Wild Birds

Had a nice day off yesterday and managed to accomplish a ‘million’ different things; including my regular walk with the wife.

This was what greeted us where I parked my car, before the walk - thousands of snow geese on a stopover to their home in Siberia.

I noticed dozens of amateur photographers with their professional gear slung around their necks. I felt intimidated with my little point-and-shoot camera that I carry everywhere with me.
I took a couple of shots and headed out to my usual route.

Half an hour into my brisk walk, we heard the honking of these same geese as they signalled their arrival in a different section of the protected wet-land.
Looking upward, careful not to keep my mouth open, I wondered who makes the decision to move sites, who determines when it is the time to migrate during winter and return during spring? Towards the end of the one hour walk, I spotted a wild pheasant from 100 metres out and proceeded to get as close as possible for some nice shots. There was a couple who were there before me and all attempts to get close to the pheasant only drove it further away.
What happened next shocked me in a pleasant way! As I stood at a distance and adjusted my camera to a zoom setting; I whistled and before I could look down – the bird was right under my nose.
I recognized this to be a Mongolian Ring-neck type Common Pheasant. The most amazing thing was it started to do a mating dance – putting its head down and fluffing up its feathers. As I finished my walk, I came across one of the photographers with his two expensive cameras, and I showed him where he could get a prized picture of this beautiful bird. The irony of it all – here I was just taking my usual walk and I got to take all these close-up pictures of the pheasant and there were all these people searching for the perfect wild-life photo in the wrong place.

Thought for the day:

In life, it’s strange how certain things elude you when you are consciously searching for it and then you bump into them when you’re really not looking!
That’s why I carry my camera with me everywhere!

In our relationship with God – we have to be ready; in season and out!
You don’t know when a God-thing will occur, or when a special word from Him will be given – we just have to be ready!