Complete Metamorphosis

Monarch Butterfly

Here's probably one of the best magic tricks in nature. Okay, we're going to take a plump caterpillar, let it melt in it's own skin, and have it come out as a beautiful butterfly!... I guess I need to explain it.
Butterflies, as well as moths, flies, bees, wasps, ants, and beetles go through this process called complete metamorphosis. This is where the larvae look completely different then their parents and go through a pupa stage to transform into their adult form. Let's take the example of the butterfly. After the caterpillar hatches from it's egg, it becomes an eating machine consuming it's own body weight in plant material each day... That's like me eating 580 quarter pounders each day! Anyway, as it matures into it's final stage during it's life as a caterpillar, it begins to find a good place to hold itself to a leaf or stem and throws it's skin over it's body. This form's a chrysalis (in the other insects, it'll be a pupae). Now, here's where it gets crazy. The caterpillar melts, yes melts, inside of the chrysalis into a soup. Then, all of the parts of the adult butterfly begin to form and assemble together, and after all the tissues, organs, wings, legs are in place, the end result is a butterfly. That's quite the magic trick right?
As a christian, we've all gone through a complete metamorphosis, but we don't turn into a soup during the process. You could have a past that is just downright ugly or a heart just heavy from events in your life. However, once you allow Jesus to enter your heart, He will transform you. You old heart just melts down and turns into something beautiful, and you change completely. Like a caterpillar, you transform from the inside out. Who would've thought you could learn something from an insect.

Verse of the day: "But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:31

A Bird's Funeral

A little ceremony for a Common Yellowthroat

I talked about being a volunteer for a bird collision organization in my previous post, but I did forget to answer one question: How can I relate that to my christian walk?

There was one verse that stuck to me on one of my readings. "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father" Matthew 10:29 (ESV). During the age of the Roman Empire when this was written, a sparrow was pretty much worthless in the eyes of a human being. However, the second part of this verse says that our huge and powerful God cares about His creation so much that He even has time to attend the funeral of a songbird. I think this is pretty cool! So if He cares for such a small event such as the death of a sparrow, think about how much He cares about you! Yes you, the reader of this blog! Think about that for a while.
Anyway, during those mornings when I collect the bird casualties that died from a window collision or rescuing the ones recovering at the base of a building, I know that I am right there with my Father paying my respects for a victim or feeling the heartbeat of a bird alive in my hand.
It's a short post, but I think it gets the point across.

The Bittersweet Mornings of a Bird Collision Monitor

Blackpoll Warbler

Imagine yourself as that Blackpoll Warbler pictured to the left. You were born and raised in the treeline (where forest meets tundra) of northern Canada. No civilization around you for miles, and you enjoyed your days of basically learning about being a Blackpoll Warbler (I'm guessing that's a first year bird in that picture, as the adults do acquire this nonbreeding plumage too). The days grow shorter and you begin to feel this instinct to fly south. Luckily, you have this built-in GPS system in your mind, which is great because this is your first time on this journey and you have no idea where you're going. Knowing about your long journey, you fatten yourself up, doubling your body weight with insects. Now that you're fuel gauge is on full, you wait until the sun dips below the horizon to begin your migration. On your way south, you read the stars, the timing of sunrise and sunset, and even follow the magnetic field of the earth with your innate compass to know that you are going the right direction. In fact, your fuel supply of fat allows you to fly as much as 300 miles in a single night! You feel good about yourself, until one night you come across a foreign landscape. It's looks like the starry sky above you laden with lights, but there are towers everywhere. Lights are reflecting in every direction, and you soon become disoriented. You try to escape and see a tree to land in... but it was only a reflection off a window, and before you know it, you're on the ground with the worst headache ever. But, you were lucky enough to be alive.

Window collisions are the #1 killer of migrating birds in the United States. Millions of birds lose their lives trying to navigate through cities. However, there are many who manage to survive a collision, but they are then vulnerable to many dangers. Hungry gulls and crows, even rats, take the opportunity of an injured bird for an easy meal. Cars, bikes, and people might crush them, vacuums and street sweepers will suck them up, and they can get trapped in doors and alleys. There is hope for these travelers, and this is where I come in the picture.

Wood Thrush

I get up early, usually two hours before sunrise so that I have enough time to get to Chicago before hungry gulls and crows wake up. I'm equipped with a net and a backpack containing paper bags, paper clips, Ziploc bags, a sharpie, tissues, a flashlight, and gloves to wear for a bat or bird of prey. If I come across a live bird, I try to sneak up on it so it doesn't fly away. Many birds just recover from a bang in the head and are not injured, so I have to chase them down until I pin them against a building with the net. Others are still dizzy and I can easily grab them. I then take out a bag and record the date, time, the address of the building, what side of the building I found the bird, my initials, and the bird species. I then place the bird in the paper bag with either a tissue or napkin on the bottom so it can grip to something, and close the top with a paper clip. If I come across a dead bird, I record the same info and put the body in a Ziploc bag. All this information is recorded to help buildings to become more bird friendly, while the dead birds are used at the Field Museum for research. Because of all this, Chicago was the first city to start out a "Light's Out" program in which some buildings turn off their lights during the spring and fall to help birds safely navigate the city. Collisions have decreased since this program was started. This past weekend of September 25-26th, 2010, I rescued 25 birds, 21 of which were on Sunday. These included a Wood Thrush, Virginia Rail, Eastern Wood-pewee, Lincoln's Sparrow, Blackpoll Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Red-breasted Nuthatch, 3 Golden-crowned Kinglets, and many White-throated Sparrows and Brown Creepers. I also had roughly the same number of dead birds too. It has been my busiest weekend of bird collision monitoring so far.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

So why do I do this? Well, back to you being that Blackpoll Warbler. You would now be able to head to the Atlantic coast to refuel for another crazy journey ahead of you that only Blackpoll Warblers do. Get this, you'll have to go on a 48 hour nonstop flight from New Jersey to South America... that's a bird that weighs 25 grams flying 3,000 miles over the ocean for 2 days! Holy crap that's amazing! A total of 5,000 miles for a bird that fits in the palm of your hand, and that's only a one way flight... Once spring comes, that bird has to come back ( I don't think I even put 10,000 miles on my jeep in a year). The Wood Thrush and the Wood-pewee have to fly 18 hours over the Gulf of Mexico to the tropics. And the other birds are heading to the southern United States for their vacation. I rescued them so that they may be able to complete these amazing journeys. I wish them the best of luck on their long journey, and I hope to see them again. Only this time, I want to see them singing their hearts out in the trees and not at a base of a building.

Verse of the day: "Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" Matthew 6:26 (ESV)

Brown Creeper

White-throated Sparrow

Lincoln's Sparrow

Dead Northern Flicker

The Prodigal Son

Sunrise in the mountains of North Carolina

On Saturday night, I went to Greg Laurie's Chicago Harvest crusade in, well, Chicago. It was a great night of worship and just hearing about the Gospel all over to reassure my faith in Christ! He also shared my favorite parable (story) that Jesus told: The Prodigal Son.
For those of you what are not familiar with Luke 15: 11-32, it's about a father with two sons. He divides his estate to both of his sons. The younger one runs off with his share and goes onto the party life. Gambles, spends his money on fancy items, gets drunk, sleeps with prostitutes, does drugs, and the rest of the whole shebang. Meanwhile, the other son helps his father at home. A drought strikes the land and the younger son has absolutely nothing to get him through it. He decides to go home, but he feels so ashamed about the life that he chose to live because he knew that would offend greatly. How will he react to me? What do I tell him? Will he still love me?... When he gets home, his father runs out to him, and before the son can say he's sorry, His father gives him a hug and kisses him and was so happy that he came home and threw him a big dinner party.
So, what was the meaning of this? We are the prodigal sons (or daughters for women). Our sinful nature has made us run way from God for a "better" life in the eyes of the world. Yet, we are scared to come back to God and admit to our wrong doings because many of us feel that He will punish us. Folks, God loves us! In fact, He loves us so much that He sent His Son to pay the ultimate price and die for the sins of all mankind! So why would He punish you? He wants you to come back to Him, and He will embrace you with open arms when you come back home!
Listen, there was a time in my life where I was a prodigal son. I was growing in my faith during my latter years of high school, but when I went to college, that all changed. I was in the party situation my freshman year and I screwed up bad. February came when I was at a huge low point in life because I did stupid things, and I thought that I ruined my whole christian hike forever... Guess what, God knows we will screw up in life. So I repented my sins that I did and I asked Him to fill my life again! Well, to put in my terms, a tree will break and fall over during a bad storm. However, it reacts to the disaster by shooting up sprouts that grow even faster then it's previous growth. I had a bad storm hit my tree, but it resprouted quickly once it saw the light again.
Let's be honest, we've all screw up at a point in out lives right? We all are tempted to the "party" life and think it's way better for us. In the end of all that, we still feel empty and realize who've we hurt: Our Father. But remember, he's waiting for us with open arms and a great feast! I came home, and I'll never regret that. Have you come home yet?

If you ever want to come home, I'll be more then happy to give you directions.

The Autumn Equinox

Sugar Maple in fall color

Thursday was the official beginning of autumn! It is a time when nature prepares for the long and depending where you live, cold winter ahead. About 3/4 of the birds in North America migrate south to climates that have their needed food sources, and many of them travel hundreds of miles to get to their destination. If you're a birder like me, fall is one of the best times to see lots of bird species as they take a breather in a local park or backyard, fattening up on insects, fruit, and seeds to build up their fat reserves for their long journey ahead.
For insects, they try to live out their final days. Many adults die at the first frost, but some will produce an antifreeze in their body and will hibernate for the winter. Bees, wasps, ants, some butterflies, and other insect species apply this trick in their lives. Most insects are in the form of eggs. Adults lay their final brood so that the nymphs and larvae will hatch in the spring when food is abundant. Some, like many butterflies and moths, go into a pupa stage during the winter. When spring arrives, they will arrive as adults into the world.
Many plants put on a spectacular show in autumn. Cooling air chemically reacts with chlorophyll in the leaves of deciduous trees, and this accounts for their array of colors in the fall. Dropping your leaves is a way to reduce water loss in the winter time, which is hard for broad thin leaves. Plants also produce an abundance of fruit in the fall. Once the seeds are spread, they will remain dormant in the soil until the warmth of spring triggers them to grow.
For us, well, this is when we go outside to enjoy all of the fall events happening! Whether it's fall colors, apple cider, corn mazes (or a corn "maize"), pumpkin patches, fall migration of birds, hunting, football... whatever makes you happy, go out and enjoy it! But please, don't stay curled up on the couch all day because it's only here for a limited time only. Otherwise, you''ll have to wait until next year!
Verse of the day:
"So that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the Lord has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it." Isaiah 41:20

Imagine

Snowy Egret

I've been on this earth for 20 years now, and there's one thing I never get tired of: Nature's beauty. Whether it's the eternal flute-like song of a Hermit Thrush echoing through the mountains, carpets of wildflowers on the forest floor in May, a massive thunderstorm that cries with crackling thunder, or something as humble as delicate moss on a rock, they are all truly pieces of beautiful artwork made by an amazing designer. However, what I have realized is that creation isn't at it's full potential. It is under a curse.
At a church service a couple weeks ago, the pastor really explained a verse that I read about last year. "For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now" Romans 8:22 (ESV). When sin entered the world, all of creation was cursed and not just human beings. The world is in the pains of childbirth, and all plants, animals, rocks, clouds, whatever God made is groaning and awaiting the return of the King.
So, what does this have to do with what I said in the beginning? Well, many of us can agree that the nature around us is beautiful, but can you imagine how vibrant the colors of birds would be in heaven? Or massive trees in autumn leaves? A meadow blushing with wildflowers? Even all of the insects? Or the songs of birds? I'm not saying that they are going to heaven because they don't have souls to save them, but God is preparing a place for His children heaven as we speak, and I'm sure He will have His artwork. It would be His creation before the fall. I can't even describe or imagine how beautiful the woods will be when I birdwatch with Jesus in the best place ever! So next time you see that bird singing on a branch, think about that same bird after Christ has returned to earth, and how awesome it's song will be praising it's Creator forever.

A Servant for Christ

Silver-spotted Skipper

For the past week, I've been reading through the Book of James and trying to get the deeper meaning from it. James was very confusing when I first read it because it seems like he was contradicting many of the teachings that Paul wrote earlier. One verse that caught my eye was James 2: 14-16, " What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says " Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." (ESV). When I first saw this, it confused me because it contradicts what Paul says in Ephesians 2: 8-9 ( For by grace you have been saved through faith... not as a result of works). However, this is a different kind of works that is a result of Jesus entering your heart. Once a Christian, you  have this feeling of wanting to do works for God's glory and not works to save your soul (because those works, no matter how many you do in you life, will never get you to heaven. Only the free gift of Jesus will allow you to see Him one day).
Being a servant for Christ doesn't have to be extreme as in doing missions work overseas. Something giving back to the community or volunteering is great too! Me, I try to give up time to hang out with new freshman within my campus community or help them by providing rides to church or Wal-mart. At home, I try to go to a PADS program at a local church to set up beds and hand out food to the homeless. I also volunteer to help God's creation through restoring native ecosystems with Citizens for Conservation or helping injured migrating birds with Chicago Bird Collision Monitors. Some of my Christian friends up here in Platteville go to the senior home to hang with and love seniors who don't have family anymore or their family doesn't see them anymore. My mom volunteers at a thrift store in Naperville once a week. What we all have in common is that we give up our time in our busy lives to humble ourselves and serve our Savior! Not for our own prideful self to make us look good to the world.  I do these things so that people may see God in my soul. Matthew 5: 16 says it perfectly, " In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your goods works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

If you are wondering, I do take the pictures that I put up on my blog

My First Pelagic Trip

Black-footed Albatross

I need to tell people about this because it was amazing! Even though I'm talking about it a month later (oops better late than never). If you didn't hear about it from me already, I went to Washington state on my final weekend of summer, and my main focus was my first pelagic trip! Now, some of you are thinking "What is that?" For a birder, a pelagic trip is a rare opportunity to find seabirds that spend most of their lives traveling the open ocean in search of food. They know to follow boats and ships because the refuse and discarded bait and/or catch is an easy meal for such a lone traveler, and this allowed for some close ups of amazing birds! Not to mention the whales, sea lions, and other marine life that you may see. Now I can write a whole novel on my trip if I wanted to, but I wouldn't want to bore y'all, so I'll try to simplify it as best as I can.

Pink-footed Shearwater

I was at the boat at 5am before the sun rose, and the seas were rough on the way out with good 10 foot waves. This shallow water area was a haven for hundreds of Common Murres and Pigeon Guillemots (relatives of puffins), Sooty Shearwaters, Heermann's Gulls, and Brown Pelicans. We also passed huge Oceanic Sunfish (google it!) sunning themselves on the surface before diving into the depths to feast on jellyfish. We then started to get into deep water species, the real oceanic birds, about 15 miles out into the Pacific. Pink-footed Shearwaters began to outnumber the Sooties, and Northern Fulmars were more abundant then the gulls following the boat. We even saw several Flesh-footed Shearwaters which were a rare treat for all of us on the boat. Shearwaters and Fulmars belong to a family of birds called Tubenoses. Their nostrils make a funnel at the base of the bill and helps them smell out a potential meal from miles away, a nifty adaptation for life in the open sea (this is a rare gift because most birds lack a sense of smell). Then I saw my personal favorite of the trip, the Black-footed Albatrosses! Large seabirds with a wingspan up to 9 feet, they are an endangered species that breed on the islands of Hawaii and spend years out in the ocean. There were many long distance travelers from opposite ends of the earth. The Shearwaters breed in New Zealand and other islands of the southern oceans, and the Fulmars probably bred on islands off western Canada and Alaska. Other long distant travelers I saw were South Polar Skuas spending their Antarctic winter in our summer while Sabines Gulls, Arctic Terns, Long-tailed and Pomarine Jagears, and Red-necked Phalaropes flying south to avoid our winter. And my Father made them to navigate thousands of miles of ocean... just amazes me! There were also pods of Pacific White-sided and Right Whale-dolphins that followed our boat, and to see them out in the wild and behind a tank at SeaWorld was awesome! We reached our point 35 miles out at sea to chum for birds. Here, small Fork-tailed Storm Petrels darted around like swallows (they're roughly the same size too). On the way back, we encountered several Humpback Whales. They were truly behemoths! One of them breached for all of us, and the sight of a giant animal lifting it's body out of the water and crashing back into the waves made my adrenaline run! We finally were back in port where I was greeted by pelicans, gulls, and cormorants. It was truly an experience I will never forget!

Humpback Whale

I'm sure I'll tell you more details in person, but if you ever want to see marine life and amazing seabirds, book a pelagic trip, and don't be afraid of seasickness (hint: move with the boat not against it). I guarantee you'd never regret it!

Verse of the day: " But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way; and the LORD laid on him the iniquity of it all." Isaiah 53: 5-6 (ESV)

More of my pics

Northern Fulmar (dark morph)

Pigeon Guillemots 

Right Whale-dolphins

Northern Fulmar (light morph)

Black-footed Albatross

Sabine's Gull

The Greatest Path I Will Ever Hike

In case you didn't know, the title of my blog was a line from Robert Frost's famous poem "The Road Not Taken." He writes on how he comes across a fork in the road with one being the main route and the other, well, less traveled by. He takes the latter and finds out that he never regrets taking that path. Though I may be taking this out of context, I see this as my life.

For a while now, I've been on the main route called the world. The world was a comfortable route because everyone took it and I could fit in easily if I just followed the desires of the world. I then came across a fork like this some years back. The old, overgrown route was different though because it had a voice to it that intrigued me. It was God calling me. Sure, I accepted Christ as my Savior and thought I was set for being in the main route of the world, but God knew that I liked old, unbeaten paths. I mean that's where you find the rare birds, wildflowers, and insects right? He also knew that I hate main roads too, and that I forcing myself to be driving with the world even though I hated it. The world wanted me to be what a guy "should" be. Someone who played sports and video games, pumped iron for hours, hold his own weight in alcohol for no reason, listen to the hottest and latest music, ride on skateboards, played guitar, have witty remarks through flirting, surely if you fit one of these requirements you'll get what a guy really needs, the girls!... The world also said "Guys shouldn't be planting pretty wildflowers in a garden, watching worthless small songbirds through binoculars, or raising caterpillars into lame butterflies, no one will want to hang out with you, girls will think you're lame and will never date you, you'll just be made fun of and be lonely for the rest of your life!" Wow, no wonder I hated roads. Yet, I struggled at that fork I encountered. I wanted to be popular in the eyes of the world, but I also wanted to be who God created me to be. I just wanted to be loved and accepted, but by who? I was reminded again that God loved me so much that He sent His Son to die for my sins, and that He loved me like a father loves his child. He also showed me the words of Jeremiah 29: 11-15 (look it up!) and they sounded more beautiful then a Hermit Thrush on a spring morning. It was then, around my junior year of high school, that I decided to get out of the car, put on a sturdy pair of hiking boots, and go on a hike with God giving me the direction the entire journey!

We all drive by an overgrown path sometimes, and we are scared to take it because we feel comfortable on the main road of the world. But I will tell you that on this hike, God has shown me amazing things! Trilliums, warblers, dogwoods, and tortiseshells... the real ones and metaphors. However, as any hike goes, it is not easy sometimes. Getting tired through changing elevations, sore feet, and encountering bears made the hike challenging. There were times where I fell into temptation to run off the path back to the main road of the world. Yet, God still gave me another shot at the trail again, and I was able to achieve over tough hiking conditions with another try. He still guides me, and like a struggling young tree on the forest floor, I need that guidance of His light to grow.

On that note, this blog is about what I encounter on my "Christian hike." whether it be something I want to show you about nature, something I learned in scripture, or just some daily thoughts that come to my mind. So, if you passed by that overgrown trail, go back to it and please, don't be afraid to take it and if you did, then you know how awesome this unbeaten path is. I close this with the words of Robert Frost, " I took the one less traveled by, and it has made all the difference."