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Hello from Sunday night

Hello from Sunday night guys and hello from the beautiful Reifel bird sanctuary.

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I’m so happy that on this beautiful, sunny spring day, I had a chance to drive out to and walk around the Reifel bird sanctuary.

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I love it here.
I do.

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Today, being a sunny and warm Sunday, the parking lot was completely full.

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Loads of people were walking the paths, including a ton of children.

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I did have to remind a family, whose 10-ish yr old boy was whacking the bushes along the path, that this is a protected sanctuary.

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The family was suitably embarrassed and told the boy to knock it off. The boy said, “but I don’t like just walking!”

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I’m so frustrated. Why the hell do people take their wayward children to a bird sanctuary?
Why the hell don’t people raise their children properly in the first place!

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Oh don’t get me started.

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Happily, my own children respect nature and all living things. So we can start with my three and carry on with our four grandchildren and hopefully, all of yours as well. Now we’re getting somewhere.

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It seemed that everyone was in full spring fever chirping and twittering away like mad.

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I did find some really large egg shells. I wondered who they belonged to. The Canada geese maybe? The Sandhill cranes? They must have been big eggs. I didn’t see any goslings around yet.

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I wanted to find the resident Sandhill cranes and spied one out on an island in the middle of one of the waterways.
Apparently that is the new nesting site.

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And then, suddenly overhead, a racket, as two more cranes came in for a landing on the path.

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They joined a third and all raised their beaks to the sky and whooped with joy!

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And then started to preen themselves and eat the bird seed offered as though nothing happened.

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I stood for quite a long time at a section of the path known for blackbird with my outstretched hand offering black sunflower seeds in hopes that one might land on my hand, but no good. It was too late in the afternoon and they were already full up from earlier feedings, rolling around the bushes like fat little porkers barely able to stuff another seed into their little bellies. It’s a wonder they could fly! 😀

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But I did have the most wonderful day, and in the end of my walk, I stopped by the entrance shop and bought a second-hand bird book with the most amazing photographs. It might help me in my quest to be a better artist and learn to paint my birds in better poses.

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Hope you all had a brilliant weekend and hope your new week proves to be rich in love, fun and loads of good energy. 😀

Comments: 8

  • April 17, 2016
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    You got some absolutely amazing shots! Like that eagle — WOW!

  • April 18, 2016
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    Great photos thank you. I totally agree with you about bringing children up to respect and love nature. One of the things that really gets me going is when you see people leaving litter or chucking things out of their car as they speed along grrrr. We live on a common and do you know what some people do, pick up their dog mess in a plastic bag and hang it from a tree! There are loads of bins scattered around for said dog mess.

  • April 18, 2016
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    Beautiful photos! Gosh I love it there. So many amazing creatures to see! xoxo

  • April 18, 2016
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    that last photo is especailly awesome! Although they are all fabulous.

    I hate the amount of people who litter around here. The local primary school has recently had to change the route children walk to school due to building works and the amount of rubbish in the park increased exponentially. I asked the caretakers if they would do an assembly on littering. He said they would and the caretakers now litter pick in the part 3 days a week. But they shouldn’t have to, why has littering become so common and acceptable? It is NOT!!

  • April 18, 2016
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    what a delight .. and please do not ever get me started on children and their lack of proper upbringing .. i could go on forever …

  • April 19, 2016
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    OMG—I could rant for hours about misbehaving kids!!!!

    It’s jaw-dropping the way some kids behave. I detest it, and usually it stems from lack of good parenting in the first place.

  • April 22, 2016
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    Really beautiful photos. I love the wren on the cattails. The Reifel Sanctuary looks like a very special place–what a lot of wildlife you saw! I love birds and always spend my springtimes in the woods birding.
    There are so few places where children are allowed these days. We really do live in an aging world, which is a shame; as a culture we have lost our tolerance for children. They are so infrequently admitted into the adult world, what with both parents working and daycare being the norm for infants, and programs for after school, and special classes and activities for weekends, and school itself extending well into adulthood, that it really is no wonder that “children these days” have no idea how to behave in specific situations–why would they, when most adults have no idea how to be with children and spend as little time as possible with them. I must say that in my experience it is adults who most often disrupt my time in the woods. Why the hell must they misuse conservation trails for jogging and cycling? And don’t even get me started about their cell phones! ; )

  • April 22, 2016
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    Wow and another wow! I just love pics of birds flying – well birds anyway really. Oh you have captured these so beautifully V. Thank you .. I too wonder about naughty kids and it is the parents who need to address this. Poor behaviour. He needs to understand now how beautiful nature is and respect it. Same with people that litter – oh boy this one really gets me annoyed, there is absolutely no excuse for it. Love your images and the sanctuary – I so enjoyed your walk. Hugs

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