Some days you only get one...

This morning was our Young Birder's Club meeting for January. Hannah and I were excited as we woke early and made the trek over to Guadalupe River State Park to help our club learn about bird banding. We love being bird banding assistants. And the sun greeted us first thing...

Once everyone gathered it was time for some instructions...

And a closer look at the bands...

We walked the hill country grassland across 10 acres to check six nets in hopes of finding some native song birds to band. It was a slow day, the sun shining brightly making the nets easy to see, but we finally got one little bird...

This little Grasshopper Sparrow was the exciting first catch of the day. Back to the tables we went so he could be banded and recorded...

Then we l gathered around for a closer look. I never get tired of marveling at the gifts of the Lord, especially these little feathered friends...

We made round after round checking the nets. Nada. The wind started picking up so we made a final round to pull the nets. Then we saw this Savannah Sparrow in a tree right by the nets. He stayed in the tree. I think he was laughing at us...

It was a fun morning out, even with only one bird caught. I so enjoy being in nature and learning about the magnificent world God created for us to enjoy. 

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Psalm 19:1

Too far south...

This morning the girls and I bundled up to go on a bird hike, a very special, first annual Kids' Christmas Bird Count at the Mitchell Lake Audubon Center in San Antonio. We love Mitchell Lake, and we love our birding friends who lead the Young Birder's Club of San Antonio who were co-hosting the event. I am not the best birder, my identification skills are quite lacking, but what I lack in precision I try to make up for in enthusiasm and photojournalism.

I really could say a lot about our bird walk this morning, the weather was lovely, just chilly enough to be comfortable in a few layers but not cold. The company was jovial and eager to identify and count birds, and laugh at the number of Northern Cardinals and Northern Mockingbirds strutting in front of us to make sure and be noticed. But the minute we got the phone call that the Long-eared Owl had been spotted, the rest of the morning's events were trumped by this special, and quite unusual sighting (this owl doesn't usually come below Plano, so his being in San Antonio is causing quite a stir in the bird world). And he was a very photogenic owl too. :)

And these two little White Crowned Sparrows just posed so beautifully, I couldn't resist but share the shot I got of them before they flew away.

There were quite a few more birds this morning, but I haven't had time to cull through my photos. I was dying to see the pictures of the Long-eared Owl, so I got those up, and I just had to share!

A morning well spent...

Two years ago we were studying Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day (Apologia Elementary Science Series) and we joined some friends who were in a Young Birder's Club to be a hands-on application for learning. We ended up falling in love with being out in God's Creation and learning about the fascinating study of birds - the verses from the Bible about God's care for the birds, and more so us, come rushing into my mind every time we go on a bird walk. Long since we finished our year studying all things that fly, we have remained in the birding group and spent one Saturday morning a month with our birding people.

Our official meeting was last week, and it was fun. However, not everyone in our family is old enough for the actual meeting, so the two little boys stayed at home for some Daddy time. Noah has been complaining lately, saying he hates birding and that it is boring. I prayed about it, because I don't want him to discount an activity all together just because it stretches him, but once I considered that he had attended two years worth of meetings with a relatively good attitude, I decided that when Elliott could be home I wouldn't make him go. He was thrilled to have a morning with Dad and his brothers in place of little feathered friends.

If I had to guess, and I am sure if I asked Noah for specifics, Noah's dislike is not about the birds themselves. He actually gets just as excited about a new find as the rest of us. What bothers him is the being quiet. Since his early days of life, quiet has never been a word to describe him. At 3 years old, we actually were concerned he was deaf because he was so loud, we thought maybe he couldn't hear and was compensating with volume. The walks are also slow. You take your time, usually discussing habitats or things to look for and field markings on what we have seen. Noah doesn't do slow. He is happiest when he is blazing down our street standing on his bike or running laps in the backyard. He enjoys roller coasters that make your stomach flip, they make life go at his speed. When you consider that the expected behavior for birding is quiet and slow, you can imagine his misery.

So, last week was the first time Noah stayed home from a YBC meeting. The girls and I were excited to go and we rode with friends. Once we were there and we met the guest speaker/teacher for this month's meeting I just had to laugh. Mr. Craig is the park interpreter for Guadalupe River State Park, he is a naturalist and really loves birds (he actually has a very special license to band them). And he is loud. And when he goes on bird walks, he moves fast, he even ran up to a little clump of trees at one point, bounding off with excitement at what he saw. One of my friend's girls even said, "We sure are being loud today!" Noah would have loved it!

So, I talked with Craig a little, mentioning my son's aversion to the quiet and slow birding. I couldn't help but smile when he said, "Most real birders don't really like my style, but whoever goes on bird walks with me usually has fun!" I decided that Noah really needed to meet this man! Mr. Craig had done a special bird banding day for our YBC, but this past Saturday was a regular banding event that he does once a month. When I told Elliott about Craig and how I think it would be good for Noah to meet him we decided to make our Saturday morning excursion to attend "A Bird in the Hand".

Noah was first to release a bird. Can you see his smile?

I think he exact words were, "That was awesome!"

Caleb's first bird release, he flew off fast!

Faith has a way with birds... three birds she was able to release, all had to be convinced to leave her hand.

Grace's bird escaped quite quickly...

The teeny-tiny "coffee drinking bird" - a Ruby Crowned Kinglet - one of my favorite birds, a surprise catch in the whisper nets.

Micah got to release my favorite little bird, the bird wanted to stay... I think he wanted to come home with us, he must have heard about our coffee...

Elliott released a Vesper Sparrow

We each got to hear the heartbeat of a little Savannah Sparrow

Craig let Noah put on his little magnifiers to look at some details on the wing... Noah was hooked after this, said he wanted to come every time they do this!

This guy was a freelance photojournalist working on an article for the SA Express News. Craig asked Noah to hand him the White Crowned Sparrow to release.

We had a wonderful family morning together. I was thrilled to see Noah enjoying God's Creation, and I was thankful for God sending Craig to spark an interest in Noah, he was super excited to meet this "loud" birder. And just for fun, the photojournalist took a liking to our little family and interviewed Hannah and I... I can't wait to see his photos.

A bird in the hand...

There is the old saying, "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush", but seriously, that saying is way off, holding a bird in your hands is simply AMAZING!

Our Young Birder's Club met today at the Guadalupe River State Park, this month the theme of the meeting was "A Bird in the Hand". We learned the process for banding birds (you must have a very special license to do this) and were able to participate in holding them after they were taken out of the whisper nets, and then after they were banded, the kids were able to release them back into the wild. The bird banding is completely safe for the birds, and the information that is captured is very helpful to Ornithologists who keep tabs on them.

Here are two photos I was able to snap with my iPhone of a Black Crested Titmouse and a Northern Cardinal that I had the opportunity to hold...

And here are a couple of photos I was able to take on my Nikon...

 

 

 

And a special treat after our meeting, "The Eagle Lady" gave a presentation about birds of prey and brought two of her owls to show us and teach us appreciation for some of God's precious creation.

 

 

 Who wouldn't want to become a birder with a face like that to look into?!?!?!?

Our annual Thanksgiving trip...

We just returned from our 3rd annual Thanksgiving camping trip. This year's destination was changed at the very last moment (like the day before), but I am so glad it was! We ended up spending five days and four nights at Choke Canyon State Park. We enjoyed the time together, away from our normal routine. God displayed His masterful handiwork all over the place and we enjoyed observing the works of His hands as we went on bird walks and nature hikes. Here are a few of the over 1,400 photos I took this trip...

The Green Jay, the bird to see at Choke Canyon State Park (and a year round resident). We spent days and days hearing these birds calling to one another, then observing them swoop past over head, only to disappear with no chance at a photo. The only time these birds would stay in view long enough for a photo, I didn't have my camera! This one Faith and I followed around for about twenty minutes as he flew between three trees in a parking lot while the rest of the kids played basketball.

This is a Blue Gray Gnatcatcher. He is a fast little bird who doesn't stay in one place very long... we followed him between three trees for a solid ten minutes before he finally stopped for a break and a photo shoot!

The Great Kiskadee - a new Life List bird for all of us, and an unusual find at Choke Canyon. At first we thought it was another Green Jay (from the bright yellow belly), but when we got it in the binoculars we knew it was something new!

True birders... last thing they wanted to do each day, first thing they wanted to do when they woke up, even skipping breakfast on the last day of the trip for an early morning hike (we ate when we got back).

Of water bottles and trips to the ER...

Yesterday at 4am, the older four kids and I set off to the coast to go birding with friends. We stopped at the top of the street to pick up a family going with us, and our early morning trip was officially underway. And 3 1/2 hours later we were the first ones at the Leonabelle Birding Center in Port Aransas. Excitement was in the air!

We got seriously started around 8am. There were so many birds! And many which we have never seen because we don't live next to such a large body of water. I was photographing birds. The kids were being quizzed by our Young Birders Club leaders about field markings and differences between species. We were having a great time!

We were spending some time at the top of this tower, which overlooked the whole birding center, observing bird behavior and looking through the spotting scope for a good thirty minutes. When we decided to move further down the boardwalk, I started down the stairs behind my friend and some of our kids. Suddenly I felt my ankle roll and I knew I was going to fall. The stairs were steep and it seemed like I was headed straight down which would have meant I would knock down my friend and three young girls. So, I threw the water bottle in my hand into the canal and grabbed the handrail, twisting to keep from flying down the stairs. Immediately, my knee felt like something popped and I was in excruciating pain. After laying flat on the stairs for awhile, the pain subsided long enough to get up. Hannah was sad that I had launched her water bottle into the home of a large alligator, but we took a picture of it floating away as a memory.

My first thought was sit down and cry. My next thought was the kids and how they have looked forward to the trip for a year now. I wasn't bleeding or anything really bad, so I put a smile on my face and decided to act like nothing happened.

We kept on, seeing cool birds, taking nearly 600 photographs, laughing and learning. After three hours we took a break for lunch and we stopped at a grocery store for some Motrin. I think that is when the pain really started to hit. My knee was freezing up too, not wanting to bend or flex.

We met back up with our group at 12:30pm. I was hurting really bad, I couldn't have probably identified a house sparrow if I had to, much less pay attention to small details in the field markings between different plovers. So I went to sit in the car. Eventually, it was decided that we would go home without going to the beach front portion of the trip. The children were gracious and understanding.

As soon as I got home, my mom came and got me to drive me to the ER. Elliott was hanging out with the kids. We got right in at the ER. X-rays showed no breaks, tomorrow I will have to call my old Orthopedic Surgeon for a consult and MRI. Today I am laid out on the couch, thankful my husband has been working hard to get our church services on the web streaming live to watch.

Earlier I decided to try to capture the likeness of a bird we saw quite a few times at the coast with my watercolors. Here is my version of a Great Blue Heron. :)