A Tiny Ball of Energy

An excerpt from my 2018 nature journal: Monday, January 8, 2018, 10:53 AM – I was hoping to add some new birds to my photo life list this year; and it has started off well!

© Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 25464078 - Winter Wren; Walton County, Georgia. January 8, 2018.

Walking briskly to generate some body heat against the cold, I took a quick walk up to both of the water retention ponds behind my office just before lunch. Both are almost entirely frozen over; the ice being thick enough to withstand the blow of a softball sized rock! That doesn’t happen very often here in Georgia. Although there is small opening of unfrozen water on each, the chances of new ducks arriving are decreased at least for today. For the ducks seek open water to rest during their long winter flights southward.

With nothing to see on the open ponds, and my fingers beginning to freeze, I take just a quick jaunt down by the secluded grasses and brambles along the duckweed bog. I could hear the wrens and sparrows rustling in the grasses. In a tall narrow opening of a tree stump, another wren popped into view. But it wasn’t the typical Carolina Wren I normally see in my birding patch. I fire off a few photographs wondering what I have seen. I have a few suspicions, but head into my warm office for a little confirming research.

© Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 25464078 - Winter Wren; Walton County, Georgia. January 8, 2018.

Searching a field guide, and gaining a visual confirmation from the Merlin Bird ID app, a Winter Wren, Troglodytes hiemalis, was added to my list! The Cornell Lab of Ornithology website perfectly and poetically described what I had both seen and heard: "In the tangled understory of eastern forests, a tiny ball of energy lets loose with a rich cascade of bubbly notes. This songster is none other than the Winter Wren, shaking as it sings its astoundingly loud song."

​Walton County, Georgia

• Cloudy with a high near 41°
• Sunrise 7:39 AM, Sunset 5:41 PM
• Day length: 10 hours, 1 minute

Publicado el febrero 1, 2022 05:46 TARDE por williamwisephoto