Saturday, February 19, 2011
Birding WIth Bob
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| A California wood duck I saw on my first miraculous day of birding with Bob. |
So lovely, the entire day I spent with dear old friend Bob G. engaging in what has become his serious hobby: birding! In the process of become a true "birder" he has become a fine photographer of the birds he watches. THe photo at left is of one of the three species we were going after to see on that particular day. We lucked out at lovely little Lloyd Lake in the middle of Golden Gate Park, and not one but two wood ducks, a male brightly colored (at left) and his mate, less glorious but lovely as well were floating serenely midst the Muscovy ducks that populate that lake, and they stood out like refined jewels in a basket of grain, so bright were their colors.
This little fella, so very dapper in his definition, looks like someone painted him, after carving his perfect little ducky body out of a wood light enough to float. He is impossibly beautiful to see up close, and when you do get close (these two floated mostly away from us in the lake) they don't even seem real, they are so visual and graphic. From far away, they look like actors on a stage, defined and arresting, and you're not sure why until you see their make-up job up close: they are positively garish in their coloration, like with bright make-up applied too thick. But it's what makes them so arresting to view from afar: their make-up is perfect for the space they "perform" in. Beautiful ...very beautiful.
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| "Damn, I hate tourists!" |
TO the immediate left is an American bittern! Another rare bird we went to see that day -urged on by a sighting posting from one of SF's birder sites Bob tunes into regularly. Sadly, the little guy eluded us that day - though we stood for an hour waiting for his return to where we were told he'd been sighted- and there were several regular birders waiting for his showing...he never did that afternoon. Bob went out a day or two later to the same spot in GG Park, and found him, made several shots ...attached is my favorite because he looks furious for one reason or another...maybe he's pissed off that he was discovered in his hiding place around the little marsh.
That lovely several hours we saw ringed-neck ducks - also rare, Bob said - pie-billed grebes, Muscovy ducks, so odd and wondrous, blue herons nesting (there is this one place on the Stowe Lake island where there are several nests of them...again in Golden Gate Park), double crested cormorants, diving ducks, dabbling ducks, black-crowned night herons, Canada geese, sparrows, humming birds, swans, hooded mallards, and more. It was like nothing I've ever experienced in my life before.
An entire other universe of awareness. Creatures that are pre-historic in their origins, on earth far longer than human kind has been, so delicate and graceful in their ways. Is there anything more serene than a floating duck? OR more gloriously lyrical than a blue heron flying to her nest? It was like watching a movie while being part of it, with the cast of characters so far above you, so clearly more equipped to live in a world closed to you - man can build all the airplanes he wants to build - we were never meant to fly like these creatures do - they are meant to soar like that, and to effortlessly float as they do. WE can only dream of such grace. I admire birds so.
Am I becoming a birder? Another step in the direction of becoming a true California girl? Stay tuned.
Labels: SF birding
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