Friday, March 23, 2012

Playing Hide & Seek With Birds

I SPOTTED AN EAGLE high up on a tree branch during a recent stroll through Elgin Heritage Park. Its eyes were focused on the sky view and all I could see was its hunched feathery back.

It turned but I still could barely see it through the tangle of twigs. The majestic eagle largely ignored me and all the other passersby who looked up to catch a glimpse of it perched above their heads.

The bird's focus didn't waver as I played hide-and-seek trying to get a better look between the thick web of branches.

I glanced downward to discover a different bird with a similar attitude on the muddy shore. As I tried to quickly focus my camera, the heron moved away. Non-threatening people in the park are mere passing shadows to wildlife absorbed by their own dramas in a deep other world.

Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

5 comments:

  1. Wonderful shots of the eagle in the trees and I also love the one of the heron.

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  2. Beautiful photos!
    I love the heron.
    K

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  3. Eagles are such amazing birds, and they do tend to stay high up in the trees and mind their own business, unless the crows chase them away. I too have strained to try and get a clearer look at them. The herons are easier to see but they have to be wary of dogs chasing them. I am often amazed that people allow their dogs to chase them, when making a living is already hard enough for them. We have one or two herons at Jericho Park that perch high up in trees when not fishing, probably for that very reason. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. Sometimes I wonder what a bird has in its mind from its solitary and reflective-looking pose. A heron can keep motionless for a long time, peering into the water to hunt for prey. The eagle looks dignified. If I were the eagel, I would be enjoying birds eye viewing and the sunshine from the sky.

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  5. "Non-threatening people in the park are mere passing shadows to wildlife absorbed by their own dramas in a deep other world." Your last sentence put into words an idea that has hovered over my thoughts, but somehow felt like an "aha" revelation when I read it. Survival, first for themselves, and then for their species, is the wildlife drama that takes up pretty well every minute of every day. You really caught that in your beautifully expressed post. Great photos, too!

    By the way, thanks for the kind comment about my haircut. I'd love to see yours. I am sure I would be as pleased with it as you are with mine. Yet another shared experience :)

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