I love my patio. I love having a free Saturday morning to enjoy it.

​While sitting for breakfast I caught a quick streak flyby out of the corner of my eye. “Myrtle” the hummingbird is back! I had put out the feeder anticipating their return, but it had gotten so late in the spring, and the other birds already so active for several weeks, I thought the hummers may not return. The next morning, while enjoying my Sunday cup of coffee, I again heard that familiar whirrrrrr of wings and saw the brilliant red of the male Ruby-throat. He checked out the feeder but immediately buzzed off after sensing my presence.

​Out at the shelter pond getting more Canada Goose photos for  my upcoming Creation Speaks lesson on the Canada Goose: “Here Am I. Where are You?” Not the best photos, but they will do for a powerpoint slideshow to aid the presentation. 

​Walton County, Georgia

​Springtime activity has really picked up on the shelter pond. A pair of Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors) made a one-day appearance.The Mallards are tightly bonded in their breeding pairs and chasing each other out of their respective territories on the pond. The drakes have even begun their seemingly brutal mating and mistreating of the hens.
 
Having been here several years now, the Mallards are quite used to free handouts of cat food and bread.  When they spot any person they’ll come flying from wherever they are on the pond right to your feet at the bank.  I took advantage of this behavior to practice some autofocus tracking and high shutter speeds to capture some flight shots. I’d step out to the bank with cat food in one hand and my camera ready in the other. As soon as I’d toss the cat food in the water, the ducks would take flight my direction. I have a few seconds to focus and snap some shots.  In flight shots are a lot more difficult than I anticipated!  

​I love this shot for some reason.  During a light rainfall, the Canada Geese on the shelter pond came right up to the back door of our administration building to eat the Bermuda grass. From my office, I heard their raucous honking and got this shot from the back door.  I used this shot as the slideshow title page for my Creation Speaks talk on the Canada Goose: “Here Am I. Where are You?”

​Walton County, Georgia

“God, I wake today feeling frustrated. I want to write; I want to give expression to the things I’m thinking; but I want it to matter. I don’t want to just fill journals to be forgotten; nor do I want to publish for my own posterity or to simply entertain. I want to use it for Your glory. You gave me this talent and desire for working with animals. How can it come into the Kingdom? You took my other talents and desires, like playing bass and other instruments, and have used them consistently over 21 years. What about this gift for the outdoors? A creation evangelism website? A “Hiss-ministries” type presentation? Children’s Church? Oh, God, to publish books is my desire – send materials to Answers in Genesis? Others? Can you give me more ideas, God? School presentations?

The other frustration I’m feeling is with so much writing I want to do, and so many little projects I want to do, but can’t get them all done. The latest ‘great idea’ (i.e. website, children’s church lessons) gets the attention, until the urgent (i.e. upcoming Bible Study) requires the time, while the necessary (i.e. working on translating the Greek New Testament) is pushed back. How and when do I fit it all in? The book Write Now (which I just picked back up) talks about how scheduling and journaling will help.  Can it?
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At the very least, my kids will enjoy my journals when I’m gone. It will be a piece of me to hold onto after I die. So God, today what I’m asking for is that this desire to write and publish be worked into a way to benefit the Kingdom, to glorify You; a means of expression in ministry. I’m also asking for help prioritizing and scheduling my nature writings. 

Twice now I’ve seen a Mockingbird frolicking and thrashing and causing a real scene trying to eat from the hanging bird feeders. This is my first time seeing one of the many Mockers around our house actually attempt to eat from the feeders… and it looked like his first attempt at trying it! His wings beat as he’d unsuccessfully try to grab a hold on the wire feeder, then fall to the ground and loudly scold other birds, perhaps out of embarrassment, or perhaps out of jealousy at their coordinated and graceful feeding that he could not duplicate. 

Athens, Georgia

A pair of Canada Geese have returned to the pond at work, no doubt to have more batches of babies again this year. Even the resident Mallards have donned their striking breeding plumage and have begun pairing up. Soon the Mallards will begin their displays and aggressive, territorial chases around the pond. 

​Walton County, Georgia

​We may have avoided another ‘Snowmageddon’ this year, but the trees are covered in white this week. But it isn’t snow. The Bradford Pears have all put out such glorious blooms, they look snow-blasted from a raging blizzard. The Dogwoods and Daffodils had already been in bloom, but these Bradfords are much more abundant and full. Several large ones in particular grabbed by attention while running past Whit Davis Elementary where the girls go to school. 

​Athens, Georgia

Noises carry in strange ways in the Okefenokee Swamp. A silent solitude lies upon the blackwaters as one paddles through the refuge. But the dead stillness is suddenly broken by the scream of a Red-shouldered Hawk. Its call seems to emanate from over your shoulder, but the echo carries ahead, to the left, and to the right. It may take a few squawks from the raptor to pinpoint its location.

For many decades, the Red-shouldered Hawk has been one of the most common raptors in the Okefenokee Swamp. In 1913, Albert Wright and Francis Harper published “A Biological Reconnaissance of Okefinokee Swamp: The Birds” in The Auk, the scientific journal of the American Ornithological Society. Of the Red-shouldered Hawk, they wrote, 

The call of the Red-shouldered Hawk is still piercing the stillness of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge today. ​

Our encounter with a mother alligator and her babies reminded me of the first time I heard that "chirp" in the wild...

Thursday, 10:21 AM - After a slow paddle a few miles up the Suwannee Middle Fork canoe trail from Billy’s Lake, the overhanging cypress and moss curtains pulled off a bit and the channel opened to blue sky. The waterway became filled with vibrant green lily pads and floating spatterdock “gater taters” tricked our eyes into thinking we were surrounded by alligators.

But soon enough, a juvenile gator caught my eye floating on a piece of rotting wood. Sitting up straight in my canoe, my eyes began to scan back and forth in the vegetation. Almost immediately I caught another glimpse of bright black and yellow stripes. An even smaller gator lay nearby. This was a true baby; probably a recent hatchling of less than 12 inches long. I pointed him out to my daughter who shared my excitement.
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Knowing there had to be more, we searched and to the right, about ten feet away, there were two more… then three… then ten! With joy we began pointing out each and counting. As we pulled in our bark and parked upon the lily pads, we found more than fifteen in various poses on the lily pads and grasses.