| Anna Gawrys lives in Pruszków, a small town on the outskirts of Warsaw in central Poland. Anna works as a freelance artist and is interested in book and magazine illustration, designing greeting cards, and various other forms of graphic design. She enjoys working in a variety of techniques, including pen and ink, watercolour and tempera, and a whole range of mixed and collage techniques. Anna says, "Although my cartoons come in different techniques and slightly different styles, some being more overtly humorous than others, I believe they all have a touch of a shared kind of 'warm humour'." Anna has graciously permitted Indian Nations Audubon Society to publish her cartoons on our website. Thank you Anna! Anna has two websites: Anna's Cartoons Homepage Anna's Photography Page |
| Indian Nations Audubon Society Eastern Oklahoma Muskogee, Tahlequah, Wagoner Fort Gibson & Tenkiller Lakes |
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| Birding Tales |
| "Well Folks, I Did It!" by Bill Clark Well, folks, I did it! I went birding - something I never dreamed, I, as a naturally testosterone-filled, macho kind of guy, thought I would ever do. But I did and I had a really good time! It was a cold and windy and overcast day, and I finally found the dam after going forever on a very winding and scenic Rt. 80 from Hulbert on down. Even found Norwood - a hopping place if I ever saw one. Found the group looking out towards the water below the dam - they are not hard to spot in a crowd, I would believe. Even found the notorious cafe. Went in just for a doughnut or roll - actually was craving one - and the nice lady in the totally empty cafe only could offer me coffee which I politely declined. So, nothing there, back into the cold and windy outdoors for a fun experience. We saw a pelican, a red-tailed hawk far away (really like the scope one person brought - the really knowledgeable person whose name I forget), sea gulls, and two types of vultures that he showed us the difference about. Quite interesting. Then off to Flower Creek where we parked about a mile down the road. On the side of the road next to the river, we really did not see any birds much. I saw even fewer. The way this thing went is someone would say something like "look, a bleep bleep thrush" and we all would look in that direction. While everyone else was saying something like "oh, isn't it neat and beautiful", I realized I was seeing just leaves and underbrush. And when I would finally get my binoculars up and adjusted, all I saw was bigger leaves and underbrush. But all in all, great fun was had by all. So a smaller group of us finally made it across the road to the Flower Creek path into the woods. One thing I discovered with birders is that they move VERY slowly along a path. Heaven help the progress if a chirp is heard anywhere! But onward we trodded (is that a real word?). After a long ways and several more sightings by the others in the group (more leaves and thistles for me - some quite lovely), I decided I had had enough of the cold and wind and overcast and chirps, so politely excused myself and went back. Actually, that is not quite true. At the last place we stopped before I left, we did see a Hermit Thrush, and that was pretty cool. They immediately knew what it was and what a find it was. I immediately knew it was a bird of some kind. I am learning! Actually, all of this led up to what made this a very, very special outing for me. I was walking back to my car and was thinking "my, we really did walk quite a distance" which was a surprise to me because we stopped so often, and first I saw a Ruby-crowned Kinglet (I described the bird to Dave Dyer, and this is what he thinks it was). Well, to me, this is a very rare bird and quite exciting that I saw it where no bird existed when we first passed by that place (at least none I could see - just leaves and underbrush). Then I decided to go to the river bank and look across at the island or other shore for the eagle nests. And that is when it happened! A large, beautiful, most amazing Bald Eagle came up the river and glided slowly past me up the river. I was mesmerized. It had the perfectly white head and tail and black body. Never seen such a beautiful bird other than in pictures. So that really, really made my trip. And now you have it. Don't you want to go birding at the earliest possible time? Bill (Editor's Epilogue): The above is Bill Clark's account of the beginner's bird walk at Flower Creek, below Fort Gibson dam, in October 2006. Indian Nations Audubon Society conducts these beginner's bird walks in spring and autumn at beautiful Flower Creek valley. As these walks are scheduled, they will be posted on the Activities web page. Bill has subsequently gone on several Audubon outings, been seen in the company of other INAS members, purchased a Peterson's field guide and new binoculars, and recently been diagnosed as a "birder". |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
| Hermit Thrush |
| Bald Eagle |
| American White Pelican |
| Cartoon by Anna Gawrys (see bio & more cartoons below!) |
| Anna Gawrys |
| "Away, away, from men and towns, To the wild wood and the downs -- To the silent wilderness, Where the soul need not repress Its music." Percy Bysshe Shelley |