Thursday Morning Walk - Koinonia

During the birding retreat a week or so ago we had gone in search of the Clay colored sparrow without much success. Today I found her. Not immediately of course. I had to do a little looking. First I went through the meadow where the swallows live.





They are accompanied by chipping sparrows...



...and even a few bluebirds



There were some new warblers to be seen:

A myrtle warbler for example



I saw a magnolia warbler too and a redstart, but wasn't fast enough to catch them on flash. The clay colored Sparrow looked a little dowdy after all those other birds, but it was what I had come to see, so was happy to hear its raspy voice and see it flitting around wildly.



I saw this goldfinch....



and also managed to get this blurry image of a golden crowned kinglet.



I had also seen wood ducks a red shouldered hawk and some dusky white eye-ringed bush bird. Of course this isn't a bird at all, but if you look carefully you can see one of those pretty striped garter snakes.



This is a white throated sparrow.



And here is one more view where you can see the stripes on the head.



It was a morning well-spent - now it is time to get to work writing!

The Birders of Koinonia

I was pretty tired when I was uploading photos this weekend, so I thought I would add some thoughts about Koinonia and the birding experience there.



Koinonia is a retreat area founded by the Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church. It is an asylum out in the wilds of rural Minnesota between Minneapolis and Saint Cloud. A sanctuary in the woods, it has a wildlife preserve of around 100 acres and is a wonderfully hospitable resting place for those in need of spiritual and emotional nourishment. You can find more information about it here .

(By the way, for anyone interested, my blog entry for last years birding weekend can be found here. and here. ).

In looking back at those blogs, I am amazed at how much farther along Spring was last year. Thank goodness I have a better camera now and can get closer to the birds!!)

I have been to Koinonia several times for writing retreats and have always returned home content and invigorated. The time alone in the peacefulness of nature where one has space to think and return to mindfulness is one of the most fulfilling experiences that I know, but this is only a small part of the experience.

Another important aspect for me has been the people. Last year when I was at the retreat center working on a monstrous report for work, I encountered the Birders of HAUMC. They are a socially concerned, compassionate and caring group of people - and they are also a whole lot of fun.

I quickly deserted work on my report to go out traipsing in the woods with this fascinating, bubbly and extremely welcoming group of people. As I have gotten to know them I have discovered that their concern for the environment, for the homeless in their area and the well being of individuals in general is inspirational.

Here in no particular order are pictures of some of the people I have met at the Birding weekend. I am so sad that some of the people I have spent the most time conversing with were not well represented in my photos. Karen and Barbara, Kelly and Lee, Harlan, Kevin, Bob, Tom, Verda and everyone else (I can not remember everyone's names nor spell them), but you have left such important influences on me. I'm sorry I don't have pictures of everyone (at least not good ones) but here is a hint of a few of the people I got to meet this weekend.



This glowing woman is 93 years old and the author of at least three books including a novel she started in her 80s! What an inspiration - perhaps there is still time for me to finish that novel after all! Check out her novel Phoenix which involves the Chicago Fire of 1871 (The author's name is Vera Wright Aegerter).



Here are Kevin and Bob Janssen. Kevin has been instrumental in setting up the birding weekends and keeping things running smoothly. I only know Bob's name because he is a noted and notable author on the birds of Minnesota. He is one of several experts we have been fortunate enough to have along for the experience.



The meals by the way are amazing and the company exquisite - Tom (another expert birder) and Kelly having a serious discussion about birds? I wonder what he is saying?



Hmmm, maybe not....



Doesn't this look like a determined group of birders? (They ARE serious - it was cold and an ungodly hour in the morning. Okay, I'm sure they feel that it was a very godly hour and that there are no ungodly hours - but it was really, really early (for me anyway!)



Thank you everyone for your kindness, congeniality, inclusiveness and stimulation. Still, I have to end with the birds. These amazing creatures help us get out of our tiny little selves and open to the wonders of what is around us.

Here is one more shot of a white throated sparrow.



This phoebe lives near the retreat center and keeps a close eye on the goings-on.



And this is one of the most amazing little animals I have ever seen. Tiny, full of energy and curiosity. We could all learn a lot from the Ruby Crowned Kinglet:





Bye little friends and big friends - I can't wait to see you again soon.

Sunday Birding at Koinonia

Saturday evening we went out to see if we could catch a few more birds in the meadow. We saw a gold finch up in the top of an spruce tree here.



My camera really doesn't have the lens for these far away birds, but at least you can get a sense of how beautiful the finch was against the darkness of the foliage.



This is the honeysuckle that is in full bloom all around the area.



The woods yielded many opportunities for photographs. This is some more of the honeysuckle.



I thought I should also get a few shots of some of the birders who welcomed me into their ranks.





They are a really fun group of people.



There were all these caterpillars crossing the road as we came back from the Saturday evening walk.



After dinner we were entertained by a nature photographer who explained his methods and pictures at length.

The next day, I could not resist joining the Methodist birders for just one more look. We went out early in the morning (about 6:30 AM) but unfortunately the temperature had dropped drastically and the wind was fierce, so the birds were reluctant to come out and show themselves to us.



This is a redstart that let us look at him or her for a very long time, but of course I still did not get a very good picture.





Bob Janssen got out the big scope so we could take a look at a tern close up. It was such a wonderful experience!!

Bird Walk at Koinonia

This morning I took a walk just before the sun had come up fully. These are some iris in front of the main building. I had hoped to see some birds and had taken my binoculars, but despite hearing many birds, I did not see a single one. Little did I know that I would have another chance - and a chance to see birds with the experts.



There are two other groups here at Koinonia with us - one is a group of Unitarians and another is a group of Methodists who had come to do some birding. They were being lead by Bob Janssen, who has written many of the most important birding books for the state of Minnesota! We were accompanied by a woman who introduced us to the local plants - so for me it was pure heaven!

Here are some of the sights we were fortunate enough to see. This is a wild gooseberry that we saw early in our walk.



This is Basswood a common tree for our area.



The yellow highlighting on this maple fascinated me.



Bob Janssen stands in front of a blooming pitcher plant.



This is the back of the retreat center.



Here is a closer shot of the pitcher plant.



This phoebe was sitting on the wren houses in the back yard of the Koinonia retreat center.



We were all curious about this tiny little white flower that turned out to be a Grove Sandwort.





This is the loon we saw at the end: