Birds Flying High

Every time a see a flock of birds whirling and swirling in the air I feel uplifted somehow. When I started paying attention to how I felt when I saw flocks of birds last summer I noticed that I always wanted to capture the moment and feeling with a photo.

The Swan

Did you too see it, drifting, all night, on the black river?
Did you see it in the morning, rising into the silvery air –
An armful of white blossoms,
A perfect commotion of silk and linen as it leaned
into the bondage of its wings; a snowbank, a bank of lilies,
Biting the air with its black beak?
Did you hear it, fluting and whistling
A shrill dark music – like the rain pelting the trees – like a waterfall
Knifing down the black ledges?
And did you see it, finally, just under the clouds –
A white cross Streaming across the sky, its feet
Like black leaves, its wings Like the stretching light of the river?
And did you feel it, in your heart, how it pertained to everything?
And have you too finally figured out what beauty is for?
And have you changed your life?

– Mary Oliver 

I contemplated why I was so drawn to photographing flocks of birds flying and paid attention to how I felt when a flock of birds appeared. I noticed I felt a sense of exhilaration, limitless possibility, and freedom. Watching the birds swirl and soar fills me with bliss. Listening to the cacophony of a flock of trumpeter swans makes me laugh out loud. Watching hummingbirds helicopter around my yard fills me with wonder.

As I write this blog post and reach back to remember my positive feelings rise up again.

Birds are all around us. You can marvel at their amazing colors and feathers (I do). You can feel awe at their beauty and grace. You can spend endless hours seeking out different varieties of birds in different locales. You can enjoy their songs. You can wonder at how they manage to migrate thousands of miles year after year.

Birds are one of the beautiful ordinary miracles that greet us each day.

What other ordinary miracles are present in your life?

May you walk in beauty.

Trumpeter Swans

Sandhill Cranes gather at sunset on the Platte River in Nebraska

Sandhill cranes taking off from the river just after sunrise

Ducks at De Soto Bend Wildlife Refuge