Whoop! Woohoo! Whooping Cranes! [And a Happy New Year!]

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body 
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things. 
― Mary Oliver

Where do I start? The early morning hike? The phone calls with friends? The fireants threatening? The stinging fly successfully driving me out of the garden?

It's 76 degrees outside on this alternately bright and hazy January 1st and I started the day* cleaning up the garden. We expect a freeze overnight (and another on Monday morning and a third on Friday). It made sense to clean up last year's dry blooms to prepare for whatever is next. I'll need to make sure faucet covers are in place and temperatures adjusted.

We took our first day hike in the neighborhood, down the utility easement, and through some lots that will be developed all too soon. It was a good hike - one doggy stand-off that ended well and a few chats with neighbors before we headed home for breakfast. 

But the day called for more, after all one must see a first bird too.** Out to the ponds we went, me keeping my head down (I was paying attention to the road - no looking up for birds!) while Zelda napped in the back seat. I didn't want to see a vulture or grackle! I cut through the industrial park -- and there it was! My first bird of 2022 would be a Red-tailed Hawk.***

Windshield shots from this car are not what they are from the Soul (of course they aren't), but there was no mistaking the hawk on this weird "tree."

The wind ruffled the hawk's feathers.

Then the hawk flew across the road, perched atop another "tree" and gave me such a look. What was it trying to tell me?

So what does it mean for the first bird seen on January 1 to be a hawk? 

According to Google:

    

I'll take it! [I saw 2 more Red-tailed Hawks today.]

After seeing the hawk, we were not too disappointed that the Bald Eagle failed to materialize at the ponds. There were a few other birds to note before the car turned itself toward Bartlett, Texas. Why Bartlett? Apparently Whooping Cranes had been seen off some county roads just outside of town. It's unusual for whoopers to be there. Their winter grounds are down on the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, not all that far from my hometown. I'd seen them there in my childhood, but I haven't seen one since.

We headed south and then east of Bartlett. I drove around and around. I tried to follow the coordinates provided by folks who have reported the cranes on eBird. Finally I drove past the spot and saw lots of plastic bags and white detritus in the field, but no cranes. There was a Crested Caracara in a nearby field (one had been noted in one guy's observation), but no cranes.

I kept driving...then turned around and took photos of a few other birds before passing the location one more time on the way home. 

And THERE THEY WERE! 

See 'em?

This is why I have my camera. Maybe you will have to trust me.

You can almost tell what they are here.

Adult birds.

Juvenile with rusty spots on its plumage.

Just as described by reporting birders, there were two adults and one juvenile far out in a field. The birds were feeding near some water. I'm sharing photos that show a little of why it was hard to see them and get clear shots (with my simple camera).

A car was stopped further down the road. So I stopped. Another car approached from behind me and I pointed out to the field so, if they were birders, they would know we had spotted the cranes. They pulled in behind me, jumped out and got their gear out of the vehicle. That was my clue to leave.

I visited with the folks in the first car and thanked them for slowing me down. Otherwise I might have missed the birds entirely. Only as we spoke did I realized that this was only my second time to see Whooping Cranes - the first time in more than 50 years.

Anyway, that's my story. You probably don't need to know about getting lost trying to follow my path back to a main road or anything.

Happy New Year!

Blow out the old,

Blow in the new.

Blow out the false,

Blow in the true!

~Irish Tradition for New Years Day

Of course I'll put the other stuff we saw here. Where else would I put it?

Who doesn't love a good windmill?

Or a little calf?

Okay, I'm not fond of cormorants, but they were pretty impressive today -- 30 or 40 milling around and perched up in the trees.

Odd birds.

Thank heavens not my first bird of the year.

I love Loggerhead Shrikes, but I'm glad this wasn't the first bird either.

I saw a number of shrikes.

I believe I counted 5 before we got home.

The Crested Caracara was just two fields over from the cranes.

I kinda love old water towers too!

NOTES:

*I performed a slew of traditional and superstitious falderal (I still have eating black-eyed peas, lentils and greens in my future!) first. I DID fret about where I'd find a tall, dark-haired, handsome man to be the first guest to walk in the house, but my neighbor was outside as we returned from our hike and I invited him in to bring that "good luck."

**I was told that I should pay attention to the first bird I see in the new year - that it would have special meaning. Last year my first bird was a Lincoln Sparrow...lovely bird.

***https://worldbirds.com/hawk-symbolism/