NORTH HEAD LIGHTHOUSE - ILLWACO, WA.

**As we have tried to do for forty-four years, Betty and I did a "get-away" for our anniversary. This time our honeymoon was blended with a writers conference in Ocean Park, Washington, where a select group of authors have gathered to polish their craft and share encouragement in the tough world of writing and publishing. As a first timer to this event, Betty held her own and was much appreciated by the group.

**Thanks to the generosity of friends, we had the use of a small house as a base of activities. We spent some of our Thursday becoming oriented to the narrow Long Beach pennisula which begins near the mouth of the Columbia River and stretches north for some fifteen miles or more ending in a bird refuge just above historic Oysterville. It is indeed a lovely coastal string of communities and geographic features, including the fascinating cranberry fields where your juice and berries may have been grown.

**Our goal of a relaxing holiday included several traditional favorites: good clam chowder - twice, scenic drives on both sides of the penninsula from end to end, leisurely visits to several antique emporiums, a stroll along the line of shops in the little fishing town of Illwaco, ice cream, salt-water taffy (and licorice too), bookstores, and for me at least, a stroll through Washington State's oldest store, an enormous, wood-floored, hardware/grocery with the philosophy that a successful peddler needs a well stocked wagon. Maybe best of all was being able to purchase oysters harvested at dawn, a dozen in the shell and a quart newly shucked, to bring home as a perfect finish for the weekend.

**The conference dinner and keynote session Saturday night became our anniversary meal and entertainment this year, and while it was a bit unusual for us to eat with others, they were quite appreciative of our attendance, even serenading us with congratulations. Sunday morning we joined a small, family oriented house church group for worship, and among the few assembled there, found a couple I first knew twenty years ago when their daughter was in my English class at Columbia Christian High School.

**It's always a joy to vacation with one's best friend and favorite companion, sharing precious moments, reminiscing, searching for treats, and finding ways to please one another. Getting away always has benefits, but doing so to celebrate and recommit to our marriage and mutual caregiving makes our annual weekend special to both of us. Thanks also to those of you who offered notes and calls and kind words on this occasion. That thoughtfulness was precious to us and added a nice touch to the whole holiday.

**While we visited the lighthouse just before heading home, it occurred to me that it would be nice to remain at the coast enjoying the leisure with my lady. It's time to wake up the camper so we can find another opportunity to "get-away" together soon.

PS Thanks, Betty, for a wonderful time.

A RUSH OF THRUSH

**We are beginning to see a new batch of birds as winter wanes and spring begins to arrive. That's fun, but I still haven't documented all of the winter set, and these bright jewels will be gone soon.

**Like this guy: The Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius).

**Several thrush have been around daily at our feeders all winter. Bright orange, robin sized, gregarious, and mostly tolerant of other birds, these happy fellas offers a welcome splash of color, especially on the dark or snowy days. Mostly ground feeders like robins, only rarely has one tried to get at the suet in the hanging feeder. But as soon as a flicker or other large bird dislodges suet crumbs from the cage, the thrush are quick to gather the harvest. At such opportunities I have seen as many as ten of them at once, all dashing about, hopping happily, and joining the scramble for the tidbits.

**As soon as spring warmth comes our batch will head north the Canada or more hopefully, on to Alaska for the summer. Maybe they will get to enjoy banks of the Yukon near the town of Eagle for us this year.

EXERCISING OUR FAITH

Family and friends know that today is the end of an era for me and understand why my heart is heavy. Moving on often requires leaving precious things behind.

Still, every milestone is a measure of motion; every threshhold presents new opportunity; every new beginning promises a chance to renew, improve, grow, or achieve.

Clearly not all change is progress. (Just because we can do something doesn't mean we should. Restraint and moderation are both stabilizing factors in life.) So it is important to recognize the outcomes and impact change has upon our lives. When things don't work out, we sometimes need to redo what failed. When we fall short of our dreams, we may need to renew our efforts. Sometimes it becomes necessary to reset our goals and redirect our energies. New focus and new priorities are required.

For several important reasons, Betty and I have found this to be an opportune time to concentrate on looking forward - to "cast a new vision". This too requires change, but we hope to be prudent and timely about our future.

It will be a little bit like our grandaughter Katie's confident explanation when she mastered the monkey bars: "Trust Jesus, reach out, and don't look down!"

We appreciate your prayers and support.

MY MOURNING DOVE

***Here is another edition of the "bird-blog" series on Millstones. First of all, some perspective on these posts. It is mid-winter, and although many birds are coming to the feeders and water, the weather has been lousy and not suitable for success in taking bird pictures. Currently I'm trying to capture "my largest woodpecker" and although the flickers are here every day, they are extra shy and I've not got a good shot yet. So my option is to skip the whole thing for a while or pull some pictures out the archives. I'll try the latter a time or two and see how it goes.

***As a kid growing up in Southern California, there were dozens of birds around in everyday life. The most common were the mockingbirds and the mourning doves and it was a rare day at home or anywhere in the countryside to not be within sight and sound of one or both kinds. When we came to live in southwest Washington State, over a thousand miles north of San Diego County, I was rather surprised to notice doves at my neighbor's feeder and up on his exterior TV antenna. That's as close as they came for most of a decade - until I started feeding my flocks with black-oil sunflower seeds. Having most of a park-like five acres out the dining-room window helped too, because the mourning dove here is even more shy than my flickers.

***The adult Mourning Dove (Zenaida Macoura) is 12" long from crown to tail tip. The call is a soft, haunting, but unmistakable" Whoo-AHH-coo-coo-coo" that seems to come echo-like from several directions at once. I love the sound. My doves, and I had six or eight until late autumn, would alight on the lawn some thirty feet from the house and begin slowly zig-zagging as they approach the area of the feeders which hang each side of the window. If several were working together, most would hang back while the "scouts" checked out the house, other birds and whether seed was available. Sometimes a couple would perch in a nearby pine as lookouts. Gradually over a period of as much as ten minutes, a bold individual would finally arrive below the window and under the feeders where finch and other sloppy birds had spilled plenty of seeds to the ground. Since the Juncoes work that area diligently, most of the ground there is covered with half-shells.

***For months any movement dectected through the window would send the doves darting away with a soft whirring, whistling sound, and it could be hours before they would return. The doves, in fact, seem to be able to see through the glass better than any other bird, and even a walk-by inside would spook them. Finally, after several failed attempts, I got this shot by opening the window in advance, wrapping the drape around me, pre-pointing the camera and being very still until the dove arrived below, I captured the image shown sometime last season. Neat, Huh?

***Since the doves have come, I'm starting to see the occasional pigeon from a neighborhood flock, and I am having a winter plague of starlings now. Those bird types are so large and aggressive that smaller and far more desirable friends are quickly intimidated. Still, here it is in mid-winter and this week - rain, wind, rain snow mix, and snow pellets and all - I have seen at least one dove twice. I have no clue whether most doves migrate, but one cold buddy is still in the area. I threw an extra handful of seeds out the window just for him. I hope he got his share.

MY "LITTLEST" WOODPECKER

***A few posts ago I introduced you to my "front door" woodpecker (Sphyrapicus ruber) and mentioned in passing this little fella. I confessed I am still trying to make a firm identification. Is this fella a Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides Villosus) or is he a Downey Woodpecker (Picoides Pubescens)? The choice is clearly between the two types; the problem is their similarity.

***Both are identical in pattern with the neck and body checked and spotted with black and white markings. The far western coastal Downey Woodpeckers usually have a greyer, almost smoky breast and underwing coloring which may distinguish them from the Rockies (interior) strain, but not necessarily from all the Hairy Woodpeckers. Other factors refer to dark spots or patches on the collar of the neck which are larger in the Hairy and not streaked in the Downey.

Both are said to have white patches on the back, but both tend to hunch their shoulders when perched clinging to a trunk, branch, or wire-cage feeder, and this can conceal the white because the dark wings are somewhat forced together over the back. Other "comparative" features - being larger in one or smaller in the other or places where there is more white on one bird than on the other - require both birds to be simutaneously in view to make comparison possible.

***For example, when the tail is open, the Downey may show additional white spots on the outer feathers, but like other characteristics of the two birds, these distinctives may vary with region and localized varities (races). However, the main problem with this particular feature is the speed at which the bird explodes into flight and the rapid rate at which it can dart away making it virtually impossible to see these marks, if they exist at all.

***The best bet seems to be the bill, if you can get close enough to catch a glimpse. "Hairy's" is larger and more tapered than "Downey's", and the latter has more of a feathery tuft on the top of the bill under the eyes than does the former. In this case, birding books give the viewer an advantage by showing what to look for and pictures to examine after an impression has been registered in the mind's eye.

***Well, here is a easy characteristic anyone can master immediately. Whether Downey or Hairy, one sign is rock-solid-certain in this bird: only the male has the distinctive red patch which is displayed so jauntily at the back of the head. Clearly, this is the man of the family because the year-old, juvenile male only has a bit of red on the forehead and then only in mid-summer, and the lady woodpeckers in these two families have no red at all - neither boot, hat, nor handbag.

***So what do I think so far? Hmmmm. I have vascillated back and forth, but lately I have been leaning pretty far in favor of the --- (fanfare: Ta-ta-ta-ta) --- Downey Woodpecker. At least the overall size, the apparently shorter bill, the tiny neck-ring patch, and a single instant of tail at take-off hinting at the requisite spots... Yeah, more likely a Downey, but my buddy in any case as he now allows me to walk up slowly to within about six feet and like his brother out front, he likes me to talk softly to him as I approach. But maybe it's just because the other birds cautiously retreat a bit and he gets the suet all to himself for a few precious moments.

PS Thanks to a couple of you who seem to like this "bird series". Your remarks are appreciated.