Early Morning Raptor: Falcon or Hawk?

An Early Morning Raptor

Just after first light, in light freezing rain, there were probably 20 or more goldfinches having a fine morning, and then in a blink, they were all gone. That’s when I saw their nemesis lurking. The light wasn’t good yet, so the image is a little dark.

As such, I can’t make a definitive judgment on this one. Is it a merlin falcon? Or is it a Sharp-Shinned Hawk? Sharp-Shinned hawks are year round residents here, and are well known to attack at bird feeders, so that is my best guess. The pattern on the breast seems to indicate that, too. The darker marking around the bill is what has me so uncertain. That trait is more common to the falcon than the hawk.

I checked KY Fish and Wildlife, and there was not a merlin falcon sighting listed in our county(but there were observations in surrounding counties), so I suspect this is the sharp-shinned hawk . It is really not the right time of the year for a merlin, either, so I’m about 99% sure this is a sharp-shinned hawk.

In any event, it didn’t get a goldfinch and after a few minutes flew on to other hunting ground.

©Baptist Parson, 2010. All rights reserved.

Confessions of a “Heortologist”

Heortology is the study of the Christian calendar. Since I was a boy, calendars were interesting objects to me. We used to get one that had words like “ember days” and “Epiphany” and so on printed on them, and in our Baptist church, I knew those were not days that we kept.

We didn’t mark any days other than Easter, Christmas and the Lord’s Day where I went to church. So, it was not until I was in Bible college and had access to the library there that I began to discover what all those dates meant that were printed on the free calendars we got from the little country store or from the drug store in the county seat town where I lived.

Then, I discovered that some Christians had elaborate systems of time keeping, with festivals scattered throughout the year. We Baptists still don’t observe all that much of the Christian year, and I reckon that’s just fine. Nothing in the Scriptures commands us to do so, but then again, the Scripture doesn’t say a person can’t, either. I think we have to leave these matters to the individual conscience and the Spirit’s guiding.

Today is February 2, known by many as “Groundhog Day.”  For many others the day known as “The Presentation of Christ in the Temple.”

Curious about what that means? Forty days after the birth of a Hebrew boy, the parents presented him in the Temple, and the mother was then purified according to the Law’s teachings. At this event, an offering was to be made. So, 40 days on from Christmas Day, the Presentation of Christ in the Temple has rolled around now.

The events of Luke 2:22-38 record the event, noting the encounter with Simeon and Anna.

The Roman Catholic Church calls Feb. 2 “Candlemas.” That is a day when candles that will be used in the coming year are blessed at the service. This actually shows one of the key differences between Roman Catholic theology and Protestant theology. We Protestants do not generally bless objects. In our reading and understanding of the New Testament, people are to be blessed, and set apart for God’s service, but the blessing of objects, buildings, and other material things more properly belongs to the Old Covenant, not the New. I know we sometimes pray for God to “bless our homes and churches,” but we are really speaking of the people there, not the structure itself.

There is actually a connection with Groundhog Day and Candlemas. According to legend, if the groundhog sees his shadow on Feb. 2, there will be six more weeks of winter. If he does not, then spring will come early. The seeing of the shadow was linked with the candle blessing, so some say.

I don’t think the groundhog is that influential, do you?

©Baptist Parson, 2010. All rights reserved.

Generosity and the People of God

For about a decade now, the church I serve has held “Souper Sundays” in January. Each of those weeks, members and friends bring in cans of soup that are then donated to a worthy charity. For the past several years, we have given the soup to the Sunrise Children’s Services, which is affiliated with the Kentucky Baptist Convention.

Sunrise Children’s Services “is a faith-based non-profit agency that cares for children and youth who have fallen victim to abuse or neglect,” according to their website. Sunrise has a residential center in Morehead, Kentucky, and they have been the recipients of the soup we collect for many years now. In fact, one of our young people, age seven, collected over $150 himself to purchase soup. His efforts were an inspiration to us all.

In Galatians 5:22, we read that one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit’s activity in our lives as believers is “kindness.” More particularly, generosity that is directed toward “orphans and widows in their affliction” (James 1:27) is especially commended to us as believers. The soup the church collected this year has the potential to help foster children throughout Kentucky who are cared for by Sunrise Children’s Services. I am very thankful and grateful for this outpouring of Christian love demonstrated by our congregation in the collection of all this soup.

As of January 31, we collected 1014 cans of soup.I find that remarkable.

©Baptist Parson, 2010. All rights reserved. This story originally appeared in the Flemingsburg Gazette. Used here by permission.

SOUP! SOUP! SOUP!

Soup Collection For January 2010 (Photo Credit: Dan Wesley)

The FBC Gang has astounded me yet again. We have collected 953 cans of soup for our local Sunrise Children’s Services home. That is fantastic for our small church. FBC, God bless you!

A Prayer of Thanksgiving:

MOST merciful Father, by Your gracious goodness You have heard the devout prayers of Your Church, and have put in in the heart of many to give to this special cause; We give You humble thanks for this Your special bounty; humbly asking You to continue thy loving-kindness unto us, to Your glory and our comfort; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Goodbye to Charmin (the Dog)

The last week of 2009 we said goodbye to our long time pet dog, Charmin. That’s a funny name for a dog, especially one that to most was not squeezable, but that’s what her owner picked, and so it was. Charmin was mostly Chow, mostly black, and yes, mostly had the (in)famous Chow temperament. We had her for nearly 14 years. You might say we all grew up together. As such, we knew what Charmin liked and what she didn’t like. Charmin’s favorite treat was a plain hamburger, and cup of water, no ice, from a fast food restaurant. She would always eat the patty first, then the buns, then drink. Every time, just that order.

Truth be told, she had eyes only for Lovely Wife. She tolerated me, and accepted me into her (very) small circle of human friends, but tail-wagging was reserved for L.W. (Lovely Wife). That was ok, because it was L. W. who picked her out of the litter, and took care of her. Charmin was the epitome of loyalty. She would have fought a pack of wolves “single-pawedly” if need be, to protect her owner.

I love to tell the story of how someone from the little village we once lived in said they saw Lovely Wife and me go through the bank drive-thru together. It was Charmin in the car, not me. L.W. didn’t bother to correct the person. I always knew it was time for a haircut when people made that mistake.

©Baptist Parson, 2010. All rights reserved. Adapted from an article originally published in the Flemingsburg Gazette and used here by permission.

Little Downy Woodpecker

Here is another woodpecker visitor to our birdfeeder for 2010. The Little Downy Woodpecker is a pretty common visitor to feeders. This is a female. They can be identified because they lack a small red streak on their heads, and have a white stripe down their backs. Subsequent views helped me confirm this. This was the best picture I could get of her.

Different People, Same Need

A Sunday or two ago, I was watching a seemingly endless procession of birds come to our feeder. Watching the birds helps me unwind; it may be a “nerdy” thing to do, but I won’t apologize for it. In one moment that day, in the tree or at the feeder, there were dark-eyed junco, cardinals, blue jays, eastern meadowlark, mourning doves, an eastern nuthatch, a red-bellied woodpecker, two titmice, goldfinch, and an English sparrow.

That was as varied as I have ever seen our yard be. Then I realized something. These birds are us in that we, too, are all different. Our perspective is different, the abilities we have to do our varied tasks are different, and the way we go about things is different. The doves eat what falls to the ground. The woodpecker drills away at the suet cakes. The finches prefer one type of seed, the titmice are very shy and take a seed and fly away to eat it in solitude. Every bird was a bird, but every bird’s approach was a little different.

Yet, they all had one thing in common: they all needed to eat. Despite their differences, the quest they were on was the same. Survival.

We are diverse parts of God’s diverse creation, and we all have slightly different views, slightly different approaches to life’s problems. And yet, despite our dissimilarity, we too, share a common need: the forgiveness of sin. God has sent one Savior for us all. Jesus Christ is just what we need.

©Baptist Parson, 2010. All rights reserved. Originally published in The Flemingsburg Gazette, used here by permission.

The Red-Bellied Woodpecker

Saturday the red-bellied woodpecker that I could not photograph in time on Friday was back. This time, we got lots of good pictures. Here are a couple. You might be saying to yourself, “that bird has a red head, not a red belly.” Well, the red-headed woodpecker is different looking. Here is a link to what it looks like.

Sunday afternoon between church services, I counted 10 different species in or under the tree where our biggest feeder is at one time. There was an eastern nuthatch, blue jay, cardinal, goldfinch, meadowlark, titmouse, red-bellied woodpecker, dark-eyed junco, English sparrow, and mourning dove. That was an astounding sight.

©Baptist Parson, 2010. All rights reserved.

A Crow, A Junco, A Winter Day

This crow ate a quantity of mineral block, then flew to the yard and promptly announced its arrival. All the other birds pretty much left after the crow arrived, as you can see from the meadowlark’s departure in this photo. Noisy bullies tend not to draw a crowd, I guess.

The junco is a pretty little bird. This is a “dark-eyed junco.” The contrasts of dark gray to white are interesting. There were two here at late afternoon, the first of 2010 that we’ve seen.

©Baptist Parson, 2010. All rights reserved.

Writing…studying…snow…birds…more snow…more writing…more birds…

I spent most of the day on Thursday writing out my lessons for an upcoming Bible study on Psalm 119. I’m excited about this study, and I’ve been able to tap into some truly classic expositions from writers and theologians such as Augustine of Hippo, John Calvin, Charles Spurgeon. I’m waiting on a classic commentary by Charles Bridges to arrive in the mail. Banner of Truth republished it several years ago. I have also been trying to find an affordable copy of the Puritan expositor Thomas Manton’s three volume study of the Psalm, but haven’t turned anything up so far. I plan to take the church through all 22 stanzas of the Longest Psalm, so it should be about a 23 week long study (we did an introductory session this past Wednesday).

From my perch in front of the computer, with my ESV Study Bible, stack of books and notebook before me, I also had full view to the outside, keeping an eye on the snow as it fell. The large window looked out onto our bird feeders, and it seemed that the worse the weather got, the more birds came in. The birds had a hey day. I had to take a few breaks to get some photos.

In this photo, three species are present–goldfinch, cardinal, and meadowlark.

There is a titmouse in this shot, looking right into the direction of the lens.

In this photo, there is a male goldfinch (upper right) and a house finch (center).

However, I wasn’t able to get a photo of the most interesting visitor. We had a red-bellied woodpecker come in for a short duration. It was a good sized male, but I just couldn’t get the camera out quick enough.

If that species’ appearance is unfamiliar to you, you can see one here. I have been trying to coax them to come closer to the house, as we have lots of them in a lower field drilling away at some black walnut trees. From what I have read, I do not have the correct feeding set up for their tastes. They prefer suet cakes high in a tree, something I need to try.

©Baptist Parson, 2010. All rights reserved.