#BirdBlessed

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

It's been a day of firsts for me on the bird front.

In terms of photos captured, first of a Black-Headed Grosbeak (female). First of a Western Tanager (female). First (in focus) of a bird in flight, and I managed to get a few of two different species (Black-Billed Magpie and Chihuahuan Raven). 

And first of the one shown above. The dominant culture calls it Lewis's Woodpecker, because, it insists, it was "[f]irst collected and named  in 1806 by Lewis and Clark in Idaho."

Bullshit.

It was named millennia before that, by the peoples who truly discovered it. So, since we have no better name, and I refuse to call something so beautiful by the name of such a colonialist wretch, we'll use Kachina Bird, because when it looks straight at you, it looks exactly like one of the ancient bird kachinas, its red mask and black eyes and bill exactly reproduced in the personifiers' case masks.

In terms of visitations, we also had other firsts: what appeared to be a female Scott's Oriole, and the whole family of House Sparrows, the offspring no more than two inches long and slightly wobbly, but learning the ins and outs of the feeder under Mom and Dad's tutelage nonetheless.

And all the other birds that are or have become regulars, including the male Black-Headed Grosbeak, male and female Evening Grosbeaks, and all the others that have lived here forever, or the next thing to it.

And you know what's really cool? When your man is a professional photographer, and yet he not only encourages amateur you, he's actively proud of you. 

And tells you so.  
#Blessed.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.