Flight

I had every intention of going out and sketching today.


It turned into a photography day.


This is why:

Red-Tailed Hawks in Flight. Photo © C. Werther, 2017

Today, Raptor Recovery at Fontenelle Forest here in Nebraska released four Red-Tailed hawks. Two are in the photo above. They did not fly very high at first- note the tiny bit of the red-orange glove of the volunteer in the very bottom of the photo! But what a beautiful sight it was as they took off.


An awful lot of work goes on behind the scenes to make moments like this happen. There are a bunch of dedicated people who work very hard to get as many of these birds back into the wild as possible. I waded in a couple of months ago, and am volunteering, so I can now see just how much work is involved. Everyone's contribution is important, and the whole system, from the volunteer network of transporters, to the people who clean the cages, to those provide veterinary care, to those who try to teach others about the birds, leaves me in awe of what a group of people can do when they work together.


A bit later, clouds moved in, and photography was a bit easier. This beautiful hawk has found a branch with a view of the field below.

Red-Tailed Hawk. Photo © Camille Werther 2017.

I like a happy ending. In rescue work, this ending is not a guarantee. But it is very sweet when it does happen.

Well Loved Books

My last post reminded me of a couple of other well-loved books from my younger years. In the photo above, you can see the Eliot Porter book I mentioned, Hal Borland and Les Line's A Countryman's Flowers, a book of Robert Frost's poems, and a National Geographic book titled Exploring America's Backcountry. Interestingly, this last book features chapters about both the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho and the Atchafalaya swamp here in Louisiana. I could not have imagined in my wildest dreams when I was young that I would know both places. I am truly blessed.

There was another National Geographic book that I loved as a kid, Our Fifty States. I had that book almost memorized. Back then, I wanted to see them all. Today, I can say that I have indeed been fortunate enough to see quite a few, but there are still some tantalizing states left for me to see. I still want to visit Alaska and Hawaii, and Maine.

My parents were good to me. They gave me books to love.

Poetry and Art

I have a dear friend in the frozen north who is a wonderful poet. Yesterday, the two of us "discovered" Anne Porter's poetry on the Writer's Almanac website. (Incidentally, today's featured poet over there is Ted Kooser, another one of our favorites!) Porter's poetry is simple and beautiful. It was also interesting to learn that her husband was the painter Fairfield Porter, and her brother-in-law was Eliot Porter.

When I was 11, my parents gave me a copy of Eliot Porter's  In Wildness is the Preservation of the World. To say that this book had an influence on me would be an understatement. I still have my treasured copy, and pull it out from time to time. It is fading, but retains its beauty. I think his photographic vision shaped my love of nature, conservation, and my own artistic viewpoint.

It is interesting how often poetry and art seem to intersect, at least in my wanderings.