Tag: nature

Be Kind

We went for a walk on the Terry Trueblood Trail yesterday. It was a nice break from reading the news.

Sena wore her shirt which has printed on it, “be kind, be nice, be love.” She got a compliment about it.

We saw a lot of birds, including Tree Swallow nestlings in the nest boxes along the trail.

There were three in one of the boxes. They seemed to be doing well. I thought we saw a Gray Catbird, although it was singing a complex song at the top of its lungs—from a treetop. I guess I’m not sure what it was because Catbirds are usually secretive and makes sounds like a house cat’s mewing.

I guess all I know is that the bird looked gray.

Anyway, friendly people were out and we said hello to each other. Kindness was in the air.

How the Feathered Half Lives

We were out on the Terry Trueblood Trail and saw a lot of different kinds of birds doing the things that birds—and humans do. Looking for mates, mating, nesting, hunting, feeding. We’re a little more romantic about it, at least sometimes.

Often, I wonder. Who are the real bird brains around here?

The Park

It’s balmy for December. Sena and I went for a walk on the Terry Trueblood Trail and ran into our neighbors doing the same thing! Seabirds were diving headlong into the lake. We’ve never seen them do that. Maybe they were fishing for minnows. About a week ago we saw a hawk. It might have been a Cooper’s Hawk or a Sharp-Shinned Hawk. It had a yellow spot at the base of its bill, so I’m going to say it was a Cooper’s Hawk.

We also saw a small brown creature in the lake on a stack of tree limbs. It was eating something. I couldn’t see its tail, but it could have been a young beaver or a muskrat. Its nose tapered instead of looking blunt and boxy, so maybe it was a muskrat.

Last week a squirrel chattered at us almost nonstop. It was pretty grumpy for some reason. We sure know a bald eagle when we see one.

Sometimes it’s more fun to enjoy a little mystery than to hunt for all the right answers.

Stretching Our Legs on the Terry Trueblood Trail

We got out on the Terry Trueblood Trail today to stretch our legs, feel the breeze, and free our minds of the daily news, which is usually bad. It’s nice to just listen to the wind and the birds on the lake.

We see something interesting every time we walk the trail. Caterpillars were pretty busy, trying to cross the sidewalk without getting crushed by bicycle wheels. Some don’t make it. The grasshoppers are a little sluggish.

There’s a myth about woolly bear caterpillars. If they’re all black, some people say it predicts a really bad winter. The longer the brown color band, the milder the winter. We didn’t see any woolly bears today, just some nervous caterpillars trying to avoid getting smashed.

Pelican on the Lake

Sena and I went for a walk on the Terry Trueblood Trail yesterday. We saw a huge apple tree on the trail. We’ve never noticed it before. The boughs were bent and broken from the load of apples. There were a lot of buzzing insects, maybe some annual cicadas among them.

We saw a lone American White Pelican on the lake, the first one we’ve ever seen.  There were no other birds on the water. In fact, we didn’t notice other birds other than the pelican. All but one of the tree swallow nest boxes had been removed. Nothing peeked out from it.

The pelican just bobbed about on the lake. They migrate in autumn to Central and South Americas. They’re often seen in large groups, but this one was alone. They get pretty big, about 5 feet tall, and can have a 9-foot wingspan.

Pelicans are often connected to symbolic meanings including nurturing, humility, charity, healing, wisdom, and sacrifice.

Where were all the other pelicans?

Go Baby Robins!

We have a robin’s nest in our back yard with 3 nestlings. I can hear Momma robin nearby, nervous about me and my camera. I’m careful not to disturb them too much, not to stay too long. I hope they make it. I hope for a lot of things like civility, peace, love, acceptance. It should be alright to hope for this one little thing extra—that baby robins grow up.

Music credit:

Midsummer Sky by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100158

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Wind and Wings

A couple of days ago we were at the Terry Trueblood Recreation Area and it was pretty windy. The birds were challenged just hanging on in the trees. Eastern Kingbirds didn’t hardly ruffle a feather. The Tree Swallows seemed to be pretty good acrobats high up in the trees. The Cowbirds, not so much.

Birds getting their feathers ruffled in the wind!

Let Nature Speak

While we were out for a walk on the Terry Trueblood Trail today, for a change, my wife gave me the idea that we should just let nature speak. The frogs were in full voice. It was impressive. As we walk, we usually start off by talking a lot. We point out interesting birds and flowers and comment on all we see and hear. The further we go on the trail, the quieter we get. Pretty soon, we don’t talk much at all. We walk at a slower pace. We just listen.

Usually, after we return home, I make a video and try to match it with some kind of music. Nature has its own music, though. Today, we just let that happen.

Let Happiness Leak

This is just a post to offset the grumpy one from a couple of days ago. Sena and I took a walk on the Clear Creek Trail and she broke me up with her shenanigans.

Along the way, we found a painted rock in a tree which had the word “corridor rocks” printed on it.

It looked like something you could google—which I did. It’s a cute story titled “The Corridor Rocks! —Brightening Days One Stone at a Time” by Sara C. Painting rocks, hiding them and giving people like us a fun time discovering them. Sara says it was a way to stop and smell the roses.

It’s one way to remember how happiness works. It leaks…sort of. We put the rock back where we found it. The only clue we’ll give you is that it’s somewhere out there on the Clear Creek Trail. Have fun!

Hatch You Baby Robins!

Yesterday, we noticed 4 eggs in the Robins’ nest. They take about 14 days to incubate and it just so happens time’s up today.

Right on cue the eggs started cracking this morning. It takes all day and it was well after 3:00 PM before there was the tiniest pinhole in the third egg. Two chicks were squirming around when I finally called it a day around 4:30 PM.

This will have to be continued…. Hope it’s not raining tomorrow.

Baby robins hatching!