We did not get out to the Boardwalk at Magee Marsh until 5:30 last evening, but the two hours we spent there were the equal of my best times at Magee. Magical! The birds were avidly feeding, down low at eye-level and below, and just amazingly close. New species were in yesterday, so I had my first sightings of Wilson’s Warbler, Canada, and Northern Parula. And the female American Redstarts had arrived. The first half hour on the boardwalk I got close shots of all of the above, and then turned to my friend Paul, who is here helping me man the ZEISS booth at the Biggest Week in American Birding festival, and said, jokingly, “Now I just want a Prothonatory that close!”

Prothonatory’s are nesting warblers at Magee, and as such, arrive a bit later than some of the others, but once they come their amazing color and loud song can dominate the marsh. I knew there were a few already present because I had seen the photos others were getting. I simply wanted my turn. You can not see a Prothonatory without wanting a photo! Such a bright bird! And the contrast between the slate blue wings and the yellow yellow body only makes the bird seem brighter. Wonderful!

Of course, it was not 30 minutes and a hundred yards down the boardwalk before we saw the Prothonatory. It was not close at first, but it was actively feeding and eventually got to within a few feet of the boardwalk…and it seemed to be posing much of the time with its audience in mind. Showing off. No, of course it wasn’t, but it sure looked that way! I took way too many exposures (I came back from our 2 hour walk with almost 1000 images on my card! How did that happen?)

These 4 shots are just a sample, but it was one of those wonderful encounters that will live in my memory just as strongly as it does in the photos. (Paul said I was all lit up and glowing while shooting this bird…and I don’t doubt him.)

Olympus OM-D E-M10 with 75-300mm zoom. 600mm equivalent. Shutter preferred. 1/640th @ ISO 3200-4000 @ f6.7. Processed in Snapseed on my tablet. Assembled in Pixlr Express.

And for the Sunday Thought. Oddly enough Paul and I had been discussing the nature of spirituality, faith, and religion (not, by the way, at all the same things in either of our minds)…and gratitude and prayer as well. Paul said something along the lines of “I express my thankfulness, but I never ask for anything.” So, after our Prothonatory encounter, and especially after I had indeed asked for it, I turned to him and said, “See, you can ask for things!” The Prothonatory encounter would have been totally amazing whether I asked for it or not…but having asked, even jokingly, and then having been given the very thing I asked for in such a spectacular way…well, to me that elevates the experience from the level of wonder to the level of worship. It turns the encounter into an act of love…love totally undeserved on my part…totally amazing love on God’s part. I am as humbled as I am delighted. Such a God!

To spin it out here, Paul, 30 times that day already, had told me that he was more into big birds, and, really, bigger wildlife than these little warblers. Warblers he implied, were fine for birdy types and feather freaks, but give him a wolf or a bear any day any time! Well, we had come not 20 yards past the Prothonatory when someone pointed out a Raccoon in a tree right over the boardwalk. Paul was in his glory…and yes, he lit up and glowed! Now he would not probably think of his day-long background grumble (good natured as it was) as a prayer…but what can you say then when it is answered…when you are gifted a cooperative Racoon where you did not expect one. I know he is genuinely thankful…that was obvious in his whole manner…but I suspect he does not realize that, in fact, he asked for it! His prayer was answered just as surely as mine was. And isn’t that fun!

Happy Sunday!