Day 325 - a year in Forest Park
- photography & writing by Edward Crim
Day 325 - a year in Forest Park
- photography & writing by Edward Crim
Thoughts on birds
Walking across the Cricket field I happened to see this American Kestrel fly up and land on one of the goal posts. I did what photographers usually do and started snapping photos (in the digital age we tend to snap a few too many). Circling around to get a better view, I saw a second kestrel on the other post (I also noticed that as I moved, so did the near bird, keeping his back toward me - maybe he’s got a police record).
Most of the birds that I’ve seen in the park have been here before this year; the kingfishers, goldfinches, redheaded woodpeckers, kestrels and others that I saw today, I had never noticed before. My exploration of the park has paid off handsomely in teaching me to see what’s around me. There are still things that I miss, or fail to recognize, but fewer than before Forest Park 365.
It was a good walk, starting at the west end of the park, by the Cascades, circling north around the golf course, east along Lindell to the playground by the visitors center (I was the only kid there, which is safer - the last time I took photos there some mothers were trying to stare holes in me), and then over to the new Council Circle. I found Chris Ferree, one of the nature reserve technicians, there, tidying up after the contractors who put the site together. It looks as if it will be a popular spot come the warmer weather - and maybe midnight during full moons.
I crossed the Lafayette bridge, walked through the tall grasses in the woods there, back towards the Muny and the Nathan Frank bandstand, crossing the footbridge next to the Boathouse and then along Lagoon drive to my point of origin. It was a glorious day.
Friday, November 20, 2009