Tag: Heron

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It seems a bit of an oxymoron have to work so hard at taking it easy, but I am having to do just that. Trying to find those thermals to drift upon. That downhill part of the hike, but any hiker will tell you the downhill portions are the killers.

“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.” Marie Curie

Don’t get me started on the search for the gift, that can be a real uphill hike.

Peace out….monos en theos ††† jasL

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #908 – Praise from the White Heron

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What lifts the heron leaning on the air
I praise without a name. A crouch, a flare,
a long stroke through the cumulus of trees,
a shaped thought at the sky – then gone. O rare!
Saint Francis, being happiest on his knees,
would have cried Father! Cry anything you please

But praise. By any name or none. But praise
the white original burst that lights
the heron on his two soft kissing kites.
When saints praise heaven lit by doves and rays,
I sit by pond scums till the air recites
It’s heron back. And doubt all else. But praise.

John Ciardi
Find your praise for the day! …† jas L

Shades of Gray from Grayson Co, TX #767 – PEACEFUL EZ FEELING

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THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

— Wendell Berry

 

Ah, the peace and beauty at Waterloo Park in Denison!     monos en theos….†…jim

 

Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #320

Heron or Egret

A large white heron, the Great Egret is found across much of the world, from southern Canada southward to Argentina, and in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. It’s the largest egret in the Old World, and thus has garnered the name Great White Egret. In the New World, however, the white form of the Great Blue Heron is larger. In the United States, the Great Egret used to be called the American Egret but that was hardly appropriate, since its range extends beyond the Americas and indeed farther than other herons.

Herons and Egrets are in the same family and look similar, so what is the difference? The name Egret comes from the French ‘aigrette’ meaning the plume feathers of the six species of white Egrets. These are a special breeding plumage only occurring through part of the year. For many years they were popular in the fashion trade. Egrets were the Herons from which ‘aigrettes’ were obtained so causing the death of many birds. The term has since lost its original meaning and is now used to describe various members of the Heron family which do not have these plumes and which are not white.

Sometimes it is okay to be confused on your journey††††nada te turbe†††jim

Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #291

MISPLACED CAJUN IN SOUTHWEST TX

I actually started my day in a pretty glum mode. Things got put back in place rather quickly when my  neighbor Mr Johnson came a rapping on my front door to inform me of an unusual visitor to his pond.

This Tricolor Heron (Egretta tricolor)  was wandering about the pond. I loaded up  Mongo (my 500mm) and hastily hoofed the 2 blocks to his house. I was told the Heron had gotten freaked and flew off. Oh well, I retraced my steps back to coffee and was about to go on out on my am walk when my cell phone rang. The Heron was back. Re-gear, retrace back to the pond and are greeted with “he just left again”. All we got to see was a small V in the sky heading north. Oh well, we hung at the waters edge for a while and had a bit of a Walden’s moment as we watched the Purple Martins do aerobics and a litany of butterflies and dragon flies circling about.

At about 5:00pm, I loaded up a smaller telephoto (300mm) stuck the 1.4 extender in my pocket and went back to see if the heron had returned.  I came to the edge of the pond & set up my photo stool and was greeting with the loud flapping of wings as the big boy was exiting away from my disturbance. So it goes with birding. I whiled away an hour or so trying to catch an image of the Martins skimming accoss the water when once again I heard the sound of large wings. The big boy came in right over the top of me and settled across the pond from me about 20 yards away.

He proceeded to slowly fish his way around the pond until he ended up about 15-20 feet from my stillness. He was close enough that I could hear the small bones of the little fish being crushed in his powerful beak. It was a truly golden moment, I felt so warm and blessed to get to experience this. Thank you Abba, thank you Mr and Ms Johnson.

The Tricolored Heron’s migratory route in generally 200-300 hundred miles to the north. But with drought and the fires, nature is forced to adapt. This is the only dark covered heron that sports a white belly. He is the most abundant heron of the Deep South and was formerly known as the “Louisiana Heron”

Accept the gifts you are given on your journey††††nada te turbe††††jim

via Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #291.

Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #291

MISPLACED CAJUN IN SOUTHWEST TX

I actually started my day in a pretty glum mode. Things got put back in place rather quickly when my  neighbor Mr Johnson came a rapping on my front door to inform me of an unusual visitor to his pond.

This Tricolor Heron (Egretta tricolor)  was wandering about the pond. I loaded up  Mongo (my 500mm) and hastily hoofed the 2 blocks to his house. I was told the Heron had gotten freaked and flew off. Oh well, I retraced my steps back to coffee and was about to go on out on my am walk when my cell phone rang. The Heron was back. Re-gear, retrace back to the pond and are greeted with “he just left again”. All we got to see was a small V in the sky heading north. Oh well, we hung at the waters edge for a while and had a bit of a Walden’s moment as we watched the Purple Martins do aerobics and a litany of butterflies and dragon flies circling about.

At about 5:00pm, I loaded up a smaller telephoto (300mm) stuck the 1.4 extender in my pocket and went back to see if the heron had returned.  I came to the edge of the pond & set up my photo stool and was greeting with the loud flapping of wings as the big boy was exiting away from my disturbance. So it goes with birding. I whiled away an hour or so trying to catch an image of the Martins skimming accoss the water when once again I heard the sound of large wings. The big boy came in right over the top of me and settled across the pond from me about 20 yards away.

He proceeded to slowly fish his way around the pond until he ended up about 15-20 feet from my stillness. He was close enough that I could hear the small bones of the little fish being crushed in his powerful beak. It was a truly golden moment, I felt so warm and blessed to get to experience this. Thank you Abba, thank you Mr and Ms Johnson.

The Tricolored Heron’s migratory route in generally 200-300 hundred miles to the north. But with drought and the fires, nature is forced to adapt. This is the only dark covered heron that sports a white belly. He is the most abundant heron of the Deep South and was formerly known as the “Louisiana Heron”

Accept the gifts you are given on your journey††††nada te turbe††††jim