Cape May Warbler, Magee Marsh, Ohio

“If your eye is generous, your whole being is full of light.” Jesus

Last Wednesday was one of those wonderful days at Magee Marsh, when the late afternoon/early evening light illuminated trees just dripping with warblers…and many feeding at eye-level. It was the first really epic day at Magee Marsh since the Biggest Week in American Birding started on the Friday before. This Cape May warbler is showing its colors, and its attitude, in the golden evening glow.

I ran a Cape May Warbler in last Sunday’s The Generous Eye post…but I had to work for that one. On Wednesday it was just easy! A friend calls the warblers on a good day at Magee Marsh “confiding”, and they are…all around you…busy with there own lives, but approachable…sometimes even curious as to what we humans are up to in their forest. On a day like that it is simply joy to photograph them…joy even to stand and watch them. You get such a sense of life…of vigor…of color and movement in harmony. It is a deeply moving experience. I always come back from Magee in the spring filled with a sense of wonder that propels me into the Maine spring, just beginning compared to Ohio.

And, out there on the boardwalk you sense too, the generosity of the birders and photographers around you. Everyone is caught up in the experience…and everyone is willing and eager to share it (with few enough exceptions to ignore). It is just a good feeling. A blessing to be there and be part of this grand happening.

May you discover a similar blessing today, wherever you are, and whatever you are doing. Happy Sunday!

Cape May Warbler, Magee Marsh, Ohio

“If your eye is generous, your whole being is full of light!” Jesus

I am blessed again this year to be at Magee Marsh, on the shores of Lake Erie, for spring migration. Every day at the marsh is a new show, as new waves of Warblers and other song birds reach the shores of the lake, and stop for a day (or two) to stock up before crossing the waters. Two days ago it was all Yellow Warblers (resident nesting birds) and Yellow-rumped Warblers, with a few Palm Warblers left over from the previous wave. Yesterday the Cape May Warblers (like the bird pictured here), the American Redstarts, Warbling Vireos, and smaller numbers of the “next wave” birds came in. Today????

Migration has always fascinated human beings, probably since we stopped migrating with the seasons ourselves. We watch the birds flow north in the spring with an appropriate sense of wonder. There is an aspect of renewal…especially with all the birds in fresh spring plumage…and a measure of hope with it. It is good to be alive in the spring when the song birds are moving! The weekend crowds at Magee Marsh and other migration hot-spots along Lake Eire and the other major flyways, attests to just broad the appeal is. Maybe a third of the crowds are birders and photographers, drawn every year, but two thirds are just regular citizens, out for a day to experience something extraordinary. The cries of delight, from children and adults, compete with the songs of the birds. It is good. The generous eye sees only good in these crowds (though the birdwatcher/photographer in me might prefer a less crowed boardwalk to work from :). You can feel the good energy…very similar to what you feel in a really inspired praise service at an “outgoing” church. God is praised in the migration of song birds, and we are privileged to join in the worship.

Happy Sunday!