A sudden whoosh of wings.
A swarm of fluttering feathers.
As a close cluster of blackbirds
flies from a dark tree
into the gray sky.
In this organized chaos,
how do they not touch
their wingtips?
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
San Pedro River Riparian National Conservation Area
San Pedro House - Sierra Vista, Arizona
Sandhill Cranes,
hundreds per flock,
fix their wide wings
in a stalling descent,
a controlled falling to earth.
They're gliding into
Bosque del Apache
National Wildlife Refuge
in New Mexico.
Yodeling their calls,
ruffling and preening
their feathers.
These muttering multitudes
creating a cacophony of sound.
A popular place to overwinter
until their spring departure.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
In this forgotten cropfield
that once grew soybeans,
it's a day in late winter,
still below freezing,
with a trace of snow remaining.
Sandhill Cranes toss stems and leaves.
With the slightest wing thrust
they rise effortlessly
eight feet up, then settle down
like winter angels.
They dance and call
and flare their wings
and toss and dance
and wait for spring.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Location: Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan
a pair of Mute Swans
ornament the icy lake
wings of white satin
© 2024 Richard Havenga
Photo Location: Reeds Lake - East Grand Rapids, Michigan
You may also enjoy swans from another season:
"Autumn Watercolor" ~ Oct. 24, 2012
How could these Sandhill Cranes
ever realize the admiration
I have for their elegant grace
while flying through sky-blue sky
with their wingtips curved up,
feathering the golden air of autumn?
© 2023 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. & 2. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge - Arizona
Birds fly
with a dependable rhythm.
They trust
the thrust of their wings.
Have faith
in their fine feathers.
Move with
conviction and grace.
Know how to ride the wind,
sail the transparent air.
Beyond the sublime,
toward the divine.
© 2023 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. 2. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge
3. Home Sky - Kent County - Michigan
From my kayak, on calm water,
I watch the gray-blue
feathered sculpture
of a Great Blue Heron.
He stands on stick legs
in the soft shadows
of the smooth shallows,
as still as a dead branch.
Yellow eyes stare with intensity.
S-shaped neck ready to strike.
He leans slowly forward
with imperceptible movement.
But then a change of attitude:
He decides to leave the water;
lifting effortlessly on wide wings,
gaining altitude, legs dangling behind,
rowing through humid summer air.
Seeking new water, a new site,
to resume stealth stalking
on stick legs, with a supple neck,
to stand as still as a sculpture.
I continue to paddle
in the soft shadows
along smooth shallows
gliding through humid summer air.
© 2021 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. & 3. Rogue River ~ Rockford, Michigan
2. Eagle Lakes Park ~ Naples, Florida
