The Wading Birds
Sometimes you find wonders of nature in the strangest places. Even a place as dismal as Iraq has things that make you pause and reflect, sometimes to genuflect what we are doing and why we are here.
This wading bird is one of a pair that live close to us. I have seen them many times foraging for whatever it is that they pluck from these pools of fetid water. They have a pair of chicks that I have seen too. The chicks are gangly and long legged and don't fly yet but the parents keep close watch on them. I was out getting some progress photos when I saw this one in the pool beside a road. I stopped and got the photo. I didn't see the chicks but I am sure they were not far away.
Whenever I see the birds (I don't know what species they are) I think about my wife, my son, and the swallows that they have been watching. We have a swallow's nest in our breezeway at home and my son has been watching the chicks ever since they were hatched. They have since fledged and left the nest to fly but swallows mate for life and return to the same place to nest every year. I know that my son has seen the first parts of the cycle of life with building a nest, mating, birthing, and then the chicks becoming young adults. I hope he learns from these observations. I wish I was there to talk with him about it. I wish I was just there instead of here but this is what I do and this is the path I chose.
If these birds can exist in such a harsh environment then so can I.
posted by flythemig29 at 9:21 AM
4 Comments:
That's a Black-winged Stilt, related to plovers and avocets. They live on the insects that swim around on the surface of the water, and the long legs allow them to get out into the middle of a pond. There is an American variety with some black on the head.___There is a whole web site about Iraqi birds here.
Thanks Don! I will look it up because I have some more bird photos of finches and doves tat live around here. I also have a gecko that lives in my office.
Looks like you have a project for you and your son the next time your home - building a bird house. Farmers in MN use to build huge houses on high poles to keep the swallows from under their eves and away from the house. If you have any idea of what you want I will precut it and send it to your house and you and the "T" man can assemble it and paint it.
You mention having a gecko in your office. Buy any insurance from him? My wife and I were at a graduation party for a son of one of her coworkers at the local hospital. There were lots of kids around and the one big event for them was to try to catch a gecko. Why? They wanted to hear him talk! Yea, they believe that all these geckos running around here can talk like the one on TV. Thats the younger kids, not the high school grad!
Post a Comment
<< Home