The Unthinkable

     Just over a week ago, all of the hard work from the past few months of raising seedlings would come to fruition.  Trays of plants would now be transferred to their permanent homes.  Excited for this time of year, I loaded up tray after tray into the back of a car.  With the seats folded down we managed about 15 trays of plants.  With no time to waste we jumped in the car and headed for the country.  When we arrived we started to unload the car."Oh NO", I repeated several times. "What have I done"?  I must have said it enough times for my wife to seriously think I was confessing a past murder. "What is it", she asked? I told her I had done the unthinkable. "I left my camera and binoculars at home". "Oh, that's it", she responded. I don't think the look I gave even phased her. I think every photographer on the planet would relate that there is no greater mistake than not packing these necessities during the busiest bird migration week of the year.  I must've said 50 times before the evening was out, "how stupid of me"!  I just said to my wife, " I guess I'll just have to capture the memories and not the images".  Then I remembered the old pair of binoculars sitting on the table.  They were a pair not even worthy of being stolen when we had a home break-in.  One eye focal was blurry and the other was like looking through a foggy shower door.  In other words, they were just one step above garbage.  I did make use of them to some degree, but after a staring through these multiple times throughout the few days, it gave me the impression that my eyesight was seriously failing me.  Not having my camera was even worse.  Some wonderful mental shots will never be captured to image.  These are the times when many things tend to happen.  One male Ruby throat sat right beside us in the Bluebird Clematis for a long time, while other first time birds made an appearance, but with no evidence to prove.
     I must say that it did force me to enjoy the moments rather than just trying to capture them.  Would I ever try this experiment on myself again and leave my equipment at home, just to soak up the incredible memories? Not a chance on this planet.  As much as I enjoyed the moments, it's just something I'll never repeat again. 
     So here's the only shot from this last Saturday, June 1st, 2019. N.E. of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. This male is easy to spot when it enters the yard. He flies with his tail flared out. I don't know if it's a medical condition or from fear growing up. They usually flare out the tail for the purpose of intimidation or out of fear, but this one flies everywhere with it flared. It also affects the speed it travels. It's almost like flying around with a windsock attached to it. He is an adult male Ruby-throat. 

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