The shoe/figure from the previous post wasn’t the only piece I made that day. Here’s another in my Styro-bird series I call the “Orange-collared Thickbill”. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that somewhere among the world’s 10,000 plus bird species is an actual bird called this! All the elements came from this day’s walk. The blue bill is the nose cone of a bottle rocket. The eyes come from sycamore seeds. I wanted to create another image with the willow fluff before the expected rains wash it away.
I’m seeing fewer actual bird species now and feel we are settling into our summer time mode. Cedar waxwings are still around…taking advantage of a bumper crop of mulberries. The resident Eastern Kingbirds are back flycatching from their willow posts. Orioles still flash through the treetops as they pursue their own kind relentlessly. Closer to the ground, I came across a small flock of American Goldfinches. Their bright yellow bodies, black wings, and orange bills add a color note to the muted tones of sand and gravel. I remember seeing once, a small flock of about twenty goldfinches their numbers doubled by their reflections in the shallow water they were bathing in…now that was beautiful!
Last shot is of one of these amazing willow trees that survive being immersed and battered by the river’s currents. It’s like walking through this habitat of giant bonsai trees.
From a previous post…you know I’m into birds and since this is migration season, I’m at the Falls of the Ohio as often as I can get a few hours to get away. I do keep a list of what I see in this park based on their official checklist that includes 268 recorded species. I’m almost half way there! I suppose I would have to live at the park year round to not miss any opportunities as long as the birds were willing to cooperate. The birds, however, have their own time-honored agendas and I try to be present in their moments. This season is shaping up to be a late one and I haven’t seen nearly the number of species I saw last year, but there is still time. The last two days have brought some surprises which I was able to get a few snapshots to share with you. Here are two new species for me at the Falls of the Ohio State Park.
Working at the Falls of the Ohio is a reflective experience and thinking about the construct of “time” pops into my head a lot. To reinforce matters even more, less than a mile from my “studio” is this giant clock ticking away in a grand, but conventional manner. I once read that the largest clock face in the world was at another Colgate Palmolive plant in Jersey City, New Jersey, but it was demolished in 1988. Our clock, the one in Jeffersonville, IN, I believe is now the biggest. At night it glows red. The building was once a prison before the toothpaste factory relocated here. Recently, it was sold to another interest and we aren’t quite sure what’s going to happen with certainty, but it is everybody’s wish that the clock remain. From downtown Louisville, you can tell time by looking across the Ohio River. 
Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog 