This morning on the dog walk up the Morgan Road we heard a pair of loons calling to each other and last night while I was watering a flowerbed a ruby-throated humming bird came and flitted around the milkweed, then perched for a full minute on a trellis, studying me, I fancied, before streaking off toward the woods by the pond. Looking online this morning, I see that that three-inch bird has migrated to my yard from Central America. Amazing.Speaking of the pond, Carole rescued a painted turtle from the road on her way home from work yesterday and when we set him down at the edge of the water, he slid right in and made a graceful arc downward, disappearing in the murk.
Category Archives: Birds
Cold
25 below zero in south Colton this morning, but it’s bright & sunny for the first time in a week. I don’t think it ever got this cold last winter. There is a flock of finches parked in the bare maple out the window. small groups of them taking turns diving down to the thistle feeder on the fence.
Pair of Ravens, Pileated Woodpecker
On our dog walk this morning Carole and I saw the pair of ravens (not crows) who live up on the hill and a pileated woodpecker flew across the road just in front of us, then went to work on an old snag with the sun behind him so that we could see the full glory of his red crest. Cool and clear this morning.
Outsiders
I like nature’s outsiders. Our regular cohort of crows, of course, along with the lordly raven that lives deeper in the woods up the hill. And also the coyotes my neighbors revile. But then my neighbors — God forgive my saying so — revile many things I hold dear.
Let the Record Show
The first flakes of snow fell in South Colton today. Time to put out the suet for the birds and find where we stored the terriers’ jackets.