My World; Along the Neosho River

Saturday was too beautiful a day to stay at home, I packed some drinks, my binoculars and my camera and headed over to Neosho County to visit the waterfowl management area located there. The area sits on the broad, flat flood plain below the junction of Flat Rock Creek and the Neosho River, it is a man-made marsh that covers 3,246 acres. Ive been here in the past and seen thousands of ducks and many eagles. Today the pools that I could access were frozen from the recent cold spell, most of the flocks of ducks were off in the distance in the open water. I watched a male northern harrier glide over a flooded field of corn stalks searching for a meal. It was quiet midday and besides the hawk I had seen a pair of cardinals and a chickadee in all my walking. So I decided to head back down where the river skirts the area.
I hiked through the fallen leaves under the oaks, sycamores, and hackberries until I reached the banks of the river. I waited and listened. Almost instantly the trees were alive with Robins. I stood there quietly amazed at how many were here in flocks in almost every tree, on the ground and along the river bank feeding. I had seen the occasional robin lately but they have become rare at our place as most have moved on for the winter.
I stood smiling watching for a good twenty minutes and was treated to a few other sights, a Pileated woodpecker landed on a tree across the river and began methodically searching for food. Its is a beautiful bird. The woodpecker would hammer away slowly and then cock its head back in two or three angles to inspect the bark the way a someone who works in wood or paints works. A red headed woodpecker worked the other side of the river along with a flicker.
The robins stayed and fed and sang. Some landed in trees above me. I had come here today looking for ducks and eagles and instead found robins and woodpeckers and a sense of peace that's hard to describe.

I came across this quote by Thomas Merton yesterday and it sums up the day for me.

"When we are alone on a starlit night, when by chance we see the migrating birds in autumn descending on the junipers to rest and eat; when we see children in a moment when they are really children, when we know love in our hearts; or when, like the Japanese poet, Basho we hear an old frog land in a quiet pond with a solitary splash - at such times the awakening, the turning inside out of values, the newness, the emptiness and the purity of vision that make themselves evident, all these provide a glimpse of the cosmic dance." Thomas Merton

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