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Archive for the ‘Birds’ Category

Weekly Photo Challenge: Curves

            “In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.” Aristotle

Barn swallow nests with a curved opening. -- Photo by Pat Bean.

Barn swallow nests with a curved opening. — Photo by Pat Bean.

They Abound in Nature  

            I’ve flow across America many times, always if possible in a window seat, where I spent much time staring at the earth below. I found that the land was almost always sectioned off into an endless array of squares. We North American humans, it seems, like our boundaries straight and neat.

BeusPond1_May25_2007          I realized just how true that was  hen I flew in a plane over Kenya and Tanzania, where a landscape square was a rare thing.. Here the land retained much of its natural curves.

It was more picturesque, and I liked it better.

            Bean’s Pat: http://tinyurl.com/lez6u6y Follow along as a historic Lonely Planet Journey is recreated. It’s a fantastic armchair travel adventure for those of us who can’t afford to take the trip for real.

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“I can imagine in years to come that my papers and memorabilia, my journals and letters, will find themselves always in the company of people who care about many of the things I do.”  — Alice Walker

A recent page from one of my art journals. As I sketched the osprey, I thought about all the times I had seen one, and good memories flooded my little gray cells. Illustration by Pat Bean

A recent page from one of my art journals. As I sketched the osprey, I thought about all the times I had seen one, and good memories flooded my little gray cells. Illustration by Pat Bean

What I’m Reading

            Ditto to what Alice Walker said. I can’t help but wonder where all my bins of journals will end up after I’m gone. Hopefully not in the trash, but that’s always a possibility.

An Illustrated Journal, the book I'm currently reading.

An Illustrated Journey, the book I’m currently reading.

It would be nice if some of what I’ve lived through as a woman fighting for equal rights and equal pay found their way into a women’s center at some university. And it would be nice to think that some of my progeny, the greats, might want to know who know who I was.

Regardless, keeping my journals is simply something I have to do. It’s part of me and for me.  It’s as if I must write it down for things to become real.

Meanwhile, I love reading other people’s journals. And since I’m beginning to add drawings to my own journals, I’m particularly enjoying “An Illustrated Journey: Inspiration from the Private Art Journals of Traveling Artists, Illustrators and Designers,” put together by Danny Gregory.

It’s a delightful book, with lots of tips on keeping an illustrated journal. And since each artist does it his or her way, I have lots of choices.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: About Elephants http://tinyurl.com/m2l2r4z  Our Journeys are all the Same.

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            “A flash of harmless lighting, a mist of rainbow dyes, the burnished sunbeams brightening, from flower to flower he flies.” John Banister Tabb

Bringing Joy to the Trees

A male costa hummingbird. The female lacks the bright colors, being mostly green and white. -- Pat Bean illustration.

A male costa hummingbird. The female lacks the bright colors, being mostly green and white. — Pat Bean illustration.

Since it’s warmed up here in Tucson, I’ve begun sitting at a picnic bench beneath some trees for Pepper’s afternoon outing.

Although it’s not the best time of day for birding, there are usually birds flitting in the trees surrounding me, so I bring my binoculars.

Yesterday, there was a pair of hummingbirds keeping me company while Pepper frolicked in the grass. From their general demeanor, I assumed the hummers were black-chinned, the species I’ve seen more often than any other.

Then something didn’t look quite right, and I realized I was now living in an area where more than black-chins or broadtails (Utah) or black-chins or ruby-throated (Texas except for the Rio Grande Valley) were common.

Hummingbirds, which seldom stay still, aren’t easy for me to identify. But after about 10 minutes of study,  and when one finally settled on a nearby branch facing me, I realized it was a costa hummingbird.

This was a life species for me, meaning the first time I had seen and identified this bird. I couldn’t wait to get back to my apartment and bring my list up to date. The costa hummingbird made No. 701 on the list of bird species I’ve seen.

I did a quick sketch so you can see it too. No way am I a good enough photographer to have captured this tiny bundle of energy on wings with my camera.

  Bean’s Pat: Readful Things http://tinyurl.com/lmcgc76 A review of “White Fang,” my second favorite Jack London book, which I read many, many years ago. Maybe it’s time for a reread. My favorite London Book, you ask? “Call of the Wild,” of course. A few years back I visited London’s cabin in the Yukon. The cabin is located in Dawson, where I spent the night before crossing the Yukon River on a ferry and driving the Top of the World Highway on my way to Fairbanks, Alaska. Ahhhhh! What good memories I have from that trip.

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            “When birds burp, it must taste like bugs.” – Bill Watterson

Belted kingfisher: I tried to capture the jazzy look and attitude of kingfishers in this sketch.

Belted kingfisher: I tried to capture the jazzy look and attitude of kingfishers in this sketch.

Cute and Good at Catching Fish            

If it’s a kingfisher, however, that burp will taste more like fish, especially if it lives in North America.

Although there are three species of  kingfishers –among the 30 or so that roam this planet – that call America home, the only common one is the belted kingfisher. It can be seen in all of the mainland’s 49 states.

A couple of pied kingfishers, which were among the favorite birds I saw in Africa. -- Wikipedia photo

A couple of pied kingfishers, which were among the favorite birds I saw in Africa. — Wikipedia photo

My first view of this bird took place on the Big Hole River in Montana, where I saw it sitting on a log that leaned out over the water. It was waiting for a fish to come within bill range.

I sat quietly, not too far away, until I saw the bird make a successful catch. I still remember the thrill of that moment.

I saw the second of America’s kingfishers, the ringed, at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. This southern tip of Texas is the only place the bird can be seen in this country. The Rio Grande Valley is also habitat for the green kingfisher, which I’m still hoping one day to see. I might get lucky. The green kingfisher also comes up from Mexico to visit southeastern Arizona, which is my current home.

Meanwhile I have five more kingfishers on my life list. The collared kingfisher, which I saw on the island of Rota near Guam, and four that I saw while on safari in Africa: the pied, woodland and malachite in Kenya and the grey-headed in Tanzania. Just 23 more to go now.

And just for the record, the pied kingfisher was among my favorites of the 182 life birds I saw during my two-week visit to Africa.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: http://tinyurl.com/mhc93p8 My favorite blogger is out of her element, but still making science fun. I particularly loved waking up this morning to the Periodic Table song.

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“Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly, Man got to sit and wonder ‘why, why, why?’ Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land. Man got to tell himself he understand.” – Kurt Vonnegut, “Cat’s Cradle

 

Western tanager -- Wikipedia photo

Western tanager — Wikipedia photo

 

I Think I saw a Pretty Bird

            I spent most of my life totally unaware of the birds that live around us. Then I caught the bird-watching virus.

Sage Grouse: The bird that addicted me to bird watching. -- Wikipedia photo

Sage Grouse: The bird that addicted me to bird watching. — Wikipedia photo

It happened in 1999 when I was doing a newspaper story on sage grouse at Deseret Ranch in Utah. It required me to wake at an ungodly hour — even for me an early riser — and then hike a mile or so across the landscape to a sit behind a blind so I could watch male grouse show off for the gals at a lek.

“It is sort of like when the guys drag Main Street on Saturday night,” birding guide Mark Stackhouse told me.

I found the strutting, puffed out males, an awesome sight – and laughed at how most of the girls ignored the boys. From that day forward I was hooked, and these days my binoculars are usually close by.

So it was this afternoon, as I sat at tree-top level on the balcony of my third-floor apartment talking on the phone to my daughter-in-law in Texas, when a bright colored bird flew in and sat on a branch not too far away.

“OHhhhhh. A pretty bird,” I screeched into my daughter-in-law’s ear, and grabbed for by binoculars..

It was a western tanager, the first I’ve seen here at my Catalina foothills apartment. I usually see them in a more forested setting, but there are a lot of trees here, and a fountain in one of the courtyards where the birds can drink.

It’s a beautiful bird, don’t you agree?

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Cantankerous Puffs of Adorable http://tinyurl.com/l7sphvv Juvenile green herons

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            “Always remember to slow down in life, live, breathe and learn; take a look around you whenever you have time and never forget everything and every person that has the least place within your heart.” — Unknown

Friesian Horses and Birds, But Not Birthdays 

I've never seen a horse I thought more beautiful than the Friesian. -- Wikipedia Photo

I’ve never seen a horse I thought more beautiful than the Friesian. — Wikipedia Photo

“Isn’t that a Friesian horse?” I asked my daughter as one appeared in the movie, Eragon, which we had sat down to watch together this past week.

I was pretty sure it was, but my daughter is a horse person, so I asked.  I once wrote a newspaper feature on these beautiful creatures. Seeing one always brings to mind the first time I saw one, which was in the movie, “Ladyhawke.” It was shortly after that movie was released that I did the story.

During the 37 years, I was a journalist, I easily wrote over 200 articles annually, many more during some years. That adds up to well over 7,000 stories. What, I wondered, lets me remember some of them as if I wrote them yesterday, and others not at all.

What lets me remember very clearly the time I saw each of the over 700 birds on my life list, but forget my own children’s and grandchildren’s birthdays? OK, I do remember my own kids’ birthdays, I just forget what day it is.

I've never seen this bird except in photos, but since it's a bird I'll probably be seeing it in my quirky brain fro the rest of my life.  --Wikipedia Photo

I’ve never seen the stork-billed kingfisher except in photos, but since it’s a bird I’ll probably be seeing it in my quirky brain for the rest of my life. –Wikipedia Photo

Why is it that names of some people, whose faces I can clearly see in my head, suddenly escape my brain?

This is not age related, at least in my case. My brain has had these quirks all my life.

One nice thing about the short-circuit in my brain is that I tend to remember the good things and forget the bad.  It could be the other way around, like a couple of people I know who relive a stressful event day after day after day.

What do you remember, and what do you forget?

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat Layover in Singapore http://tinyurl.com/pvz3gu5 This is the first time I’ve seen the stork-billed kingfisher, whose awesome photo leads this blog. It’s not on my bird list, because I haven’t seen it personally, but I do think I’ll remember it.

 

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          “Distrust any enterprise that requires new clothes.” – Henry David Thoreau

And that’s the Truth

For the past nine years, my wardrobe consisted almost entirely of cargo pants and shorts worn with a T-shirt top and a pair of tennis shoes. Occasionally I bought a dress for a granddaughter’s wedding or some other special occasion but usually gave it away because it took up too much space in my RV’s small closet.

The lower section of my ever faithful cargo pants zipped off and I had all the clothes I needed while gallivanting around in my RV Gypsy Lee in search of nice trails to hike. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

The lower section of my ever faithful cargo pants zipped off and I had all the clothes I needed while gallivanting around in my RV Gypsy Lee in search of nice trails to hike. — Photo by Kim Perrin

For emergency situations, when T-shirts weren’t exactly appropriate, I had a nice pair of black pants and a couple of nice tops.

The one summer nice top I have, I realized this morning, is dirty because I wore it when I was taken out to breakfast by a son-in-law and three grandsons for Mother’s Day. I wore it with a pair of cotton culottes – is that term even still used?  — that was barely a fashion step up from shorts. But then it was just Denny’s.

Today I’m going out to lunch with a group of women to a nicer place and they, I know, from past lunches, don’t eat lunch in shorts and a T-shirt. And summer in Tucson, which has finally arrived, is a big no-no for hot-bodied me and black pants.

I know women are always stereotyped as complaining they have nothing to wear, but that’s a fact for me this morning. I’m going to have to make an early shopping expedition as soon as I post this. I can’t think of anything more unpleasant. I truly do hate shopping for clothes.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Birding in Wellington where winter is just beginning http://tinyurl.com/b7vcrdq A New Zealand armchair travel adventure.

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“Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.” — Edward de Bono

Weekly Photo Challenge: Patterns

The shadow in this pattern tells you what you're looking at. Want a hint? It's a bird. -- Photo by Pat Bean

The shadow in this pattern tells you what you’re looking at. Want a hint? It’s a bird.

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             I rate enthusiasm even above professional skills.” – Sir Edward Appleton

To enjoy the view from above, one first has to get to the top of Angel's Landing in Zion National Park. -- Photo by Pat Bean

To enjoy the view from above, one first has to get to the top of Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park. — Photo by Pat Bean

Weekly Photo Challenge: Above

My enthusiasm to get to the top of Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park every year on my birthday was motivated by my belief that if I could make it, I could handle anything the next year threw at me.

My immediate reward, however, was a view of the Virgin River and the winding canyon below, where birds flew below me and  people were dwarfed to bug size.

It was an exhilarating experience made even more awesome one year when a pair of peregrines flew below the edge of the ridge. For the first time I got to view the back of these falcons and not just their bellies as they flew.

I suspected the pair was nesting below in the rocks, an occurrence that closes down Angel’s Landing to rock climbers every year. I also suspected that the rock climbers had an even more exhilarating enthusiasm for the view from above after their strenuous efforts to get to the top.

It’s been a few years since I stood on top of Angel’s Landing.  Thankfully, since my children are grown and I’m now into the joys of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, life isn’t throwing me as many curves as it did in my earlier years.

So walking my canine companion, Pepper, up and down three flights of stairs for her four daily walks, has become my motivating challenge to keep me in shape to handle life’s more difficult moments.  But who knows. These efforts might get me into good enough shape that I might once again stand on the top of Angel’s Landing for yet one more view from above.

Ahh! I made it! -- Photo by Pat Bean

Ahh! I made it! — Photo by Pat Bean

            Bean’s Pat:  Wild Junket: http://tinyurl.com/buy5x2e Take an armchair exploration of St. Vincent

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         “Adventure is not outside man; it is within.” — George Eliot

Think all doves do are coo. This white-winged species has a nest in a tree that I walk beneath and screeches loudly at me every time I walk past. -- Photo y Pat Bean

Think all doves do are coo? This white-winged species has a nest in a tree that I walk beneath and screeches loudly at me every time I walk past. — Photo y Pat Bean

Letting my Mind Wonder as My Legs Wander

            I’m recovering nicely from my broken ankle, but still not up to the adventure of a trail hike. Instead I have to get my kicks from walking on level ground. Mostly, on the four daily 15-20 minute walks I take with Pepper around the apartment complex, she and I retrace the same territory over and over.

Pepper off on one of her scent trails. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Pepper off on one of her scent trails. — Photo by Pat Bean

But each walk is different because of the people we meet along the way, a suddenly blooming plant, an old sight seen in a new way, the variety and activity of birds at the time, and always the varying thoughts in my head.

My best and brightest or most absurd and ridiculous ideas bounce through my brain like a ball in a pinball machine when I’m walking.

Pepper, who sniffs every twig, every new flower and urine bulletin board messages left behind by her doggie colleagues, always adds a layer of fun to the walks.

This one little flower in a big pot seems awfully lonely/ == Photo by Pat Bean

This one little flower in a big pot seems awfully lonely/ == Photo by Pat Bean

So far she’s never met another canine or human whom she didn’t like, although thankfully she’s come to know which four-footed and two-footed beings don’t want anything to do with her, and has learned to sit quietly by my side while they pass.

Dogs, I’ve come to believe, have much better instincts than we humans

But a smile or a tail wag from any of our apartment neighbors is enough to make her deliriously happy and playful. She is forever bringing smiles to my face.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Like a moment from Midsomer Murders: http://tinyurl.com/d2rrved  A First of May sunrise. I suspect the reference to Midsomer Murders is because there is always one village celebration or another taking place in the English TV mystery series, which is one of my favorite shows. The blog’s title is what caught my attention, but the photo is awesome.

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