Tag Archives: Saskatchewan

Bufflehead Ducks’ Dependable Migration Timing

by

2

BUFFLEHEAD DUCKS’ DEPENDABLE MIGRATION TIMING

Dr. James J. S. Johnson

Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.  (Proverbs 22:29)

BUFFLEHEAD IN FLIGHT
Sacramento Audubon Society / Ray Rozema photo credit

When I think of Bufflehead ducks (Bucephala albeola), I am reminded of the authoritative advice (“words of the wise”) of Proverbs 22:29, regarding reputations for dependable “diligence”.  Why?

BUFFLEHEADS in migration
Jonathan Maher Kresge / Chesapeake bay Foundation photo credit

The first time that this author observed a Bufflehead, in the wild, was on March 11th of A.D.1996, while visiting the Texas Gulf Coast’s Aransas Bay (which is protected as Aransas Bay National Wildlife Refuge), as part of ornithological research (eventually) leading to a doctoral degree in creation science (applied to wildlife ecology). [See “Bufflehead Duck, One of Diverse Divers at Aransas Bay” (posted at https://leesbird.com/2018/01/26/bufflehead-duck-one-of-diverse-divers-at-aransas-bay/ .]

ARANSAS BAY MAP
Aransas County in TEXAS ALMANAC image credit

What conspicuously beautiful ducks those Buffleheads were (and are)!

BUFFLEHEAD DUCK in flight
Bill Bouton photo credit

Consider the reputation that the Bufflehead duck has, for dependability punctuality, as was recently observed by Alonso Abugattas, the Chesapeake Bay area’s “Capital Naturalist”:

The bufflehead is nothing if not punctual.  Few other ducks are known to arrive in our neighborhood every winter within a few delays of the date they arrived the previous year.  The smallest of North America’s diving ducks, the bufflehead … [can] nest in the tree cavities of woodpeckers, most commonly northern flickers, according to Canadian zoologist Gilles Gauthier. . . . .

After forming their pair bonds over the winter, the birds head back to their breeding grounds in early April and early May, migrating at night. They’re among the last ducks to leave their winter territory.  The greatest concentration of breeding grounds, according to abundance maps maintained by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, are in northwestern Canada, in a wide swath crossing through Saskatchewan, Alberta and Northwest Territory… petering out in Alaska. . . .

Buffleheads start leaving [their breeding grounds] for the wintering grounds in October, settling mostly across [the U.S.A.’s Lower 48] but sometimes going as far [south] as Central America.

[Quoting CHESAPEAKE BAY JOURNAL, 34(8): 39 (November 2024).]

BUFFLEHEAD RANGE MAP
(Cephas / BirdLife Internat’l / Wikipedia image credit)

So much for the Bufflehead’s predictable-because-dependable migration movements. 

Yet is there a lesson for us humans, as we consider the Bufflehead’s phenological reliability?  Yes, there is – especially if we look at the details of Proverbs 22:29.

BUFFLEHEADS in wetland habitat
Robert Mortensen / BirdingIsFun.com composite photo credit

Of course, it is good to earn a reputation for dependable punctuality. In fact, that is similar to having a reputation for quickly fulfilling one’s responsibility — as opposed to having a reputation for dilatory procrastination.  Some folks can be expected to do sloppy work – who needs that kind of “help”?

Yet other folks are famous for delivering extremely careful (almost perfectionist) work, but only in an all-too-often impractically slow response time, so slow that the perfectionist work is of diminished practical value (because the need for timely results was compromised and disappointed).

How is all that relevant to understanding Proverbs 22:29?  That proverb is translated into English as follows:

Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.  (Proverbs 22:29)

In that sentence the phrase “man diligent” is a translation of ’îš mâhîr, with ’îš being a generic word for “man”—but what does the Hebrew word mâhîr (translated as “diligent” in the KJV) mean?

Consider that the masculine singular adjective mâhîr is translated by several English words in our English Bible.  For example, mâhîr is translated “ready” in Ezra 7:6 and also in Psalm 45:1 (which is Psalm 45:2 in Hebrew verse numbering]). Also, mâhîr is translated “hasting” in Isaiah 16:5.  But there is more to consider, because Hebrew adjectives are routinely related in meaning to similarly spelled nouns, verbs, and/or adverbs. 

Therefore, to better understand what the Hebrew adjective mâhîr means, in Proverbs 22:29, consider also the following (non-exhaustive) listing of illustrative (etymologically related) verbs and adverbs:

ROOT VERB mâhar

“hasten”, “haste”, “make haste”, etc. (Genesis 18:6-7 & 19:22 & 24:18,20,46 & 41:32 & 43:30 & 45:9,13; Exodus 34:8; Joshua 4:10 & 8:14,19; Judges 9:48 & 13:10; 1st Samuel 9:12 & 17:48 & 23:27 & 25:18,23,34,42 & 28:24; 1st Kings 20:41 & 22:9;  2nd Kings 9:13; 2nd Chronicles 24:5; Esther 5:5 & 6:10; Psalm 16:4; Proverbs 1:16 & 7:23; Isaiah 49:17 & 51:14 & 59:7)

“make ready quickly” (Genesis 18:6)

“make speed” (2nd Samuel 15:14)

“fetch quickly” (2nd Chronicles 18:8)

RELATED MASCULINE ADVERB mahêr

“quickly” (Exodus 32:8; Deuteronomy 9:3,12[twice],16 & 26:20; Joshua 2:5; Judges 2:17,23)

“speedily” (Psalm 69:17 [69:81 in Hebrew verse numbering] & 79:8 & 102:2 [102:3 in Hebrew verse numbering]; 143:7)

“hastily” (Judges 2:23; Proverbs 25:8)

“suddenly” (Deuteronomy 7:4)

RELATED FEMININE ADVERB mehêrâh

“quickly” (Numbers 16:46 [17:11 in Hebrew verse numbering]; Deuteronomy 11:17; Joshua 8:19 & 10:6 & 23:16; 2nd Samuel 17:16,18,21; 2nd Kings 1:11; Ecclesiastes 4:12)

“hastily” (Judges 9:54)

“speedily” (Psalm 31:2 [31:3 in Hebrew verse numbering]; Ecclesiastes 8:11; Isaiah 58:8)

“swiftly” (Psalm 147:15)

[See generally George V. Wigram’s ENGLISHMAN’S HEBREW CONCORDANCE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT (Hendrickson’s 2001 reprint of the 1874 London-published 3rd edition), page 669.]

The listing above is incomplete—but the pattern is already clear—the adjective mâhîr denotes the trait of being speedy, swift, quick!  

RAPIDLY RUNNING A RACE!
Scottish Gov’t / Parent Club photo credit

In other words, a person who consistently and dependably does his or her work fastly is appreciated—and (eventually) will “stand before kings” (i.e., not be limited to serving before low-ranking individuals).

So, just as the phenological punctuality of the returning-from-winter Bufflehead duck is dependably predictable (as is also the migratory return of Israel’s faithful stork—see www.icr.org/article/lesson-from-stork — which is noted in Jeremiah 8:7), a truly diligent human will be prompt (i.e., give quick turnaround) in his or her work responsibilities. 

Careful work is appreciated, yes, but only if it is contextually timely. Promptness is really appreciated! 

><> JJSJ  profjjsj@aol.com  😊

BUFFLEHEADS in flight
Ducks Unlimited photo credit

Merlin, the Squealing-Laughter Falcon of Saskatchewan

by

4

Merlin, the Squealing-Laughter Falcon of Saskatchewan

Dr. James J. S. Johnson

MERLIN perching   (Animalia-life.club photo credit)

These things be of (the) fowls which ye shall not eat, and shall be eschewed of you (and shall be shunned by you); an eagle, and a gripe [i.e., gryphon], [and] an aliet [or “merlyon”, as in some early Wycliffite Bible copies of the late AD1380s]…      (Leviticus 11:13)   

Merlin chasing Blue Jay   (Wikipedia/John Harrison photo credit)

Saskatchewan (an interior province of Canada) is mostly a grassland, prairies (dominated by agriculture) with occasional hills and trees, here and there punctuated by lakes, ponds, and rivers – a wonderful habitat for birds — such as falcons.  

Earlier this month (August 2-7th AD2024), by God’s grace, my wife and I attended a Christian family camp in Saskatchewan (near Fort Qu’Appelle), and the most memorable bird that I observed (on the 6th of August, AD2024), there, was a Merlin (Falco columbarius), a resident falcon also known as the Pigeon Hawk, who was circuitously flying near the lakeshore; it eventually landed upon a shoreline tree’s branch, conveniently perching there for me to see it, almost as if it was politely and patiently posing for me (as I compared its shape and plumage to my Saskatchewan bird chart). 

MERLINS portrayed in the wild   (public domain image)

The merlin’s squeaking laughter-like call, which I heard on multiple days at that family camp property in Saskatchewan, reminded me of seagull laughter, although the Merlin’s calls seemed more repetitive – a staccato laughter — almost like rhythmic squealing. 

The fancy scientific name for the Merlin is Falco columbarius, meaning “dove falcon” – perhaps because the Merlin is a falcon shaped (and colored) somewhat like an over-sized mourning dove or pigeon.  The males have wingspans almost 2 feet wide; the females are slightly larger.

MERLIN juvenile    (Wikipedia image credit)

But, from the perspective of prey seized by this falcon’s sickle-shaped talons, the Merlin is no laughing matter. 

Merlins — like other falcons (e.g., peregrines), hawks, and kites — are feathered predators, zooming down upon their next meal with sudden bursts of aerial speed.  Like “sparrow-hawks” (i.e., kestrels, which are also a type of falcon), merlins ambush and seize smaller birds, for food, some as little as sparrows and others as large as grouse.  In the same cluster of trees, by the lakeside where the Merlin was perching, I repeatedly saw an American Robin, as well as several gulls (perhaps they were Ring-billed Gulls?).  Hopefully that robin escaped the merlin’s hungry hunting.

Merlins are flexible in adapting to various ranges, with different biome habitats. 

Merlins are often found in northern forests and grasslands, including birch scrubland country (e.g., in Saskatchewan’s birch-studded prairies) and willow-prominent wet woods, from sea level to timberline. Many of their summer breeding ranges are in North America’s boreal forests and prairies, as well as in Eurasia’s taiga forests and steppes.  Most merlins migrate, seasonally, with warm winter ranges in mild grasslands, woodlands, and coastlands.

SUMMER & WINTER RANGES of Merlin migrants.

Laughter makes life more livable.  And seeing a squealing-laughter-calling Merlin, as a “lifer”, while attending a precious Christian family camp in rural Saskatchewan, was an unexpected blessing, to say the least.  (So was visiting the fish hatchery that serves Fort Qu’Appelle – but I digress.)

The Lord has many beautiful places on earth, plus many beautiful birds therein – and Saskatchewan’s Merlin illustrates that beauty.  No surprise, because the ultimate source of all beauty is God Himself (Psalm 27:4).

MERLIN in flight (U.S. National Park Service photo credit)