Be Loving

I met up with three birder friends this morning and we hit the trail for 4 relaxing hours of birding, photography and good company.  The weather was beautiful which meant that there were more people on the trail, but nearly everyone masked up as they approached so no stress.  One of the highlights of the trip (and there were many) was this late-season pair of Sandhill Cranes.  One of them appears to have a lame leg, so we are hoping that it heals in time for them to move south.  They mate for life, so even though both should be migrating right now, the mate won't leave the injured bird.  In this shot, one of the pair is preening the other - a behavior called "allopreening" which I find incredibly tender to see.

One of the other highlights of the trip was seeing a Great Horned Owl perched on a tree in the marsh.  Not great photos as the sun angle was all wrong, but I'll put one in Extra.

It was a very enjoyable time, and it was such a relief to take a break from the news and the election coverage.  

As I write this, two days after our national election, we still don't have a clear winner.  That said, things are looking positive for the Biden/Harris ticket.  I don't want to get my hopes up but I am cautiously optimistic.  Naturally, the sitting president is busy filing lawsuits, making wild allegations of massive fraud, and generally trying to do everything in his power to caste doubts and create chaos.  All of which is just exhausting. 

Tomorrow is going to be another beautiful day so if the winds stay down, I may take the kayak out.  Either way, I plan to spend as much time outdoors as possible tomorrow - it's good for my sanity.  And I also need to pick up another 40 pounds of sunflower seeds (yes, I've gone through that much in the past week!)  Still lots of pine siskins eating non-stop.

Act like a crane - be loving.

xo
Debbi