Blog Archives - Light and Shadow

January 27th, 2013

1/27/2013

January 17

            Four days of rain left us flooded and soggy, but the predicted snow fell only briefly before sunset. The night sky showed brilliant stars, to those who braved the cold.

            I never tire of viewing the constellations of winter, and of writing about their brilliance, though I may tire those who take the time to read my words. Winter skies have more first magnitude stars than those of any season and the sight often startles me. I marvel to think they are still here and that I am here to watch them.

            The three bright stars of Orion’s belt point upward to the Hyades, the V which forms the face of Taurus. From there, the line extends to Pleiedes, the seven sisters, also part of Taurus and not an official constellation in their own right.

            The same line of three stars in Orion’s belt point downward to Sirius, the brightest of all stars and anchor of Canis Major, the great dog. Canis Minor, the small dog, is of to the side of the line with its bright star Procyon, whose name is also given, in scientific terminology, to Raccoons. Procyn literally means, “before the dog.”

Hunter and his hounds

Obscured by winter clouds

Taurus then appears

2010 Snowstorm

1/20/2013

January 2010

After the Snowstorm

Crack of breaking wood
Snow falls to earth and leaves
Slowly, tree descends

Hiwassee Refuge 2013

1/19/2013

January 15, 2013

            On Saturday the 12th, I went with friends to see the Sandhill Cranes at the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge near Birchwood. One of the friends led the trip for Tennessee Wildlife, an organization dedicated to protection of wild places in our state. I didn’t get the exact number of people attending, but it looked to be around 50.

            The cranes far outnumbered the people, but by how many I cannot say. I have heard number as high as 20,000 attributed to the migrating flock which stops here, using the refuge as a staging area. To see birds, nearly as tall as myself in such numbers is a rare treat indeed.

            I have seen these birds before, dozens of times in fact, but I have never lost my excitement or enthusiasm for them. The noise of their rattling coo is ever present as we approach the refuge and watch from the viewing platform. They line the shore of the mainland and Hiwassee Island in the distance.

            A number fed in the cornfield near the platform and afforded us a closer view, binoculars and the ever present spotting scopes barely necessary to resolve the red patch of bare skin on the heads. More and more birds joined this feeding flock, which moved closer as their numbers grew. Then something spooked them and the air was filled with their wings, six foot wing spans on each bird.

Eyes of glass watch cranes
Flock grows with each landing bird
Wings erupt in flight

            A lone Whooping Crane wandered among its Sandhill kin and the corn stalks of Hiwassee Island. The return of this species represents a triumph and a calamity followed by continued effort and renewal. The pilots of Operation Migration began several years ago, leading flocks of young Whooping Cranes from Baraboo, Wisconsin to wintering grounds in Florida. With their uultralight planes, they helped these cranes, raised in captivity at the International Crane Foundation, return to the Eastern Migration Route. No Whooping Cranes had flown this route in decades. They flew back to Wisconsin in winter, and continued their pattern of seasonal migration. Today the flock continues to grow migrate.

Anticipating Snow

1/13/2013

January 2010 The Twenty-eighth

The day began as a narrow band of red on the eastern horizon. It grew to a small saucer as though the clouds were pushing down on the light, vainly attempting to extinguish the newborn sun.

Old Sol would not be denied. From the small band in the Southeast, the red saucer grew, expanding eastward and southward, though the upper sky had not taken the violet shimmer it had the day before. The growing light revealed iron gray clouds, with all their weight directed against the rising sun. Yesterday it cut a wider swath. The pale pink of a salmon’s flanks shimmered in a dark stripe below a violet sky. Today the band is narrow but a vibrant red.

The old oak beyond my balcony is decked with balls of green mistletoe, sacred to the ancient druids. The mistletoe on the oak relieves my view of darker branches. Its significance is preserved, along with its sister pagan symbol, the “Christmas Tree,” in our modern mid-winter festivals. We give the nod to its significance in the traditional kiss beneath the mistletoe.

Beyond the oak, the saucer in the east widened to a red band, and the glowing orb peeked above the horizon. The red band of sunrise light was no wider than the sun, but it illuminated the gray clouds that promised snow.

Two weeks prior, we had snow. It was a Thursday, and the snow was forecast to begin that evening. Instead, it started mid-day, and we were iced in for two days. On the first day, I was sitting at my desk reading when I heard a shriek from one of the neighborhood children. I ran outside to see what was wrong, but they were sledding, an activity for which they have few opportunities in this southern climate.

Despite my near sixty years of age, I joined them for a run down the hill on a plastic saucer. This was a particular joy since we never know how soon it will snow again.

Sandhill Cranes

1/10/2013

My article on Sandhill Cranes, originally posted as a Facebook note and republished on the blog Monessa's Montage. http://monessasmontage.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/naturalist-and-poet-ray-zimmerman-on-sandhill-cranes/comment-page-1/#comment-333

Fires of Spring

1/9/2013

Amnicola Marsh - January 5

At first glance, the visit was disappointing. I only noticed two female Hooded Mergansers and a pair of Mallard Ducks. Then I saw Canada Geese on the far side of the marsh. I walked around the pond and saw 18 geese and a female Northern Shoveler.

When I looked at the shoveler through binoculars, I saw splashing in a distant cove. Female mergansers moved from one bit of open water to the next. Males with white crests displayed followed them. They occupied a cove near the highway.

Find open water
Swimming males in hot pursuit
Fires of spring ignite

Herons Nesting

1/7/2013

Another observation from Saturday, January 5

The nest tree near the community college still held several herons quietly waiting for spring. Four solitary birds tended nests while preening and rearrangement of sticks. A fifth tended a nest while another watched from above.

A bird flew in and joined one of the other watchers. It frequently opened the mandibles and nodded the beak, both opened and closed. The nest watcher extended its beak and tapped the other’s shoulder. The bird responded by partly expanding and then shaking its wings. The narrow feathers on the neck of each stood out, plainly visible.

The other pair touched beak tips to the shoulders repeatedly. The one above climbed down to the nest, and the other flew off. I don’t know if it searched for food or more nest material.

The first pair stretched beaks skyward, fluttered wings, and fastidiously rearranged the sticks of their nest. I noticed odd sounds I had not heard herons make before.

Put feathers in place
Touch mate on shoulder, calling
Search for perfect sticks

Saturday observations

1/6/2013

Observed on Saturday. January 5, 2013

Again the Great Blue Herons lined the railroad bridge, with only a few on the shoreline. Ring Billed Gulls circled over the flowing river below the dam.

A sudden squawk alerted me to a power boat that passed under the bridge and approached the dam. When the driver cut the motor, it immediately drifted downstream, and the circling herons returned to their roosts.

He put a trolling motor over the side, and he and his companion began casting with fishing rods. These passengers on the “Bass Tracker” were undoubtedly excellent fishermen but not as good as the herons they disturbed.

Sentries line the shore.
Eyes alert, beaks at ready
Spear fish for dinner

more haiban

1/5/2013

            Seven Great Blue Herons stood in the rookery tree near the entrance to the community college. Some stood over nests, but none appeared to be sitting on eggs just yet. The usually abundant Canada Geese had abandoned the pond. The colorful Wood Ducks of two days ago were gone, but a few Mallards and Gadwall swam in the creek. Soon, the Herons will nest.

                                                Slender legs on nests
                                                Feathers warm against the rain
                                                Make place for future

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Blue_Heron/id

Two Great Blue Herons kept their lonely vigil along the shore at Chickamauga Dam. They had folded necks and kept their heads tucked close to bodies against the cold. Their companions lined the railroad bridge overlooking the Tennessee River. Occasionally, one stretched and moved as if preparing to take flight. Each who did so settled back in on the roost.

            A small flock of gulls circled the upstream from the dam. One by one they dove to the surface. Occasionally one would land and briefly float downstream while searching for a food..



                                                Circle cold water
                                                Wings aloft then down to land
                                                Shining fish in beak

Haiban for the New Year

1/4/2013

More on my January 1st bird watching trip
A link to photos of the bird described appears at the end of this entry.

           The fog lifted somewhat by the time I reached Amnicola Marsh, between Chattanooga’s Amnicola Highway and the Tennessee River. There I saw a great flock of Hooded Mergansers, enough to rival those I saw at this time last year. They were accompanied by a few Mallards, Northern Shovelers, Gadwall, and Canada Geese. Were the weather not cold and rainy, I would have walked around the open pond for a view from the other side.

            The Hooded Mergansers swam with crests flattened, perhaps due to the rain. It was only with binoculars that I saw the white feathers atop the male’s heads. With sufficient magnification, the white chests set off by two black stripes came into view.

            I was delighted to find the species present in such numbers, and on the same date. two years in a row. So long as my time remains, I should check this location for these birds on the first of the year.

                                                Ducks return from North
                                                Nests abandoned for winter
                                                Seasonal beauties

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hooded_Merganser/id
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Shoveler/id