Rare birds and lords

A white robin got my attention this week because I had never seen one before. That fact is much more meaningful for readers who know I am "over 50."

Daughter Heidi reported early in the month she's seen an albino robin out in the boondocks while making the rounds of yard sales, but she wasn't sure of the address. Discussing this on the airwaves brought info from a lady who sent a letter with pictures. Her photos showed a white bird, but it was pretty far away because she didn't have a telephoto lens.

Went looking Monday with fellow photographer Jan Wassink. The lady who'd written the letter was away at work, but her neighbor was home. Saw this man digging a fence posthole and asked him, "Do you know about a white robin living around here?"

He looked at me, put down his tools, pointed up in the air and asked, "Like that one?" The robin must have been waiting for us because she flew down and landed on the garden fence, then sat there while Jan and I burned up a few bucks worth of film through the telephotos. My best shots are slightly overexposed, but fairly good for an amateur. Jan got better pictures … because he has better equipment.

I am deliberately not telling the man's name where we were shooting because we want to protect this beautiful and unusual bird. The man says it has nested twice this year in his apple tree, but none of the babies were white. The robin itself is not a pure albino, having a slightly colored breast and not having the complete lack of color in its beak or feet, and eyes are not pink.

In other events this week, some members of the Over the Hill Gang tried for the Reynolds Notch and around to Eden. All but two gave it up upon reaching the sizeable snowfields between the Hidden Lake Overlook trail and the notch. It was our luck to have a beautiful young blond lady from the local ABC outlet with us and she shot interviews with me and my friends who all promised to not exaggerate our accomplishments.

Four other OTHG members left at 5 a.m. to boat up Bowman Lake and then make that monster climb to Hole in the Wall below Boulder Pass via Brown Pass. Walt Barr furnished the boat. Ray Kenney, Ivan O'Neil and Bob Zavadil accompanied. Zavadil is doing elegantly awesome photos with digital skill few humans possess. His prints now are available in shops and in Glacier Park. We have two framed photos on the walls at KOFI. One is "The Flowers of Glacier Park," a stunning piece of work.

Meanwhile, England's House of Lords has rejected a ban on parents being allowed to spank their kids. The vote on July 5 was 250 to 75. Then these lawmakers passed a law, 226 to 91, which will allow parents to give "moderate spankings." The Lords say this new law "…will make it easier to prosecute parents who physically or mentally abuse children by spanking."

I've dealt with the corporal punishment business before in this column. I was the recipient of several "attention-getting spankings" during my childhood and gave a few to my kids when they had gone out of their way to earn them.

Just what is a "moderate spanking?" Lords only know.

G. George Ostrom is the news director of KOFI radio and a Hungry Horse News columnist.