Resolute

I really don't have any New Year's resolutions, at least none that I can't change at will. That's the nature of the human animal, that we can resolve to change our behavior: to do what we have not done before, or to cease in long established habits, by dint of conscious intent. In this we differ from most other species, with their stereotyped behavior. Sometimes I think it would be an easier life, simply to be driven by instinct, but we must endure the luxury of possibility.

For the birdwatcher, to resolve means to bring into focus, or rather, to distinguish; to actually understand that which we have focused upon. Every Year my resolution is the same: to resolve what I can out of the strange and indistinct scenes that interweave across the panorama of this World. As much as I can discern I will put here, in my Arboretum.
When possible, I’ll get a photo.



You can see the strange dark crescent shape in the center of the view, but it requires another level of knowing to resolve it into a Black-crowned Night Heron.


So I’m promising to do it all over again.
Maybe I’ll try to cast my eye a little wider, get to some new places, but the format remains.
Another Year.
To face it is the habitual decision; whether it’s instinct or resolution, I’m not sure, but in this I am resolute.