Resurrection Sunday

My attempt at digiscoping a
Red-Winged Blackbird

We woke early this morning to walk through an urban park not far from where we live. We decided to try a new spot, other than the larger county parks where we usually go for a little urban hike. There are a lot of little spots in Lansing and the surrounding area, and since moving here I've been able to explore a lot of them. Even in the winter, we visited some just to see the transformation of the landscape. This morning, on Resurrection Sunday it seemed appropriate to get ourselves into the woods, holding hot coffee and our hoods up because of the light drizzle. Our binoculars in hand, and tethered around our shoulders we started to walk quietly down a long mowed path. There are small stages and transition moments when I go birding. The initial thrill of getting out and the flurry of a few birds at first (usually just finches) gets me excited. Then as the walk continues, my senses start to settle into the activity. The pace shifts from noticing every small movement to listening for every small movement, and eventually I find myself standing still, watching the trees and listening. This part of birding is what I love most. Quietly standing with my head sweeping from one side to another, and listening intently. Then Kevin might nudge, "there it is!" and we pull up our binoculars, start describing in detail what we see, and comment on how wonderful, attractive, cute, peculiar, or funny, the little bird is. Then we both make a mental note for our bird list. This continues on for a while, and standing still turns into slow steps forward, and eventually the walk continues. Finally, the walk back is usually brisk, with abrupt stops because suddenly, so many birds.

I've kept a bird list of almost every little birding trip I've been on. Even when it is just like the one today, a couple of hours in a park, I still make a note. It's a way to catalogue the passage of time for me. I have often looked in my birding book and re-read the dates of when I saw certain birds and where, and it's like reading an old journal, and memories emerge bringing with them joy of "that time I saw the American Kestrel in Southern Oregon - pumping its tail." This morning is a day to put into my bird book, next to the Downy Woodpecker "Northern Tier Trail, Easter Sunday 2015."

Bird List (Short and Sweet):
Cowbird
American Goldfinch
Brown Creeper
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Red-winged Blackbird
Canada Goose
Tufted Titmouse
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Mallard
White-breasted Nuthatch
Mourning Dove
Eastern Phoebe