The other day was sitting on a rock outcropping with AR, gazing down on a river and across at leafless beech trees and listening to long lonely trains rolling to the city, a late osprey charging after them as if to hitch a ride, its cry wilder than anything we have to offer. The other day was also another acceptance and feeding chickadees from my hand. Even in this overly manufactured living space nature offers us redemption from our countless sins against it. I am grateful.
All posts in category birds
hello october my old friend
Overhead geese honk against gun metal gray sky. I yearn to fly with them, wherever they are headed. Rooted to one spot but still rootless I remain. Is this some flaw of mine, or of my chosen substrate. And so the geese tempt me once again. The primal urge to shift with the seasons, in body as in mind. I wonder will it haunt me to the end of my allotted days.
Posted by sean on October 2, 2011
https://sd-stewart.com/2011/10/02/hello-october-my-old-friend/
green heron @ lake roland
Green Heron "digi-binned" @ Lake Roland, Baltimore County, on September 16, 2011
Posted by sean on September 20, 2011
https://sd-stewart.com/2011/09/20/green-heron-lake-roland/
bobcat
In the woods I came upon a young bobcat stalking a rabbit.
My arrival on the scene gave the rabbit the window it needed to escape.
The bobcat rose from its crouch, turned and stared me down before slinking off into the woods.
When I got home a mouse was living in my stove.
Outside a mockingbird splashed luxuriantly in the bird bath.
The orange cat next door was hungry.
I am feeling here and there, but mostly there.
Posted by sean on September 13, 2011
https://sd-stewart.com/2011/09/13/bobcat/
Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks!
I received an early phone call this morning alerting me to the presence of rare ducks at a local city park. I hopped on the bike not long after and pedaled on down there to get my lifer Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, not just one but five! I even heard them whistle, which was pretty damn cool. Crappy documentation photos digiscoped with the point-and-shoot through my bins can be found here. I ended up hanging around there for a few hours due to the rolling roster of birders that came through, some of whom I knew and others whom I was putting faces to names for the first time. Unfortunately I also ended up with the worst sunburn I’ve had in a while. But it was worth it!
Posted by sean on June 4, 2011
https://sd-stewart.com/2011/06/04/black-bellied-whistling-ducks/
reverse weekend
This week I’m experimenting with the old “reverse weekend” concept. This is when you only work two days and take the rest of the days off, instead of vice versa. In my case, I’m currently finishing up a four-day weekend, gritting my teeth in anticipation of the next two days of work, before I sail off into a five-day weekend. It’s pretty exciting stuff. Mostly it just makes me realize that I’d be perfectly happy never going to work.
In other news, I came home from birding today to find a dead bird in my living room. WTF?? It was a Chimney Swift and it was lying right on the mat in front of the door. I have no idea how this bird got in the house, given that our fireplace is sealed shut with brick. Of course, it’s not unheard of for chimney swifts to pop down a chimney and end up in someone’s house. I mean, they LIVE in chimneys, or rather they build their nests there. Most everything else they do on the wing. But unless this one can pass through brick, I am mystified as to its presence in the house. Given that it’s highly unlikely that the bird came in the house on its own, I am forced to pin the blame on our neighbors’ cat, a known bird killer, and frequenter of our front porch. He has also been known to shove his paw through our mail slot, and so it would not be that great a leap to consider the theory that he shoved this bird through the mail slot. I mean, he does like us quite a bit, and spends at least as much time in our yard as in our neighbors’ yard. So perhaps he just wanted to give us a thank you gift. If it wasn’t so horrific it would be sweet. It’s times like this when you really wish your pets could talk. I am sure that Fiznit would have a lot to say about this dead bird. But she refused to comment.
Anyway, I have a local connection who traffics in dead birds, so I’m donating it to the Smithsonian.
Posted by sean on May 24, 2011
https://sd-stewart.com/2011/05/24/reverse-weekend/
a birdy morning
I came downstairs this morning to hear a Yellow Warbler singing from a tree across the alley. Over the next hour, I heard and saw the Yellow, one or two Blackpoll Warblers, and a couple of Cedar Waxwings! It was like a tiny migrant fall-out in the alley! Living in an urban rowhouse neighborhood, we don’t get too many birds in the yard. I do keep a yard list, though, listing each species I either see or hear while I’m in the house or yard. This morning’s birds were all new, bringing my list to 40 species! I think this is a decent yard list total for less than two years, and considering the environment around our house. I hadn’t found a new yard bird in a long time, so to get three in one hour was awesome! I’ve already tallied up most of the likely birds to show up here, so I’m now left hoping for random migrants or winter visitors. I was tempted to blow off work today and hang around to see what else showed up. A couple of times in the past week, I’ve seen and heard warblers in the trees along my bike route to work. Hopefully a few more will wander over to my street before the magic of migration fades into summer.
Posted by sean on May 19, 2011
https://sd-stewart.com/2011/05/19/a-birdy-morning/
the madness of migration
The general public does not realize the significance of the month of May in the life of a North American birder. It is a magical time when all birders would much rather be prowling their favorite haunts searching for spring migrants than toiling away at their desks, or doing anything else for that matter. Every year I say I’m going to take the entire month of May off the following year because unless you go birding every day there is a good chance you are missing something somewhere. And that is a terrible feeling. I have seen some good birds this spring, but I crave more and more and more. Too much time sitting at a desk, and too little time scanning the treetops. The other day I was riding to work and not a quarter mile from my house I heard warblers singing. I literally threw my bike down in the street, pulled my binoculars from my backpack, and began frantically glassing the trees. Warblers are the true jewels of migration. Sure, there are lots of other cool birds that arrive in the area during this time, but I doubt there is a single birder whose pulse does not quicken when she or he hears that familiar buzzing high above them.
Posted by sean on May 16, 2011
https://sd-stewart.com/2011/05/16/the-madness-of-migration/
the wind empties your eyes
Peer through the doorway to see the yellow light fall across the bed, cat curled up within the warmth of its rays. Recharging on solitude, or maybe just reverting back to it. Unfamiliar pangs of hunger appear after two days of illness. Mind is a mess of directionless chatter. Soon there will be work again, a sinking back down into the morass.
Daydream of the cloistered life: a seat in front of this window, a view onto this rooftop tableau. The players: a mockingbird and a pair of cardinals. The drama focuses on a small pool of water at the roof’s edge. Herky-jerky movements like puppets as each actor attempts to take a drink. Have you ever watched a mockingbird tip its head back and swallow? It is truly a sight to behold. A couple of juncos show up as stand-ins, filling out the stage with their sprightly steps.
My attention in life ever shrinking to smaller details, my eyes wandering farther the larger the concepts grow, my ability to feign interest sinking like an anchor into cold black water. The rooftops, the treetops, they catch and hold me, leave me breathless. A new shoot poking out from an aloe’s center stuns me. And always the music to sink into at times like this, a warm aural bath that clears the mind and calms the nerves. It doesn’t ask, only gives, already knowing how you need to feel.
Posted by sean on December 30, 2010
https://sd-stewart.com/2010/12/30/the-wind-empties-your-eyes/
this just in: subtle schedule shift forces new cracks in worn shellac
The pendulum swings upward again. Remember a sky of polished stone. The tree of many birds. Cracked sidewalks underfoot while perched alone at the end of the earth. How hard it is clawing our way up to have a look around. How sweet the first taste of syrupy mania when we finally do. Tap your foot to the mighty dirge. Scream ’til you’re hoarse inside. Run until your soul leaves your body and then keep on running until it returns. Record your dreams and re-read them until you understand. Untether yourself from what you think matters and wait for a sign. Pay attention to the crows circling above at dusk. Their presence is no coincidence. And neither is yours.
Posted by sean on November 5, 2010
https://sd-stewart.com/2010/11/05/this-just-in-subtle-schedule-shift-forces-new-cracks-in-worn-shellac/
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