First chase-n-fail of 2018
A Henslow's Sparrow had been photographed and reported earlier in the week on an old unpaved road in Hardin county so I planned my Saturday morning to get up at 4:00 a.m. and be at my first stakeout by sunrise. My friend Bob had given me some advice on how to find a HESP because he had success finding one a month ago and was able to get real good photos of one. Henslow's sparrows(HESP) are very irregular birds that are findable some winters and not others. They are very secretive and spend most of their time on the ground in dense cover and when they fly it is low and over a short distance and then drop right back in to thick grass. So that is why they are hard to find and harder to photograph.
I arrived at the Big Thicket National Forest HQ in Hardin county by sunrise and began birding in 28 degree weather when I realized I forgot my hat...aaargh. So after getting there on time the rest of my day seemed unsuccessful.
1. I wanted to see and hopefully photograph a Henslow's Sparrow for a Life Bird
2. Rusty Blackbirds had been reported and that would be a new Texas Life Bird (I have seen them in Colorado)
3. I was going to drive through Liberty county on the way home and try to pick up bird 100 for the county(currently at 99)
So after getting in the zone after birding for about an hour someone from work calls. Ok problem solved, got back in the zone then call number 2. Problem solved +/- but could not seem to get back in the zone after that so after a couple of miles and a couple of unsuccessful hours I called it quits and headed to another location 20 minutes away.
Hoping to restart fresh at my new destination I got into it about a half mile when I got work related call number 3. Sigh...I just could not recover after that and the fact that it was super bright and I forgot a hat...man time to go.
So I headed to my final destination which is just an unpaved road with private land on both sides so it is strictly car birding which is my least favorite type. Every person you see on those roads looks at you suspiciously and some even stop and ask what you are doing. I don't blame them though it does look a little suspicious driving slow stopping often and looking through binoculars. But since 95.8% of Texas is private land roads can be some of the best if not only spots in some counties. But again, I forgot my hat and looking toward the noonday sun with unmotivated tired and squinty eyes... I got a lot of birds just not my 2 target birds on that road so I headed on to Liberty county hoping to pick up one bird with minimal effort like snow geese flying over for instance.
I failed targets 1,2 and 3 but I did manage to pick up 21 new birds for Hardin county including this Chipping Sparrow along with 4 other sparrow species.
On the drive home I couldn't help but feel a little disconnected from God. I had not been to church in a couple of weeks or small group in almost a month. A hunger for the Lord is kinda the opposite of a hunger for food. The longer you go without food the hungrier you get, not true with spiritual food. You go some time without it and you get less hungry. So also true is after you eat regular food you are satisfied for a while. With spiritual food it is opposite. When you are spiritually fed you just want more and more. That is where I want to be again but I cannot do it alone and that is why I am looking forward to getting back to church Sunday and start the new week.
I arrived at the Big Thicket National Forest HQ in Hardin county by sunrise and began birding in 28 degree weather when I realized I forgot my hat...aaargh. So after getting there on time the rest of my day seemed unsuccessful.
1. I wanted to see and hopefully photograph a Henslow's Sparrow for a Life Bird
2. Rusty Blackbirds had been reported and that would be a new Texas Life Bird (I have seen them in Colorado)
3. I was going to drive through Liberty county on the way home and try to pick up bird 100 for the county(currently at 99)
So after getting in the zone after birding for about an hour someone from work calls. Ok problem solved, got back in the zone then call number 2. Problem solved +/- but could not seem to get back in the zone after that so after a couple of miles and a couple of unsuccessful hours I called it quits and headed to another location 20 minutes away.
Hoping to restart fresh at my new destination I got into it about a half mile when I got work related call number 3. Sigh...I just could not recover after that and the fact that it was super bright and I forgot a hat...man time to go.
So I headed to my final destination which is just an unpaved road with private land on both sides so it is strictly car birding which is my least favorite type. Every person you see on those roads looks at you suspiciously and some even stop and ask what you are doing. I don't blame them though it does look a little suspicious driving slow stopping often and looking through binoculars. But since 95.8% of Texas is private land roads can be some of the best if not only spots in some counties. But again, I forgot my hat and looking toward the noonday sun with unmotivated tired and squinty eyes... I got a lot of birds just not my 2 target birds on that road so I headed on to Liberty county hoping to pick up one bird with minimal effort like snow geese flying over for instance.
I failed targets 1,2 and 3 but I did manage to pick up 21 new birds for Hardin county including this Chipping Sparrow along with 4 other sparrow species.
On the drive home I couldn't help but feel a little disconnected from God. I had not been to church in a couple of weeks or small group in almost a month. A hunger for the Lord is kinda the opposite of a hunger for food. The longer you go without food the hungrier you get, not true with spiritual food. You go some time without it and you get less hungry. So also true is after you eat regular food you are satisfied for a while. With spiritual food it is opposite. When you are spiritually fed you just want more and more. That is where I want to be again but I cannot do it alone and that is why I am looking forward to getting back to church Sunday and start the new week.
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