Greetings from the East, my collector friends. I am woozy from jet-lag and slowly reentering the New York atmosphere. Last night's travel was relatively uneventful, but we waited forever to get to the gate. A neighboring runway was the site of some kind of landing gear mishap, and the fire trucks, emergency vehicles and overall chaos were downright scary. I am back in the big city and hoping to leave the whole flying thing to the birds for now.

As the Ornithology show winds down over at the gallery, so does our month of bird madness here on 20x200. White-Crowned Sparrow and White Eyed Vireo are the stragglers of the flock, which is understandable considering how wrapped up they've been. These two striking photos are from Hot Shot Todd Forsgren's Bird Banding Project.

One important note about these birds: they are not dead, or dying or even injured. They've been caught in mist nets by ornithologists, and once they're banded they're released back into the world. On first viewing the photos seemed quite brutal to me, but once I had the comfort of knowing that they were indeed alive and well, I was able to focus in how effectively Todd's been able to capture the strange beauty of these creatures.

Viewing them as specimens against the graphic pattern of the nets underscores their fragility, seeing the legs and wings stopped mid-motion exposes their connection to ancient ancestors like the Pterodactyl.

And with this fine duo, we bring our Ornithology program to a close. There are sure to be more bird editions in the future, but with the show winding down and the month coming to an end, it's time to turn our arty attention to other things.

I'll be back next week with new editions! See you then.