Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite. Psalm 147:5
Last summer I got to hike with a retired Brigadier General – no kidding. That’s not something that happens every day with me. In fact, it’s never happened before. As the song says, I’ve (usually!) got friends in low places.
On our hike we saw the above pictured bird walking through the brush. I was amazed that my point and shoot camera actually focused on the bird and not a twig thirty yards in front of or behind it.
I, being a wildlife biologist, thought it was a ptarmigan. The General, being, well, a general, thought it a spruce grouse. Neither of us were from the area where we were hiking, so that didn’t help much.
I looked up the bird up, figuring the red eye patch would tell us our answer. I found that both the ptarmigan and the spruce grouse can (but not always) have this mark, as they are close cousins. The best way to tell the difference, the articles said, is to look at their feet. The ptarmigan has feathers on its feet, the grouse does not (I’ve written about ptarmigan in a past post). As you can see from the above picture, there is no way to tell if this bird even has feet (it did).
Generals, being generals, are right a lot of the time. That’s one of the reasons they become generals. Biologists become biologists for who-knows-why. Most of the ones I’ve met like the outdoors and critters. I have no doubt the Good Lord helped me find employment, as it is a very competitive field in which to find a job.
I’ve met a few folks in my career, whether biologists or not, who act like they’re always right no matter what. Fortunately, neither the General nor I ascribe to such nonsense.
So… all I know is that we saw a cool-looking bird, and we truly enjoyed watching it before it disappeared into the brush. And I reckon it doesn’t matter what I call it anyway – God knows what it was.
He should. He made it.
And His is the only vote that counts anyway.
Have a great day.