Ovenbird.
This early morning, clouds covered the rising sun, but within the hour—as Jack and I had just about emerged at the summit of Beech Hill—the clouds moved away, and the sun emerged just as I got a good look at an ovenbird. It popped out onto a branch in the newly filtered sunlight (sunlight filtered by new spring leaves) and posed for pictures. Photographing it was a joy.
Black-and-white warbler.
Some time later—after I’d taken pictures of a lovely female black-and-white warbler posted in similarly filtered sunlight—I got to ruminating about why I so love photographing birds.
Finding them is part of it, surely: the ancient instinct of the hunt, the magical combination of skill and good fortune. And part of it is the difficulty: the fact that you miss many more great shots than you capture merely good ones makes those good ones especially sweet.
But the largest part, it seemed to me as dog and I descended the trail, is the moment itself: the instant the bird’s eye flashes in the sunlight, the slight tilt of its head, the twitch of its meaningful crest, and that exact angle of sunlight, that particular blur of shadow that passes over its breast. It feels to me almost, as the whole world funnels through my camera lens and is beheld by my left eye, as if I’m stopping time.
Time, that miraculous, indescribable quantity—or quality, whatever the hell it is. It only leads one place for all of us.
Rose-breasted grosbeak.
Meanwhile, I guess I’ll just go on taking pictures of birds.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 6:30 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Ovenbird**
2. Black-throated green warbler
3. American robin**
4. Black-capped chickadee**
5. Blue jay
6. Hairy woodpecker (v)
7. Eastern towhee
8. Chestnut-sided warbler
9. Rose-breasted grosbeak
10. Herring gull*
11. Gray catbird
12. Black-and-white warbler
13. Mourning dove*
14. Common yellowthroat
15. Yellow warbler
16. Nashville warbler
17. American crow*
18. White-throated sparrow (v)
19. Common loon (v)
20. American goldfinch
21. Northern parula
22. Song sparrow**
23. Eastern phoebe (v)
24. Black-throated blue warbler
25. Yellow-rumped warbler
26. Blackpoll warbler (v)
27. Savannah sparrow
28. Tufted titmouse** (v)
29. Northern cardinal** (v)
30. Field sparrow (v)
31. Chipping sparrow (v)
32. American redstart (v)
33. Osprey
Elsewhere
34. House finch
35. European starling
36. Rock pigeon
37. House sparrow
38. Common grackle
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blackpoll warbler, blue jay, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common loon, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, field sparrow, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern cardinal, northern parula, osprey, ovenbird, rose-breasted grosbeak, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-throated sparrow, yellow warbler, yellow-rumped warbler
