Photo and Commentary ©2023 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
It shouldn’t have been that hard; but it was. At least that’s the way I felt about trying to identify this young bird found in the grasslands of Mid-America. The factors limiting my identification: I was birding in an area that was relatively unfamiliar to me; its portrait did not appear in the bird book I was using; there were a number of possible candidates which all might qualify as possibilities. It should have been easy; but it wasn’t.
So, how did I determine this was an immature Horned Lark? Easy, I asked an expert, someone who was more familiar with the species than I; someone who had birded that part of the country more thoroughly and knew what to expect. When the answer was given, all the pieces came together: the behavior of the bird was consistent with that of an adult; its morphology (structure of the body) fell right into place; and the bird’s location and timing fit as well. Strange, isn’t it, when we know the answer, how easy it is to see why it’s correct.
Perhaps that’s why Jeremiah had such confidence that he knew how things would work out, because he already knew Someone who had all the experience, all the right answers, and that’s why he could write: “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.” (Jeremiah 17:7 NIV) That of course doesn’t mean we shouldn’t use our bird book; it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep looking to find the right answers; but it does mean that when we really want to know, we know Someone we can go to with confident assurance.