trying to catch the little bird that was chirping away. I looked down and caught a small moth, shot a pic of a thistle, and found one of the bird nests. Oh yeah I finally got a pic or two of the little bird. Can you find it in the reeds in picture 2?
Well that is what we did yesterday.