BIRDS IN THE MORNING

(AUGUST 13, 2010) Friday the 13th. Elizabeth pointed that out to me on the walk this morning. However, the day did not start out to be unlucky, nor has it proven so during the rest of the day.

It was a pleasant, cooler morning than the mornings earlier this week. We shortened our walk to two miles since Sadie had been having some stomach problems, but we did enjoy the cool air and all of nature around us. I'll take Sadie out this evening to Angler's Park for another couple of miles if she feels up to it.

A lady walker this morning said that "The leaves are beginning to change, now."

I responded, "Thank goodness fall is near and the heat of summer will pass."

Then I started looking around to see the change in the leaves' color. They are still green, but I did see an occasional leaf that had fallen and some of the fallen leaves were red.

In addition to the falling of the leaves indicating cooler weather, it also indicates that the song birds will be easier to see when the foliage thins. During this time of year, a person can either hear the birds singing but not see them, or if the birds are seen, they have embedded themselves into the dark foliage so that only their shadows may be visible.

This morning as we got into the dark woods, I saw a few robins "hop, hop, hopping along." I took some pictures. In the darkness of the woods and the morning, there was only a faint sight of the orange breast of the robins as they moving along in the ground foliage.

Once out of the woods, I looked to the air and water for the birds that could be seen there. The river was running fast and high since there must have been rain in the mountains. Therefore, the bird life ON the river was not there. Usually I could see a heron or some Canada geese on the river below Dan Daniel Park. There weren't there this morning. The river was too rapid for the heron to stand near the dam to catch fish or for the geese to gather in the river to eat.

However, shortly out of the dark woods I saw a crow take flight. Against the morning gray sky, the birds make an interesting silhouette. In the foliage near the river, Sadie's attention was attracted by something. Usually, it doesn't take much for her to be distracted, so I assumed it was a bug of some type. As I looked on the ground in front of her about 20 feet away, there was a mourning dove, looking at us. These birds don't seem to be as nervous as some others, so the bird stood there and just looked as Sadie got closer and I took some pictures. When Sadie was within 5 feet, the dove flew off.

The day was filled with birds in the tree or grass with fairly poor lighting or birds in the sky or on a wire. However, there was one saving grace of the morning. Through the clouds the sun made an interesting contrast to the dove on the wire. The dove seemed to be ready to feather its nest as it sat on the wire with the gray sky and the bright sun in the background.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.