The Autumn's Loon

 

"Be the autumn stalwart, and colorful, amenable to change, 

the grateful breath that greets each day."

~Unknown

We took a day off from all the drama, and went to Bodega Bay! You know how much I love making the long trip to find the birdies that have arrived along the Pacific Flyway. Yesterday gave us four new birds. The Common Loon wasn't one of them, as I photographed one last October, but they are visitors in the bay each year, then they migrate back to the north, in the Aleutian Islands. Their call is absolutely haunting, I will never forget hearing it for the first time! Sometime, I'd like to stay in Bodega Bay for a few days, just to hear their call!

"The loon's call is haunting and wild, an ancient trill that's part honor song, and part warning. I've never met anyone who didn't fall quiet upon hearing it. We are all susceptible to that common magic."

~Richard Wagamese

Autumn Birds, On Woodbridge Road

"There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy."

~Ralph H. Baum

I was having so much fun photographing this gorgeous Great Egret the other day! I was on Woodbridge road, to see if any new birds had migrated in. And yes, some had indeed come home for the season, and while I have some fairly nice new photos, it was the birds that are here all year, that I had the most fun with. The Egrets, the Kingfishers, and the Blue Herons were being very accommodating to my photography! They are all such gorgeous birds, it made my day to be able to see beauty everywhere! As great fun as they were, the arrival of the snow geese made me warm inside. I guess you could say, it was a very good day!

Autumn's Sandhill Crane

 

"Birds are the eyes of Heaven."

~Suzy Kassem

Rise Up And Salute The Sun: The Writings Of Suzy Kassam

These birds are so unbelievably beautiful, that you should believe me when I say, I will never be able to photograph them in such that will pay justice to their grace. All I can do is try, and try again, but personally I know it can never be done. These birds live in my heart.

It's All About The Autumn Peace

“If, of all the seasons, there is a season in which a person completely forgets himself and constantly watches the magical environment, it is undoubtedly autumn!”

 
~Mehmet Murat ildan 

 

You know it's autumn, a little before the calendar reflects it, when you hear the return of the various species of geese and Sandhill crane flying over. It's the beautiful return of the migrating birds to the San Joaquin Valley, Desmond road in particular. That small road has brought me so much happiness, over the last five years or so. It's about the autumn sun, it's about the turning of the oak trees, it's about the sounds, it's all about the peace.

 

Sandhill Cranes On Desmond Road

“Every story begins somewhere, some in the rain of forgotten yesterdays

 and some in the scent of autumn leaves...”

 
~Jayita Bhattacharjee 

 

 Finally! I spotted them on Desmond road yesterday, at 4:00 pm. My beautiful Sandhill Cranes are back! Well, actually, they have been back for over a week, but they are officially back for me now. They weren't making much noise, so I didn't hear that beautiful call and chatter of theirs, but soon they will be back in large numbers, and then good luck not hearing them! And I wouldn't want it any other way!

 

Here's where you can find them today!

 

SandHill Crane Walk

 

“I am happy to know that not all species are forced

 to need passports and visas to experience new lands.”

 

~Rajesh

  Random Cosmos

 

 

I love those beautiful creatures, and I will never see enough of them. I am so pleased I live in an area that they visit every year. I would be lost without their beauty, and the sound of their call. The season is moving too fast for me. I need more of this.

 

 

 

Migrating, Perhaps?

 

“The wind makes you ache in some place

 that is deeper than your bones.” 

~Stephen King,

  'Salem's Lot

 

Just a couple months ago I was standing on the Bat Bridge, wishing for a cool breeze to float by, and now it is here. Not unusual for November, in fact I happen to love it, I just wish the wind would usher in more birds. So far the variety has been bleak, at least it seems that way to me. Maybe that's why I see a bird in those autumn clouds. A Bank swallow to be exact. I watched them fly in and out of their nests, under the bridge on, Thornton road, last spring, and now I see a big one soaring through the clouds on it's way to who knows where? Migrating perhaps. Do you see the bird shaped cloud? How about you? What do you see?

 

Now do you see the birdy?

Discover The Delta And Where Is My Book?

 

 

"Photography is what emotions look like."

~Jon Luvelli

 

I can't find my book. Last month, I bought a new book, Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer. Yes, I know, it's about teen angst/romance but it in all fairness, I wanted something different, and besides, I had recently watched just about all of them during a week of unwavering, relentless insomnia, and I thought I would see if the book was better written than the movie was. Shrug. I got through the first chapter, and half way through the second, when it went missing, but up to that point, no, it was fairly spot on. 

 

What does this picture have to do with my misplacing my book? Nothing really, except that the day I photographed this water tower, January 3rd, I was thinking about the story of Twilight. How Bella had just arrived to a new place, Forks, Washington, and felt out of place. I have been in the San Joaquin Delta region now, going on six years, and I still feel out of place. I am only just now finding my way, by discovering the beauty of migrating birds. It's easier for teens to seek the adventure I suppose. To welcome the angst. At my age, not so much. I would be happier with life being normal again. Something like 2013, when we found Joey, and Robin Williams wasn't dead. 

 

One more bit of angst with Trump to get through... the second Impeachment trial, which begins next week. I have no idea how long that will last, or if there will be another day similar to January 6th, but there is some comfort in knowing how it will end because I have very little faith in anyone in the Republican party doing the right thing. They are scared of Donald Trump, He's their vampire. So the horror story will play out as most horror stories in the real world do. History won't be kind to those who seek to harm, we all know it, and they know it too, that's what makes it all so perverse, and yet, when all is said and done, at least there are still things we can all count on. 

 

Republican's are vampires and cowards

and new books will go missing. 

 

~Carly