Great Crested Flycatcher: "Shining"
Flying onwards, pursuing and catching the fleeing darkness
Great is the morning with Sun rising and a new day emerging.
Cresting horizons, forever reaching across the sky and land.
Flying onwards, pursuing and catching the fleeing darkness.
I took these photos in the morning on June 15, 2025. I was about 20 minutes into my hike and stopped to look around. I saw this Great Crested Flycatcher perched nearby.
Great Crested Flycatchers are a bird I rarely see out in the open. More often than not, I hear them and catch glimpses high up in trees. I like how the yellow feathers on the chest of this flycatcher appear to shine with the rising Sun.
English - Korean:
Great Crested Flycatcher = 큰볏딱새 / keun-byeot-dak-sae
Great = 큰 / keun
Crest = 볏 / byeot
Flycatcher = 딱새 / dak-sae
(**Great = 큰 / keun is the same word ‘Great’ as in the Great Blue Heron / 큰청왜가리 / Keuncheong-waegari**)
Good Morning! I was looking forward to reading your poem this weirdly hot predawn morning... hoping that all the birds are not too stressed by the heat. What a noble photo!
Beautiful, Neil. You've got me looking for the acrostics in the Sijos and I really like how you put that to effect here. In a poetic way, it's like seeing this Great Crested Flycatcher out in the open when usually they remain hidden from view and you only know them through their sound. I also really like the bold colors in the photo of the bird against the blue sky.