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Backyard Drama
What a story I witnessed this week as I rose from working at the kitchen table and glanced out the window.
A Cooper’s hawk was wrestling a starling to the death. By the time I looked out, the starling was motionless as the hawk pressed down with its talons, patiently squeezing out its life. Eventually it started plucking out beaksfull of feathers in preparation for its meal.
But as I turned away, I heard the starling start screeching. Looking out, I was astonished to see it fighting back against the startled hawk. This is an unfocused picture, but it gives the general sense of it:
Even more shockingly, after a few moments, the Cooper actually gave up and flew into a tree. The starling flew into a different tree. Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw a mound of reddish fur in the back corner of the yard: a fox, watching curiously. It came out across the lawn and investigated the scene of struggle.
It probably saved the starling’s life, attracted by the uproar and appearing at just that moment. I’m not sure whether the bird will survive whatever wounds it sustained, but the sight of such a remarkable string of events was an amazing gift.
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Preserve in fall
Bringing a dog along always heightens the enthusiasm level of a nature walk. But Lucy wasn’t the only one who enjoyed the great outdoors at the university nature preserve yesterday.
My daughter and I encountered numerous other explorers despite the college’s fall break — people like us, soaking in the color and warmth as winter looms not far around the corner.
A light breeze rippled the water’s surface. Wood ducks and geese floated further off, out of the field of view, avoiding the paparazzi.
We often see little stacks of rocks, tree trunks with initials carved into them, and letter boxes or painted rocks in the woods. I decided to make my own little tribute with the leaves I couldn’t resist picking up, but didn’t have any purpose for if I took them home. Here they are, all lined up for their class picture.
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Marsh Walk
My daughters and I, and our dog Lucy, took a walk into a marsh we haven’t visited in years. The bird blind that used to be a unique feature was closed for safety issues, but a new trail wound to a different perspective on the pond, then into a golden wood that thoroughly enchanted us.
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Buttermilk Falls in Peak Week
Someone told me awhile back that I should include videos on my nature blog. So here’s one: a pan of Buttermilk Falls, in Ithaca.
It might seem strange to film a waterfall. But it provides some context for the gallery that follows: brilliant sunlight and blue sky; vivid leaves; a sense of heights, depths, and distance; and the sound of water perpetually falling. By now, after hard rain a few days ago, there is probably more rushing water — and fewer leaves. We were grateful to be able to get there at the beginning of the week, on the perfect October day.
We hiked up the Gorge Trail — about a mile long, hugging the stream and ascending steeply (475′) up numerous stone staircases beside numerous waterfalls. (This video is taken beside the first one.) At the top, we crossed to the Rim Trail and walked back down through some woods, with little glimpses of the gorge through the trees from time to time. It’s a little more gradual, but you feel the relentless descent in the backs of the legs by the end.
Here’s one more: a view from within the shade of the gorge.
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Colors and more colors
Lovely walk in a nearby nature preserve as the leaves approach their peak.
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Sunflowers
Just when they look their ugliest to me, they are most attractive to the wildlife.
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Great Spangled Fritillary
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Things you see at the Brick Pond
On a walk with my daughters yesterday, we heard a lot of chatter in the treetops, and tiny birds flitted all over the place. But it was difficult to find them quickly enough for a photo. No wonder — considering how well they blend in with the leaves. Can you spot the warbler in this picture?
But they started to get used to our being there, and came a little closer.
Finally, they came in still closer. They were too busy looking for insects to worry about us for long, and soon they surrounded us — a cloud of what we later decided were magnolia warblers, reveling in the warm weather and the swarms of tiny insects around the pond.
An hour zipped by before we even got halfway, but we drank in the late afternoon warmth and color of a beautiful fall day.
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Bluebirds
They’re our state bird, but we don’t see much of them.
They pass through this time of year, traveling in a small flock, and stay for a few days before moving on.
Somehow it’s often on a drab day that we look out and see them searching for insects or puffed out for warmth.
Lovely little spots of color among the branches, and part of the changing pattern of this place.
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Lovely, dark and deep
I took some pictures during a family walk in a hemlock wood today. I’ve played with the Orton effect in editing the photos to try and enhance the feel of the place, so they represent a variation from my usual realistic mode. It was a beautiful, cool early fall day, and the woods had an enchanted feel.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Robert Frost, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”
