I’ve heard it said that dreaming is the mind’s way of making sense of things it can’t figure out in more linear ways, so it weaves vivid and surreal movies that you get to watch and sometimes star in. But they are cloaked in mystery, like private screenings you step into blindfolded, and then can’t remember where it took place.
I often dream of flying. I don’t know why, but when I can recall them, I am soaring high above the world and slipping through the clouds, feeling the sun and wind move over my face like a child’s fingers.
Lately I began to wonder if my fascination with birds is somehow linked to my dreams. Birds get to fly in the light. I can only do it in the dark.
I’ve been doing this semi-regular series I call “Favorite Birds” where I pull images from recent outings and group them together. I have so many of them it’s crazy. I never set out to become “the bird guy” but I find so many in my wanderings and they never cease to captivate and amaze me, I mean…they can FLY.
When younger I also used to dream of flying, yet for me I suppose it was less flying and more semi-controlled floating or perhaps just long jumping. But there was always something chasing me and that’s why I was floating. I’d suck in air and that would help lift me up a bit, just out of reach of whatever was below, but then I’d start slowly falling and I’d have to suck in more breath to gain a little altitude again. I don’t think I’ve dreamt of flying in some time but I also love photographing birds, though I haven’t done nearly as much of that lately as I used to. Of your photos here I think my favorite is Birds of a Feather. The positioning of those 3 egrets is just fantastic, and with that nice golden background. Beautiful work!
Thank you, I love that picture. Snowy Egrets are one of those birds I have photographed so many times I typically just walk right by them unless there is some interesting behavior going on, or they are in a unique setting. That morning was really cold (for California anyway), about 34 degrees, and every available branch had at least one Heron or Egret perched on it, fluffed up to insulate themselves. I saw these 3 characters sharing a branch and worked my way into a position where I could line them up. In most of the shots they were facing the same direction, and it was good, but then one of them reversed and I knew that was the picture!
Ahoy there matey! I come from Matey Tammy’s blog and have always loved yer wildlife photos. Glad I get to see more of them. Of this batch, I think the tail feathers lit up is me favorite. Also thank ye kindly for telling what kind of birds these are. I love that.
x The Captain
Arrrrrrrrrrr, thank ye Captain!
The parrot 🦜 is my favorite😁
Yes…parrots have a huge fan base 🙂
wow, thanks for the generous sharing of your fabulous pictures!
I found you because I follow Tammy’s book blog, and she bragged (rightly so!) about you.
I love birding and I take pictures. I haven’t really shared them online so far, though for the second year in a row, I have made a year calendar with my best pics of the year – that I just give to a few friends.
I used to dream of flying too. The funny part was that to fly I would make the gestures you usually do to swim, even though I can’t swim! But flying was so easy (in my dreams, lol).
Keep up the great work.
Thanks Emma! I love photographing wildlife of all kinds, but the birds really seem to resonate with people. Plus, I am ALWAYS finding lots of them so it seems like a natural progression.