1.05.2021

The Frosted Landscape

“Every time you discover the beauties of this world, you are reborn.”

― Mehmet Murat ildan
It's been an absolutely sensational start to the new year. Not only has the birding been excellent, a spectacular rime ice has decorated the landscape with stunning effect. Ice crystals aloft in the atmosphere rendered some nifty halos and sun dogs as well. All of this fused together to create opportunities to work with my new Nikkor ED lens for scenic photography. 
Over the weekend I visited several birding hotspots in the Middleton area to put depth into my 2021 list. Locations included Holy Wisdom Monastery, Dorn Creek, Governor Nelson State Park, Ed Tallard Conservancy, Pheasant Branch, and birding along various roads where I observed American Kestrels, Rough-legged Hawks, Red-tailed Hawks, and even a Snowy Owl and Peregrine Falcon. 
The woods of Pheasant Branch near the Conservancy Condos provided a variety of songbirds ― Tufted Titmouse, Black-capped Chickadees, White-throated Sparrows, robins, nuthatches, woodpeckers, and finches. This particular area is always a great spot to check during the winter months on account of nearby bird feeders at condo patios and decks. Very briefly, a small flock of Common Redpolls perched in a tree directly above me.
I know a place where I can reliably observe a pair of Barred Owls, but that'll be a secret known only to me. I have learned from past experiences that telling even just a few people about a roosting site eventually gets out to the birding paparazzi, creating pressure in the form of too many visitors. Upon discovery, I think it's best to keep owl roosting sites off eBird, listservs, and bird alert social media pages and groups. Maybe it's selfish, but the welfare of the bird should always come first. 


The renowned roadside songbird trio of Horned Larks, Lapland Longspurs, and Snow Buntings were present along Balzer Road, which now borders the northernmost parcel of Pheasant Branch Prairie. The Acker farm was purchased for almost $10 million dollars, adding 160 acres of land to the conservancy. Not only will this acquisition help protect native grassland birds, it'll also keep Lake Mendota cleaner by extra filtration of agricultural runoff. It'll be interesting to see how the prairie restoration goes.
My final "first of year" (FOY) bird of the weekend was a small flock of Cedar Waxwings weathering the cold in some berry trees across the street from my apartment. In years past, the wintering waxwing flock consisted of over a hundred individuals, but numbers are exceedingly lower so far this season. There's certainly plenty for them to eat, which at least favors the birds that are present. Hopefully they'll stick around all winter so I can photograph them under better lighting conditions. But in a way, the overcast and wintery effect renders a mood of endurance. 
Though I managed to find over fifty bird species over the extended weekend, Dane County's tribe of reliable birders have already left me in the dust ― I'm not even in the top ten. No matter, though. I prefer the quiet experiences when it's just me and the bird, watching them watch me. During such moments my mind drifts to notions and theories of animal cognition, sentience, and interiority ― what's it like to be that bird?
They look in my direction, perhaps pondering me in their own way. Of course it's probably a constant assessment of threat-level, but these birds seemed pretty chill about my presense. My thoughts aren't transcribed into words appearing into my imagination as much as there are shifts in emotion, changes in brain states as a gust of wind or ice crystals touch the skin of my face. My eyes detect subtle movements of birds and branches, and my ears pickup most every avian vocalization. It isn't like words are thought like text written on a page, but just being in the present moment as time has its way with living things. 

They look contemplative ...
Or perhaps they're just bored!
All images © 2021 Mike McDowell