An amazing day that ended in an unexpected delight of 16 sandhill cranes. SANDHILL CRANES!!!! Oh wow, oh wow!
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| Sandhill Cranes in flight! |
We hiked the mill hill trail, moving small fallen trees and debris off the trail as we walked. I learn so much from Sara. Today, she immediately pointed out the budding Indian Plum bush ("plum" not blossom...no matter how determined i was to screw the name up all morning, it is plum. ...and pretty). Soon, she promises, the indian plum will have beautiful plumage. but, i quite liked its sweet charm today. Looking to the ground, Sara pointed out some corral fungi and we explored the differences between true corral (i'm sorry i can't recall the proper name) and the "false corral" which was more of an ivory, creamy white with smoother tips, the other (true coral) was more of a grayish brown and had predominately more forked tips. Further along I spotted a some Hooded Mergansers - such exquisite ducks! The ladies were proudly sporting their "mow-hawk" plumage. Onward we went and I learned about wasp galls; about culverts; and about the politics of the refuge - a continuous battle of rules and regulations that fight and thwart common sense and productivity...and the silly repercussions of that. Efforts that seem wasted because of seemingly tiny details (and sadly without the over-cautious precautions, realistic fears of retarded lawsuits loom in the precautions' place); like brand new beautiful boardwalks deemed "dangerous" and unusable because 2 ramps failed to exist in the development process and so are yet to be constructed; and as such the lonely boardwalk is left untraveled because it is not wheel-chair accessible. Of course, said boardwalk is also in the middle of a muddy, uneven trail that no wheel chair driver in their right mind would be on in the first place. But, where's the fun in that, right? So there, said handmade boardwalk and lovely trail sit, visitor-less except for the volunteers who happen to know it exists because their sweat went into it's construction.
I digress.
On from the mill trail loop, a good 3 miles, we tacked on another 2 or so and explored the winter-lush Woodpecker trail. Here I spotted my first identifiable Brown Creeper! I was able to make him out well enough for his spotted white and brown and slightly downward curving beak as it scuttled up a nearby tree. A darling little woodsy creature!
Before this, on the "lonely trail", Sara talked a bit about the wispy lichen that fell like gossamer from the mossy oaks.
"Alice Algae met Freddy Fungus and they took a lichen to each other..."
I'm certain that Grandfather's beard is the most delicate, ethereal lace of the woods. Forests' wedding veil. I think I would name that part of the trail "Ceremony Grove," for all that lovely.
I love it.
And these lichen draped trees were full of flirting little yellow warblers or kinglets (i think!). I'll be researching them later most certainly. (UPDATE: as far as I can tell they were ruby-crowned kinglets!)
Other Finley sightings: downy woodpecker, an austere and rather odd heron, several swift Northern Harriers, red tails, egrets, tricolored black birds, etc. etc.
Traveling back it seemed kestrels were parading the sky every 1/4 mile for some time! Perching and fluttering, and being in general just amazing.
Heading north on I-5 was a magnificent bald eagle swooping down to a pool of water in a field, barely 20-30 feet from the road.
At Ankeny I had the joy of meeting a birder willing to let me view birds through his scope and we took turns spotting birds (he identified most of them). He is quite experienced and had plenty of great tips and a few resources to explore as i'm getting going with birding. I felt validated and supported and like I'm on the right track. It was a comfort to chat with someone who would suddenly stop mid-sentence to listen or look for a particular bird and then either drift off for a moment or interrupt himself to talk about the spotting. I do this. Constantly. So, i felt right at home with his intent pauses and smiled to myself with the comfort and normalcy of it. ...home.
We saw ruddy ducks, shovelers, male and female buffleheads (he confirmed that i was identifying the females correctly), mallards, and he spotted some hooded mergansers AND a wood duck in the distance with his fancy scope but it disappeared before i could see it. darn it. i really want to see one of those.
He heard the sandhill cranes first. before seeing them. His look of astonished excitement was wonderful! His blue eyes lit up as he looked around for the bird that made this quivering vibrato call, soft in the distance. it took a few moments, but he spotted the small flock of 8 cranes flying across the lake. At first glance, someone who didn't know any better (like myself) would have presumed they were geese or perhaps swans or egrets - at such a distance. But as they got closer, I would have been furious and desperate to know what they were - had my new friend not been there. Such a treat!! Gray and long, with graceful, pulsing strokes - this was the sighting of the season for me! without doubt.
New friend also identified a Golden-rumped Warbler for me. I'd seen her there before but didn't know what she was. And we talked about the difficulties in identifying hawks and shorebirds. He chuckled knowingly when I frankly admitted that i hadn't even tried to start identifying the different gulls yet. "I don't blame you," he smiled, almost nodding in approval and with certain understanding. Shorebirds
are tough. really tough.
We talked about books "Now what books are you using," he quizzed. He approved my beginning books and affirmed that Sibley's was the next step for me. I literally held a medium-sized Sibley's in my hands at the Finley giftshop hours earlier and so very much wanted to buy it. but i relented. for now. He talked about buying his 9 year old granddaughter a birding book recently and commented that she'd be ready for a Sibley's some time down the road.
i loved that.
And we both agreed that I need to get down to Malhuer, and soon, for some exploring. I've been daydreaming about a trip there for some time now! And he seemed excited that I had a personal tour guide for klamath falls hopefully sometime soon too.
I'm certainly exciting about that last bit as well.
The day was full of splendor and goodness!
I hope yours was too!
