Life is like that first step outdoors in the morning
In one of the most famous movie lines of all time Forrest Gump’s mother told him, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” I am beginning to think that also applies to the first step outdoors in the morning. The day before yesterday, January 1, 2021, to be exact, I saw the first Pine Marten I’ve ever seen over almost 50 years in Alaska. There’s more today; to begin with there was no temperature. Zero, nil. I heard a flutter off to my right and turned in time to see a female Pine Grosbeak clinging to the feeder for dear life, wings flapping as she tried to maintain her hold. Soon enough she flew off into a nearby tree.
I quickly blamed myself for her failed effort. I had seen a male the day before and knowing they have a tough time on the narrow perches the feeder affords them, I fully intended to throw a handful of seeds onto the nearby snow so they could feed especially in this cold.
After quickly taking care of my own business, I filled a cup with seeds and dumped it over the edge of the deck into the snow. Not too long after that I saw both of them picking through those seeds. I watched for a few minutes, but the cold was getting the better of me so I went inside and left them to it.
A few minutes later I had to go back out for a couple of sticks of firewood. I chanced to look up and there framed by branches, sat the male in a nearby tree, his feathers all puffed up against the cold. My presence didn’t seem to bother him so I went for the camera and this picture is the result. One of the best I’ve ever made of a Pine Grosbeak. It was like “thanks for the breakfast, I’ll pose for you now.” You just never know what you’re going to get. (And no, I will not use “gonna,” not now, not ever.)
As an afterthought; with this kind of a start, maybe this 2021 is going to be all right.
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