Thinks happen: Number 54 - The Horned Lark

Number fifty-four. The Horned Lark.

It was during the recent ice storm that destroyed thousands of trees in this area. I thought this bird was another sparrow at first. Then I noticed the yellow collar. The photograph doesn’t show much of it.

I had my pocket camera handy. I got this grainy shot, between the slats of a Venetian blind, through a window.

Note the iced twigs on the ground. Coated with pounds of ice, they simply broke away from the trees and fell. One larger branch, ice-covered to the diameter of a soft drink can, speared through our house roof, piercing the shingles and the wood decking.

Our back garden opens onto a sparsely populated countryside. From this window at the rear of the house we have now spotted fifty-four different bird species.

Oklahoma is home or temporary home to almost 500 species of birds. We have seen ten percent of them in our own back yard.

Of course, included in the Oklahoma total are many aquatic birds which we might never see in our garden. We do have an owl living in our neighborhood but we have not spotted him yet.

The ice storm was a terrible thing. Conditions have to be just right. Ground temperatures have to be at freezing for a couple days and then a rain has to fall from upper levels that are NOT freezing. It is not hail or sleet which would simply pile up on the ground where it landed; it is rain that freezes on what ever it hits. Then, the longer it rains, the worse it gets. It rained all day and into the night.