Be still my beating heart. Spring is upon us in the upper Midwest. It is beckoning me to forgo the impossible tasks, forsaken responsibilities posturing to bite me in the ass when the time is ripe.
Breathe.
Gone is the lung paralyzing bitter cold of winter. I want to gulp the cool air of this season until the thawing dog shit reminds me otherwise. E. Coli lurks in those brown puddles you think are mud.
Discipline.
Harness the urge to chase every new arriving migrant. So far, so good. All good things come to those who wait. There is plenty of time to see Wood duck, Eastern Phoebe and Eastern Bluebird. Perhaps not so for Red-shouldered Hawk, another recently arriving species in Wisconsin. They are more challenging to come by in my birding patch. My best chance to find one is increasing my time in the field with the hopes of finding one in migration. However I simply can't afford the time and energy.
Exercise.
I still need the time outdoors to move, gain strength, build endurance for the impending high intensity field season. I've got bog tromps, Calypso Orchid, hunts for other rare orchids and spring warblers on my mind... and a pile of data to attend to first. But spring is beckoning me to move. So I made a short venture outside this weekend along some easy paved trails. Finding a Western Red-tailed Hawk was the highlight. It doesn't count as a species for my slowly growing 2019 patch list. Nonetheless it has been several years since I've seen this subspecies. Thus I was grateful to cross its path.
Opossum.
A confiding opossum took a close second place in capturing my attention. They sure are ugly little critters. But I have to hand them props for helping to curb the awful tick populations.
And for their mastery at playing dead to foil would be predators. I can relate.
Hail to the Possum!
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| Opossum, Middleton, Dane Co, WI 16Mar2019 |
Gone is the lung paralyzing bitter cold of winter. I want to gulp the cool air of this season until the thawing dog shit reminds me otherwise. E. Coli lurks in those brown puddles you think are mud.
Discipline.
Harness the urge to chase every new arriving migrant. So far, so good. All good things come to those who wait. There is plenty of time to see Wood duck, Eastern Phoebe and Eastern Bluebird. Perhaps not so for Red-shouldered Hawk, another recently arriving species in Wisconsin. They are more challenging to come by in my birding patch. My best chance to find one is increasing my time in the field with the hopes of finding one in migration. However I simply can't afford the time and energy.
 |
| Western Red-tailed Hawk, Middleton, Dane Co, WI 16Mar2019 |
I still need the time outdoors to move, gain strength, build endurance for the impending high intensity field season. I've got bog tromps, Calypso Orchid, hunts for other rare orchids and spring warblers on my mind... and a pile of data to attend to first. But spring is beckoning me to move. So I made a short venture outside this weekend along some easy paved trails. Finding a Western Red-tailed Hawk was the highlight. It doesn't count as a species for my slowly growing 2019 patch list. Nonetheless it has been several years since I've seen this subspecies. Thus I was grateful to cross its path.
Opossum.
A confiding opossum took a close second place in capturing my attention. They sure are ugly little critters. But I have to hand them props for helping to curb the awful tick populations.
And for their mastery at playing dead to foil would be predators. I can relate.
Hail to the Possum!
