“You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them.” — Michael Jordan
“Wildlife and its habitat cannot speak, so we must and will.” — Theodore Roosevelt
“The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.” — Neil deGrasse Tyson
“God gave us two ends: One to sit on and one to think with. Success depends on which one you use. Heads you win, tails, you lose.” — Anonymous
This would be both a birder’s and photographer’s delight. A European eagle owl in the town of Noordeinde, Netherlands likes to land on the heads of people. It apparently has had some experience with humans since it does not seem to be the least timid around them. The bird rests where it lands for a brief period and then is off to find another perch!
“You don’t get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour.” — Jim Rohn
“Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.” — Malcolm Gladwell
“How beautiful it is to find someone who asks for nothing but your company.” — Brigitte Nicole
“The average tourist wants to go to places where there are no tourists.” — Sam Ewing
As a member of an “older” generation, we often hear people decry the work ethic of today’s youths and the changes taking place within our society that we believe are negative. Of course our parents probably felt the same about the things we did “back in the day.”
Below is an inspiring video detailing how Easton LaChappelle, while he was still a teenager, began to design and create prosthetic limbs. Easton now has his own company and is working to make life better for many people who are challenged. I think you will find the video below very inspiring.
Marian Reekie has macular degeneration. When she found out that a Colorado company had electronic glasses that might be able to help her, she traveled to find out what they would be able to provide. Apparently the glasses were not what she was seeking and they cost $15,000.
Her grandson, Christopher Reekie – an eighth grader at the time, said he could create a pair of glasses for her. The video below shows how Christopher was able to initiate a Kickstarter campaign to create the visual enhancement that his grandmother needed.
What can you offer to help others who face challenges?
“The mouth obeys poorly when the heart murmurs.” — Voltaire
“When the idea of any pleasure strikes your imagination, make a just computation between the duration of the pleasure and that of the repentance that is likely to follow it.” — Epictetus
“Most people are perfectly afraid of silence.” — E.E. Cummings
“Why is it, ‘A penny for your thoughts,’ but, ‘You have to put your two cents in?’… somebody’s making a penny.” — Steven Wright
For those who have been following my blog for a while, you might recall that I wrote about a bird walk I took on April . You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.
This is the final installment in the series.
If you want more information about the “Water Ranch” more formally named the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch in Gilbert, Arizona, you can visit their website at the link below:
Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch
You can view a map of the preserve here:
The bird walk I took was an offering of the Desert Rivers Audubon Society – Read About them here.
While we were on our walk we were able to identify several more birds not described previously. A common bird is the Great Tailed Grackle that can sometimes be found in local parking lots. Notice the yellow eyes.
A bird that I hadn’t identified before was the Long-billed Dowitcher which enjoyed wading through the water and exploring as it walked. Every now and then, the group would take off as a unit and fly around before alighting once again.
As one would expect at a place with all of this water, there were many ducks and of course cute ducklings:
As I might have noted in previous writings, I am relatively new to the hobby of bird watching or bird identification so I was somewhat surprised to hear the term “mutt duck” used in describing some of the ducks that are apparently of mixed parentage.
While I knew that a mutt, when referring to dogs, was a mixed breed, I didn’t know this term was used elsewhere in the animal kingdom.
Here are two pictures of what our fellow birders thought were mutt ducks:
Who you calling a mutt?!
If you happen to be in the Phoenix, Arizona area, and you enjoy birding, I would recommend a stop at the Gilbert Water Ranch. It might be wise to contact them for information about the best months to visit. During the heat of the summer, the number of birds drops dramatically along with the number of visitors.
“No one can be good for long if goodness is not in demand.” — Bertolt Brecht
“Many are frustrated because they keep waiting for the blooming of flowers of which they have yet to sow the seeds.[ed]” — Steve Maraboli
“Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.” — Khalil Gibran
“So what if I can’t spell Armaggedon? … it’s not the end of the world.” — Stewart Francis
“Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.” — Mark Twain
“You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald
“If there’s a book you want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” — Toni Morrison