Nevertheless many people are saying “Thank God for life”.
Even when times are hard, there can be joy in hugs from family and friends, the
pleasures of meals and music, and hopes for the future.
Also birds.
Up in New York City I have been searching for peace by going
out looking for birds, and trying to catch them in action with my new telephoto
lens. In Jamaica Bay, next to Kennedy Airport, the shoveler ducks made me laugh
by sticking their fat butts in the air as they pulled up weeds on the bottom of
a pond. They were happy to be face down in icy water.
The dark coots reminded me of the ones I saw in Chocolate
Hole at last year’s Christmas bird count on St. John.
And I did feel a bit sad to see the snowy egrets heading
south - wondering if any birds will find their way to the Fish Bay pond, or if
they will just pass by St. John to find a better place this winter.
Closer to my apartment, I met unfamiliar migrant birds in
the small park at the tip of Manhattan.
My favorite was the yellow-bellied sapsucker (a type of
woodpecker) that ignored me as it punched holes in cedar trees, waiting to
slurp up the sap with its long tongue, along any insects trying to share the
sweet treat.
A northern flicker, another type of woodpecker, stopped for
a moment on a nearby oak tree.
Meanwhile a tiny hermit thrush posed bravely on a different
part of the cedar tree, watching me warily.
As Thanksgiving Day approaches, most of the migratory birds
have already moved south, and chilly winds make bird walks less appealing. There
is no electricity in Fish Bay, though, so while I am here I still need to get
out and look. I have heard that November is a good month to find rare birds in
the city, as they sometimes get blown off course on their way to their usual wintering
places.
