17

Juliet’s snared you, little one, perhaps startled you into our nets…

interrupted your song or nest-building to carry you away for a moment…

our temporary prisoner, an object of study.

Tom wants only to fit you with a tiny numbered bracelet…

and to blow gentle kisses among the feathers of your breast…

to measure the distance of your wings and the length of longing in your journey…

to hold you up for a portrait; your bright eye looking to the sky for escape…

to release you, your bit of fire no longer contained; his open palm and our thanks for this moment in your life.

Sandy Hook Bird Observatory and CUNY-CSI are partnering in a banding study of spring/fall migrants, as well as breeding birds, at Sandy Hook. They put out a call for volunteers to help with recording data and running birds from the nets to the banders. Between schedules and poor weather, today was the first chance I had to help out and so I spent the dawn hours today with them, mostly trying to stay out of the way and taking pics.

#17 in my 38 by 39. Time is running short…

9 thoughts on “17”

  1. I just re-read your list. It’s great and reminds me it’s time to review my ‘bucket list.’ One of my dreams is something like combining #8 and #31. Keep us posted on your progress!

  2. I remember that list … whew …

    Yeah .. we’ll all anxiously await the report.

    I have been maple sugaring quite awhile ago … it’s an image and memory that never leaves. The teeny drips, the endless boiling, the meagre results … but that liquid gold was worth all the effort. Quite a lesson.

  3. On the list–it will be interesting to see how many you achieved. I think I agree with Nina–just assembling the list counts for a great deal.

  4. #20 – Let me know if you’d like company. It’s on my list too (although 39 has past me by …)

    #23 – LOL!

    #27 – My grandma, her sister Marion, and my pseudo aunt Julia played every Saturday afternoon at my house when I growing up. Alas, they’re all gone now. They used to argue like crazy.

    #32 – Sadly, there is no such map. I’ve been searching. The best you can do is the USGS quads or google earth and figure it out yourself.

    Maybe I’ll put that on my list, develop a Pinelands map. And i’ll mark all the best flower spots!

  5. Wonderful banding shots! Our son has been captured by the bird fever and wants to expand his studies into ornithology. We are thrilled.

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