Birds

On the Fence

September 14, 2012 by Walter 11 Comments


With an election coming up I thought I would present this collection of strictly non-political, indecisive birds, who are on the fence about a variety of issues. The Red-tailed Hawk above is on the fence about flying off, or staying for the rest of this post.


The Green Heron is a mysterious bird, on the fence about whether to reveal more of its nature, or return to skulk in the reeds as might be expected.


An Anna’s Hummingbird on the fence about showing the full glory of its gorget, or just giving us a flash with the corner, as any decent hummingbird would do for a stranger just met.


A Brewer’s Blackbird on the fence about being on a fence. This bird looks like it has places to go.


A Loggerhead Shrike on the fence about impaling and shredding its prey, or swallowing it whole.


An American Kestrel on the fence about eating its meal in such a high wind.


A Yellow-billed Magpie on the fence about its endemic status. Why not see the world and settle somewhere new? You can see its resentment building in this photo.


This Burrowing Owl is currently on the fence but it actually made up its mind a long time ago. It just doesn’t like being pre-judged.


These Burrowing Owls have taken over every other fence post in solidarity with the owl above. They are unified in masking their clearly established yet enigmatic intent.


This decisive Western Meadowlark has made up its mind and decided to act.

This is the end of my thoroughly non-political bird post. If you try to analyze the hidden meanings in each birds caption, you will drive yourself crazy as there is no hidden agenda. When it comes to mixing politics with birds, I am decidedly NOT on the fence. Let’s keep them as our refuge (unless political action is necessary for their preservation… I’ll leave it to you to seek out, define, and support bird friendly policies when needed).

It is migration season… I will have a post in 2 weeks about a beautiful part of banding hawks… the moment when we get to let them go. The joy of release photos, next time.

Written by Walter
Walter Kitundu is an artist and designer, instrument builder and bird photographer. As an artist he has created hand built record players powered by the wind and rain, fire and earthquakes, birds, light, and the force of ocean waves. Walter has performed and been in residence at art centers and science museums internationally. He has performed with the renowned Kronos Quartet, bassist Meshell Ndegeocello, the electronic music duo Matmos, and the legendary Marshall Allen - in venues from Carnegie Hall to a high school library in Egilstaadir, Iceland. In 2008 Walter became a MacArthur Fellow. Walter loves photographing birds and is an ongoing volunteer with the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory. He was hooked when a Red-tailed Hawk landed at his side, ate a caterpillar, then refused to leave. He is a Senior Design Developer for the Studio Gallery at the Exploratorium in San Francisco where he designs and builds environments for learning. You can see more of his work on his blog, Bird Light Wind.