- Jaegers | Whitefish Point Bird Observatory 090614
The last couple days have had a number of interesting birds. Even though Adam Byrne has been counting the last couple days, I’ve spent a good amount of time out there (and much more time in the woods than I would usually be able to spend). I thought Friday was going to be a great day; it was, but the numbers were lower than I expected. The winds just didn’t shift, at the forecasted time. Storms were still rolling in, so the count didn’t start on time. The highlight was 8 jaegers during the count, 2 being close enough to identify as Parasitics. There were also 3 more jaegers after the count. | Today (9/6) was mostly sunny with WNW winds throughout the count. Birds moved through steadily, throughout most of the count. | Duck diversity was the highlight of today. American Wigeon (56), Blue-winged Teal (287), and Northern Shoveler (38) all had a good day. The first Ring-necked Duck and Redheads (25) were recorded for the count. | http://wpbo.org/node/269
- Dabbling Ducks on the Rise | Whitefish Point Bird Observatory 090214
Today was a fun day out on the lake. The weather was beautiful, the company was great, and quite a few birds were flying. The day started off with lots of passerine migrants coming off the lake. The resident Merlin was also enjoying these migrants; chasing each bird that came across the lake. I love Merlins, but I had to root for the underdog during these chases. | Duck diversity and numbers were the best they have been this season. Many mixed flocks were moving by throughout the morning. Gadwall (4), American Wigeon (12), Mallard (10), Blue-winged Teal (287), Northern Shoveler (20), Northern Pintain (3), Green-winged Teal (28), Canvasback (1), Greater Scaup (2), White-winged Scoter (1), Common Merganser (9), and Red-breasted Merganser (1) rounded out the list. | Loons moved by in decent numbers today. A single Red-throated and 30 Commons were recorded during the count. Red-necked Grebes had a nice day with a total of 676. Horned Grebes were also moving with a total of 17 counte
About the Ghost Turtles
150 years after Robert Duncanson painted this luminist scene on the Little Miami River, I stood in the same spot and saw a soft-shelled turtle sunning on a snag. It slipped silently into the water when it heard me. That’s when I knew past is present and destiny, too. That’s when my vision of the Ghost Turtles began. Read more
Ecology of the Senses
Returning to Lake Superior year after year like a migrating loon, I’ve learned the other side of a slow, uncertain process that could be called “going blind.” With the lake as my teacher, I know what lies on the other side. I call it letting go of sight. Read more.Prayer at Big Creek
![Sandhill cranes land on Platte River sandbar roosts west of Rowe Sanctuary’s Iain Nicolson Audubon Center southwest of Gibbon, Nebraska. [Photo by Lori Porter| Kearney Hub]](https://www.ghostturtles.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/sandhill_cranes_kearneyhub_032015-300x225.jpg)
At the threshold of consciousness, as I slipped back and forth between two worlds, I put my mind in the best place I could imagine, a marsh on Lake Erie called Big Creek. I knew I’d find cranes waiting for me. I cannot say whether I prayed for them, or to them, or with them. The cant of words doesn’t matter. I believe in the still, small voice. I believe what the poet Yehuda Amichai said. Gods come and go. Prayer is eternal. Read moreFreedom to Read
![An endangered Whooping crane takes flight. Yhe large bird has a 7-foot wingspan. It is all white except for black wing tips and face markings. In this photo its long neck stretches forward; its wings sweep upward; and its black legs trail straight behind it. [Source: International Crane Foundation]](https://www.ghostturtles.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Whooping-crane-eastern-ICF-080622-300x157.jpg)
Whenever I hear sanctimonious pronouncements about woke, parental rights, and banning books, I think of Whooping cranes. In my family, the gawky, audacious, elusive and endangered birds are synonymous with our values about the First Amendment and the freedom to read. Read more.Sister, Teacher, Pathfinder
A guidance counselor in high school told my sister Diana, “With your eye problems you will never make it in college. Just forget about it. Get married. Raise a family.” That advice only deepened her determination. She did it all in due time, in her own way –college, marriage, family. She became a guidance counselor herself. She certainly was the most important guide and pathfinder in my life. Read more.Flaneur & Bouquiniste
![Mark Willis peruses a 1745 volume by Voltaire at a bouquiniste book stall on the banks of the Seine in Paris. He wears a brown leather jacket and checkered flat cap. He holds the open book in his hands. Rows of old books are seen on shelves behind him. [2005 photo by Ms. Modigliani]](https://www.ghostturtles.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/mw_bouquiniste_05-300x225.jpg)
I remember the book I held in my hands that day. I remember the feel of its time-warped, water-stained pages. I remember its murky, moldy river smell, call it the book’s bouquet, suggesting years of storage on the banks of the Seine. Had I bought it then, I could feel and smell it now and know it from a hundred other books in my library. Read more.R & K: A Rant
Marjorie Taylor Green auditioned for R&K’s Authoritarian It Girl at the 2023 State of the Union address. She and her Republican colleagues yelled like Tarzan swinging through the trees as they jeered and booed the President’s speech. Read Rants & Kisses.R & K: A Kiss
Songs by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Singers like Dione Warwick and Dusty Springfield. What Do You Get When You Fall in Love? The Look of Love. I Say a Little Prayer. I sit in the car’s back seat and listen. I’m glad it’s dark. I’d be embarrassed if anyone could see the dreamy look on my face. Read Rants & Kisses.
