Priorities
Sunday, 3 January 2021
Had a lot of fun with this pair and a laser pointer (including body slams against the wall while stretching upward as much as possible), until they decided it was feeding time and became no longer interested.
Musings
Of the moment
Tuesday, 17 November 2020
Loaded cone flower, weighted with double bees.
Delicate and fine-scented ginger: mmmmm.
Oooot and abooot
Sunday, 18 October 2020
This makes it clear why our ancestors named them white-tailed deer. And to the right out of this frame, two more groups totaling about this number again. The groups should be heading north into the swamp soon—most of them anyway….
I managed to be down at the beach when the sun almost came out for the day. Thankfully the rain we’ve been having has not brought up the lake level noticeably.
Simple pleasures
Sunday, 11 October 2020
Arose this morning to outdoor temps so low we had frost on the roof, although not on the grass (…small favors). We are clearly in autumn, yet winter is making a reminder-bid.
Had laid a fire in the wood stove (really a coal stove repurposed) last evening, so fired it up when I came downstairs. Soon the place was warm, and I’ve kept a small fire going all day. We’ve been toasty!
Afoot during my afternoon walk, these two didn’t notice me for quite a while; I was downwind and not moving much. I was interested that the fawn saw me first and jumped, which mom noticed, then looked around to see why. And they both turned tail and leapt back to the field on the right, where a half-dozen of their buds were grazing.
Refuge quietude
Friday, 2 October 2020
I’m not burying the lede. Our lede. We went to the Refuge, and saw swans. And a few other waterfowl. And a raptor-type something or other, I think.
The light was odd and not always helpful. And I forgot the binocs.
Pouring rain for this shot. Lasted about two big minutes, and this is near the beginning. The wind came up and the rain came in and I rolled the window up. Goodbye, cattails.
In WashDC, the lede this evening is something else entirely.
Me and one lady mallard
Thursday, 1 October 2020
I just checked out GooMaps satellite view to see how far this channel goes, as this direction is toward the upper reaches of the catchment. Less than a quarter mile.
You probably can’t pick her out, but just at the last visible bend is a lady mallard paddling away. I think she’s the same one who surprises me most days when I walk this way by jumping into flight while loudly quacking. As she did today. She sure is hanging around this spot for quite a while.
Bird report (partial)
Tuesday, 29 September 2020
I found the sunrise foine, and the sky terrific. I find that channel through the left-of-center especially striking.
I kept hearing sandhills yesterday, and today I caught them cruising just above the trees (right of post), attracted by their calls, which resonate I swear for miles. Just a pair.
You can see only one raven in the dead elm (elm is ID hypothesis); actually, when it flew seconds later, I saw it had a companion.
No Canada geese, however.
Fall colors, shapes
Saturday, 26 September 2020
Wishing to give the new fitness device (misleadingly called a watch, which is accurate in that it does tell time, yet has a fuzziness similar to a smartphone—which is far more smart than phone) a tryout, I got out pretty darned early, and paced myself, ending up with a mostly sunny three miles. One darned gorgeous fencerow maple.
And a tree skeleton—an elm, I’m guessing. Rain most of the overnight hours, hence intermittent puddles and mud.
I worked very hard to turn this into moose tracks, but the overwhelming evidence of an adjacent cattle pasture and a vague recollection that moose tracks look like giant deer tracks, and thus are much narrower…forced me to accept the domestic nature of this evidence.
Although clouds were coming in, we went over to the refuge to drive the loop. We did see a few ducks, geese, and swans at a distance, but this dirty great blue heron (?) was the most interesting specimen we spotted. A quiet day for critters.
Dramatic maroon leaves on this small tree.
And the autumn mushrooms are about…or at least they strike me as a different assortment of species from the springtime crop. Or my dataset is skewed and, most likely of all, my observations are based on ignorance.
Avoiding today’s headlines
Friday, 11 September 2020
Here’s a distraction…stunning flower. Sorry the insect is out of focus.
This one isn’t! Giant butterfly! (Well, normal sized, just looks large here.) Amazing detail—and that’s an iPhone photo!