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Title
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Scottsbluff Narratives, 1936_030
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Alternative Title
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1936 Scottsbluff Narratives
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Date
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1936
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Creator
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Frank Shoemaker
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Description
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Frank Shoemaker - Sandhills Narratives
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Identifier
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321301
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Transcription
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3 obviously nesting, as they always appeared in pairs; they would hover over me, and say things, then fly ahead a hundred yards, and alight, near each other. Always, in alighting, these birds poise the upthrust wings for a moment, before folding them at their sides; the birds stand over a foot high, and this little alighting ceremony is a beautiful thing to see. - I can not describe the notes which they uttered; but it should be recorded that the thrilling "cur- lew " call was never uttered; instead, the notes were shrill and squeaky. Avocets were also numerous, in pairs; black and white and chestnut, standing over a foot high, they are impressive birds - with their long bills curving slightly upward instead of downward. I did not keep a careful check; but I feel safe in saying that the number of pairs of birds observed would be about as follows: of Bartramian sandpipers, 3 (actual count); of curlew and avocet, certainly not less than 15 pairs of each. Darkness coming on, the curlews and avocets - and of course the always-present and always noisy killdeer plovers - sensed my presence - probably by my visibility against the sky from their lower placements. They came much closer - still in pairs - than in daytime, sometimes hovering only a few feet above me. I dearly love long walks in the night. One's most basic senses, it seems to me, are vision and feeling; touch. When darkness falls, vision - the most informative sense - is no longer available to inform the wayfarer, except in the most sketchy and disturbing way - most of the messages conveyed to the brain being wrong. - The black mass by the road-side . . . gee gosh! has someone been murdered? There is a most convincing torso . . . and that horrific white face!But it turns out to be a mass of ragweed, carried by the latest spate of rain; and the white face is a pulpy shred of some daily, tossed from an auto to become the plaything of the winds. - Again,
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Rights
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To inquire about usage, please contact Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries. These images are for educational use only. Not all images are available for publication.
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Is Version Of
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frank_h_shoemaker_321301-03778.jpg
