Musings

Sunrise. Still humid, hence the haze.

Surprise fish at the shore. Don’t know what kind; not leech!

Illustration of growing apples and apple green, highlighted by the low morning light.

Posted at 7:30 PM | No Comments »

Did that title catch your eye? What I mean is that the humidity and murkiness evident first thing in the morning (here), and obscuring the far shore, heralded in a hot, moist day, good for reading and low-key activities all afternoon. And sipping ice water…that kind of day-drinking.

My morning beach tour became a leech-hunting expedition. I found the Garish Green Sand Shovel mostly buried in the uppper-beach sand on my first tour. It’s perfect for leech-tossing. The storminess of previous days sent lots of the boneless critters toward the beach, where I pitched them onto the beach, then tossed them to the off-beach vegetation. I returned a bit later to get a second harvest, as I found so many on the first visit. I think the total was two dozen. No lie.

Posted at 5:59 PM | No Comments »

Our cottage sun-up is delayed by the woods. This was at 7:12am, and filtered through an apple tree.

Midday, I was out assessing the rhubarb crop, and found this grey treefrog hanging in the shade.

When I returned later to do the picking, it had relocated. I picked eight stalks, and took the resulting rhubarb sauce to a potluck next door, along with some boughten (as my child-self would have called it) ice cream. Success!

Returning from socializing at 10pm, I had to photograph the moonrise. Note a few pixels of reflection off the lake through the trees.

Posted at 10:24 PM | Comments Off on A very good day

We ventured down the Marshland Drive at the Refuge late this morning. First sighting: a pair of loons, feeding.

A flotilla of Canada geese, plus swans outside the frame at quite a distance. Over our visit, BTW, we saw zero mallards—unusual.

Turtle. There were two, but one dove in as I positioned myself to take this shot. We saw many logs with resting turtles.

Single swan close to the road, profile pose.

Far against the trees, in or next to shadow, are two white/white-ish things at the waterline. The one on the right is a tree remnant, given the form. We discussed the one on the left for quite a while as we motored on, and as the angles changed and it sometimes looked the same, sometimes different. We finally ended up agreeing on swan, although we kept driving and looking. Soon, we stopped at the convenient Loon Overlook, and used the heavy-duty monocular bolted to the deck, and, pfft: swan confirmation. Yay!

Posted at 10:09 PM | Comments Off on Birds, no bees

I did a vegetation check this morning. I found two hogweeds I missed in the corner of the field, not a big deal. I also checked on the unfurling ferns. Unfurling.

I went deeper into the woods, turned away from the lake, and picked my way carefully through the greenery, trying not to step on any flowers or unflowering plants. Then, I heard a din/racket/cacophony ahead of me, and stopped to spot the culprit. I think it was the male sandhill wooing the lady sandhill, just him, and she was quiet, walking away from him, this way and that, at a stately, deliberate pace. Meanwhile, the male walked after her, following, and finally doing wing flaps, as if she has to notice him and respond to That. And then quiet, and I couldn’t see them any more. Did they fly off? Dunno. Can you spot the pair along the treeline? Facing left?

Posted at 9:55 PM | Comments Off on Noisy interlude

Apian proof. [See yesterday.]

Posted at 8:53 PM | Comments Off on Bumbler

Just to the right of center, that lumpy shape: a backyard bunbun. I tried to con it into munching down on the remnants of PI, but: no evidence it took my suggestion. Yet….

Posted at 7:44 PM | Comments Off on Hopper

My ID app indicates this is a gall wasp egg structure (Callirhytis species). Surprised me, athough I didn’t think it was part of the oak I found it on.

Posted at 8:42 PM | Comments Off on Nachur mystery

For no particular reason, I thought about seeing blue-footed boobies and other lovely critters when we were visiting the Galápagos islands in summer 2022, aeons ago.

Posted at 11:52 PM | Comments Off on True blue

One great blue heron, two mallards (left).

Two turtles, two fish.

Two-part building.

Old Fourth Ward Park includes a flood-water pond that retains water year-round, presently green with algae. These days, tall buildings mostly surround it.

Posted at 7:29 PM | Comments Off on Pairs, mostly