Subject: [Tweeters] One of those perfect bird moments
Date: Dec 31 11:10:24 2011
From: Rob Sandelin - nwnature1 at gmail.com


Between rain squalls yesterday the sun actually made a brief appearance. I
went out in the backyard woods to pick up lichens for a project next week
and had that odd feeling one gets that something is looking at you. I looked
around, and at that moment the sunlight escaped the cloud cover and a ray of
light filtered through the forest. In that spotlight, on an arched mossy
cedar branch about 10 feet away was a Varied Thrush. The light, shadows and
the background formed this into a breathtaking image of the beauty of the
thrush. Its orange was brilliant in the slanting sunlight and the bird
seemed to just glow. And then, as if it were a stage performer in the
spotlight, the bird lifted its beak and gave its wonderfully mysterious
minor note trill, that echoed through the winter forest.

There are moments in nature, when you are still and open to the sights and
sounds around you, that seem to call deep inside the genetic memory of the
human experience, that recall when we too foraged at the edge of the great
forest. Those natural connection moments are what makes being outside such a
gift. May your new year find your heart touched by nature, and may the
birds enhance your wonder.

Rob Sandelin
Naturalist, Writer, Teacher
Snohomish County, WA