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Fall
I have a number of photos taken over the summer to post. But for now, let’s think about the wonders of autumn.
Leaves covering the earth, even in a grove of evergreens.
I photographed this prospect in spring. It has quite a different character now. This little guy was perched in exactly the same spot as he was in spring, too, but drowsier.
I didn’t expect turtles, but there were some out on our walk the other day.
My daughter commented on the smell of fall. It’s true. Fall has its own odor, and I’m aware of it even though I’m not a good smeller and often don’t notice odors. It triggers a sense of great satisfaction edged with bittersweet.
It’s been some summer for our country, and there’s a weariness and worn-outness that goes along with it. I felt it was being reflected in the sights on our fall walk.
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Marley
My daughter took these pictures of the leucistic hawk nesting nearby. A few years ago, we named her Marley, after the ghost in A Christmas Carol. She’s a magnificent, powerful hawk.
One day last summer as I stood at the kitchen window, she swooped into view and landed at the base of the bird feeder, then took off and disappeared into the woods. It all happened in about 3 seconds; I didn’t see what she got, but I’m guessing a chipmunk. She left a gray squirrel mid-munch on the ground a few feet away, looking as dazed and disbelieving as I felt. If I hadn’t been standing there at that moment, eyes trained on that spot, I’d have missed it.
My daughter’s taking some great pictures. She’s inspiring me to learn more about how to use all the features on my Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ-300. Her camera is a Canon SX70 hs.
So far we’ve seen just one chick. In this picture, just a bit of its fluff shows at Marley’s feet.
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Bloom where you’re planted
This brick held down the black plastic on our garden over the winter. When I removed it to get the garden ready, it was cheering after the long isolation of the pandemic to see little plants growing in their separate cells.
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Out my window
We spend a lot of time at this table, enjoying the wildlife passing through. Today I took my camera and joined my daughter outside at the picnic table to wait and see who showed up from a closer vantage point.
We have at least three male grosbeaks. This one looks the most polished. But the award for the most blotchy goes to this guy. Maybe he doesn’t have all his adult plumage yet:
This one looks like a mixture of the two — a few speckles, but close to the elegance of the first one:
Naturally there are plenty of rodents around, too.
More visitors arrived than I could photograph, but it was peaceful being out there and having the creatures eventually realize they could go about their business and we wouldn’t hurt them.
Rain finally drove us inside, but I’ll look forward to more times of enjoying the back yard and learning more about my camera at the same time.
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Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge
Before starting out to visit the refuge, I practiced on a few earth-dwellers in our yard.
It’s nice to know the critters have good personal hygiene…
Our aim in visiting the refuge was to see birds — usually raptors and waterbirds. The entry in seemed promising as we saw a bald eagle perched in a tree.
But generally speaking, it was the yellow warblers that stole the show.
We heard chestnut-sided warblers and yellowthroats, and we were hoping to see a cerulean warbler. The yellows were the only ones who cooperated, though. Good thing they’re so beautiful.
There were a few more common sights as well.
We saw several ospreys, some geese, a couple of sand hill cranes, some orioles and some cedar waxwings.
Returning home, we marveled again at the number of species frequenting our bird feeder. The most unusual visitor is the pileated woodpecker, but we’ve enjoyed the orioles this year as well.
There’s always a group of squirrels and chipmunks feasting on the dropped seed. This one kept rushing the others, and my daughter decided to fly her drone out from the kitchen window to see if it would startle him enough to have better manners.
He was, obviously, unfazed and applied himself steadily to eating.
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Mother’s Day
We set out bright and early on Mother’s Day. It was clear and cold, and we had the woods to ourselves.
We weren’t sure what this bird was. It made no sound, was about the size of a female cardinal, and hawked insects. My daughter and I snapped some photos, and when we got home and looked in the bird book we realized it was a great crested flycatcher. This photo is posted not as an example of a good photo, but as an example of how the camera is an aid to figuring out what things are. It’s a damage-free hunting tool.
Black-throated green warblers were singing around the creek. No great pictures, but we enjoyed seeing them all around, feeding along with some yellow-rumped warblers. Here, the camera magnified something too small and high to see clearly, and enabled me to see its markings. Again, an example of a camera as a tool in nature study, even when the result is not a good photograph.
The glen was lovely, though choked with blown down trees.
The trillium is blooming, along with other vegetation.
On the way home, we observed another mother — a leucistic redtail keeping her chicks warm.
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Walk in the park
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Spring woods
Let’s take a walk. We’ll go through the woods to the pond…
…and enjoy the wild cherry blossoms.
The trail is grassy there, so we have a good view of the water and its life.
Just remember that no matter how many things we see — warblers, geese, blossoms, color, tracks — we’re always being watched as well!
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Greening up
The light in the woods is taking on a greenish tint at last. The trees are beginning to produce leaves, and the mosses are incredibly varied. This rock is just one example, showing a number of different textures.
This tree reminds me of hobbits, thanks to its fuzzy toes.
Chipmunks are always watching. Though they’re not secretive enough to go unnoticed, they do blend in pretty well.
I’ve photographed this boardwalk many times, but it always intrigues me. Yesterday it saved our shoes in the extremely muddy woods.
A little photo-editing was done on this one. Fiddleheads are starting to appear…
My pictures don’t show it, but there were quite a few people taking advantage of the nice day to walk in the woods. This is due to pandemic cabin fever. I wonder if it will last.
The crowded woods didn’t prevent us from visiting some favorite spots, and all in all I’d say it’s a great development that people are enjoying the outdoors. . . ourselves included. Hopefully next time we’ll spot some warblers.
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Dinner Theatre
From our table, we’ve enjoyed seeing this red squirrel doing its Spiderman imitation on the stone wall across the lawn.
Is there a nest with some baby squirrels inside the wall?
No way to be sure at this point, but it’s fun watching such dramas play out — and inspiring to see such incredible core strength.
