Naturally

 There are no ordinary moments.
 I marveled at a starry sky. Marissa Meyer wrote, “I’m still thanking all the stars, one by one.”
 As I thanked as many stars as I could, I recalled the words of James Thurber, “There are two kinds of light—the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures.”
 The sky illuminates and is immense, but so is a square foot of my yard.
 The next morning, firmly in the spirit of the season, I forgave those squirrels who trespass against us.

Christmas gifts

 What do you give a nature lover other than your undying appreciation? Here are a few other welcome gifts.
 The birds come already wrapped. Share your love of them with another.
 The Audubon Bird Guide app and the Merlin Bird ID app (from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology) are free and come in handy on a cellphone (a field guide in your pocket) or tablet. Check your storage space available before downloading them. The Audubon app offers detailed descriptions for over 800 birds, 2,300+ bird songs and 3,500+ high-quality color photos. There is a search function for identifying a bird by song type or pattern, wing shape, time of year, by state, locomotion and more. There are up-to-date range maps with wintering maps for many migrating birds. The Merlin app allows you to answer three simple questions about a bird you are trying to identify and Merlin gives you a list of possible matches. It has a sound ID that listens to the birds around you and shows real-time suggestions for what is singing. You can compare your recordings to the songs and calls in Merlin to confirm what you’ve heard. If you take a photo of a bird or pull one from your camera roll, Merlin’s photo ID offers you a short list of potential matches. The photo ID works offline, so you can identify birds in the photos no matter where you are. Merlin has the capability of building a digital scrapbook of your birding memories with Save My Bird. Tap “This is my bird!” each time you identify a bird and Merlin adds it to your growing life list. Many other wonderful field guide apps require payment.
 Warm socks, warm gloves or mittens, cap (I’ve found that the dorkier a hat looks, the warmer it is). Flip-top mittens allow the wearer to fold back the mitten to reveal fingerless gloves. Vests. I love the arm freedom they provide.  

Books. I enjoy the tactile sensation of paper field guides and they are all excellent. I prefer painted birds over photos and guides covering more than a single state. A small book showing only the birds of one state is good for those who do their birding from the kitchen window or at a feeder. I advise you to look at field guides in a bookstore before deciding on which one fits. 
 A Leatherman, ice cleats, trekking or hiking poles, snowshoes, a dependable travel mug, a pocket-sized notebook and a back, day or fanny pack. Binoculars are wonderful gifts but are easier to buy for a child than for an adult. You’ll want to get a gift receipt or be accompanied by the adult gift recipient at the time of purchase.
 Membership in a local Audubon or bird club, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology or the American Birding Association. State park sticker, feeders, birdseed or a subscription to BWD magazine (a birding publication).

Q&A

 “How can I tell rabbit tracks from squirrel tracks in the snow?” I read an interesting item from the Hickory Knolls Discovery Center (Illinois), saying when a squirrel hops and lands, its larger back feet land parallel and in front of its smaller front feet. The resulting shape is square-ish. Rabbits land with one forefoot in front of the other. The line of those two prints behind the two larger hind footprints resembles the letter Y. SQuirrels leave SQuare tracks and Ys are the tracks of a bunnY. I’d add that rabbit tracks can have the shape of a triangle and that rabbits stop to nibble and squirrels dig for nuts buried under the snow. A rabbit has furred toes, blurring the toes in a track, while a squirrel has long, skinny toes that are likely to appear in the tracks. If the tracks lead to a tree and stop, it’s a squirrel.
 “My grandfather was born in Kentucky and he talked about a “wasper.” What is that?” It’s a southern name for a wasp. Waspers is the slang for the plural of wasp and it might be easier to say than “wasps.”

Thanks for stopping by

 “When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.”—Willie Nelson. 
 “Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners to make our souls blossom.”—Marcel Proust.
 Do good.

©️Al Batt 2022

Ring-necked pheasants were successfully imported from China to the United States in 1881 with 26 of the 30 birds surviving the journey. The first successful release in Minnesota was in 1916. A rooster's crow is often followed by a loud, rapid beating of his wings. Roosters frequently cackle when they fly. I cackle when I fly, too. Photo by Al Batt.

If these pheasants could book a flight to Texas, Arizona or Florida, the airports would be full of feathers. Photo by Al Batt

From “Zen Birds.”

The Christmas Bird Count was postponed as the area reels from a blizzard. The birds couldn’t postpone their days.

The highways closed because of weather conditions, but the feeders remained opened.

On a day buried in white snow, birds bring splendor.