Returning today to my alternate-day routine of exercising and birding at Park Point after 10 days I was delighted to see that the large flock of redpolls from weeks ago seems to have re-gathered there. Earlier in Feb. the flock had shrunk to an apparent four or five individuals that I'd find up or down the walking paths. A little pressed for time, I nonetheless decided to see if I could sort out one or more hoaries, soon finding that a pair had landed close by on the board walk, one bird bearing a strong resemblance to the last hoary I had found right there among the tansies that stand dried on the dunes. Looking at redpolls up close a person does not want to move even a nostril or eyelash, but by now the hoary redpoll was up so close that my binocs were blurring him. I had noted his nubby bill in a warm-tinged, rather poofy, well-feathered face, a frosty white body with side streaks, white along the center of the back behind the head and a vivid white between the folded wings. To keep a clear focus on him without shooing away the whole considerable flock which stirred greatly-hidden around the nearby dune vegetation I was able to ease the binocs a little down so I was peering at the bird with one eye, the extremely near-sighted one, over the eyepiece. He was an easy stride away from one of my feet, and I was reminded of how a person can strain for a clear look through lenses at an unusual bird in so many cases, but in other cases can freeze in plain view to have the bird move in almost too close for ideal viewing.
A car passed by and of course the whole flock lifted off in that jaunty, mix-it-up manner of flight, the apparent number of individual birds again a fresh surprise. *Tanya Beyer - d.b.a. Epiphanies Afield, Natural History Art from the North American heartland * See and order note cards, frameable prints and original art at: http://epiphanies-afield.com/default.aspx✎ or: http://www.etsy.com/search/shops?search_query=FrameableNoteCards&search_submit=&search_type=shops Get a signature like this. <http://r1.wisestamp.com/r/landing?promo=19&dest=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wisestamp.com%2Femail-install%3Futm_source%3Dextension%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_campaign%3Dpromo_19> CLICK HERE.<http://r1.wisestamp.com/r/landing?promo=19&dest=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wisestamp.com%2Femail-install%3Futm_source%3Dextension%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_campaign%3Dpromo_19> ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
