For a good bit of time, Northern Harriers were an obsession of mine, a source of frustration. I couldn’t get a good photo and desperately wanted one. Would see them often, always ended up with flawed pictures. The bird would be facing the wrong way or have a shadow on its face from the wings.
Awesome birding and really like those Northern Harrier photos. I've never seen one myself yet. I like your point about "getting to know birds: cultivating that subjective value."
Some of the more uncommon birds I've seen are Great-Horned Owls and Snowy Owls here in the Ottawa area. But I can't stop telling my wife about the antics of the local American Crows I see at the conservation area.
I'd never heard of Gretel Ehlrich and love that quote: "...walking is an ambulation of the mind." This is basically my weekend Nature hikes: ambulations of the mind.
Awesome birding and really like those Northern Harrier photos. I've never seen one myself yet. I like your point about "getting to know birds: cultivating that subjective value."
Some of the more uncommon birds I've seen are Great-Horned Owls and Snowy Owls here in the Ottawa area. But I can't stop telling my wife about the antics of the local American Crows I see at the conservation area.
I'd never heard of Gretel Ehlrich and love that quote: "...walking is an ambulation of the mind." This is basically my weekend Nature hikes: ambulations of the mind.
Birds exist to make me happy. I challenge you to prove they do not.
I love your essays. This birder is delighted you take the effort to record not only pictures but your thoughts from the field.
Keep it up. Remember: that bird in your lens may delight you, but its existence is all about me.