FOR THE BIRDS
Heaven at 'Paradise'

Birding enthusiasts Nan Dietert and Lyndon Holcomb are reporting on local and area birding. To report a sighting, contact them at lyndonholcomb@yahoo. com.

It was "a day in heaven" at " Paradise" on Friday, April 18.

All the birders had been waiting for this day. Good timing on a cold front and a little rain put the birds down at the Joan and Scott Holt Paradise Pond in numbers that had binoculars and exclamations humming. What a remarkable day after a slow spring.

Paradise gave to us 22 species of warblers and 38 species overall of migrating song-birds or passerines. Our eyes devoured them. Our spirits, which had been thirsty for them, were now free to "drink them down" to our hearts' content. We could barely contain our enthusiastic cries and proclamations of the next unbelievably beautiful and unique bird.

"I believe, I believe, I believe, because not to believe is as of death." Henry Miller wrote those words; I read them in the 70's, and I've heard them ever since. I am reminded of them in times like these, when I run out of words to describe the unbelievable experience.

Talk about timing, and talk about unbelievable: There were two gentlemen at Paradise Pond on Friday who had timing and luck on their side. One was from England, the other from Wales, and they were birding the Texas coast. They had spent the night in Rockport and were traveling to Corpus Christi by way of Port Aransas when the fellow from Wales saw the Paradise Pond sign, stepped on the brakes and did a U-turn. He had read about a birding site in South Texas on the Internet; it was supposed to be a "must stop-must see," and it had been called Paradise Pond. Thank goodness the sign rang a bell; he'd not thought about it again until then. So into Paradise they came, and they "fell-in" to our first "fall-out" of the entire spring. They got many good birds and two "life birds." What a jewel of a birding site Paradise Pond is, and its reputation grows each year. It is truly a treasure for Port Aransas and an international treasure for birders. We hear languages spoken in Paradise from around the globe during the spring and fall migrations.

Speaking of "life birds," or "lifers" as they are called in the birding world, the cold front gave one to me. I have told you about "nemesis birds" -- birds that you just can't quite "get". You hear things like, "It was here only 10 minutes ago," or, "Just last week, you should have been here," but you cannot lay your eyes on them. Well, Blucher Park on Saturday, April 19, one day after the cold front, gave a "nemesis bird" to me --- the Swainson's warbler.

The "3 Musketeers" were together again, and we were on a collision course with a "lifer!" None of us "had this bird." Lyndon, his cousin Diane Nunley, and I were out in search of birds. Diane, who tackled both birding and photography at the same time (and is winning in both games), was trying to get a decent picture of the clay-colored robin when she looked down at her feet and exclaimed (with disbelief), "This ovenbird is so close I can't even focus on it."

If she had been able to focus on it, it would have knocked her socks off, 'cause it was not an ovenbird. The bird was a Swainson's warbler, and I had wanted to see one for six years! The bird nearly ran over our shoelaces, and what transfixed me was his dance. He had the "Dervish dance" from hell (can you say that?) - well, from Hades then. His whole body, starting at his feet, vibrated so quickly as he walked along, that it was just fascinating to watch; it was hypnotizing.

We watched him dance so long we had to start shifting our own weight from foot to foot. We watched him dance and turn over leaves and bark with beady-eyed determination. We watched him dance and eat a roach. We watched him dance and poke his bill into matted debris, then open wide in the manner of starlings and grackles. We watched him dance until we had to walk away from him. We walked away from him with memories to last a lifetime.