You can’t be suspicious of a tree, or accuse a bird or a squirrel of subversion or challenge the ideology of a violet. ~ Hal Borland (Sundial of the Seasons)
9.11.16
After way too many days of miserable heat and sticky humidity the weather finally changed Sunday afternoon. We celebrated by going to our favorite gluten-free pizza place and having our supper there outside in the fresh air.
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On the way home I spotted six wild turkeys in a field and insisted Tim turn around so I could get some pictures. Most of them had their heads down in the grass, feeding. But the lookout was keeping his eye open for danger or trouble. I’m glad he didn’t seem to think we posed any threat.
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This field is separated from the road by a stone wall. After feeding for a while, the lookout turkey jumped up on the stone wall and started watching the cars go by. It seemed like he was looking for a good opportunity to cross the street with the rafter of turkeys in his charge.
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There was just too much traffic! We grew tired of waiting and the other turkeys kept on feeding themselves so we decided to leave. When we drove past him on the road I tried to get a picture of him from that side of the wall, but it came out blurry. But still, it was fun to watch them, and a great way to end the weekend.
Five days ago there were a lot of birds at the beach, perhaps getting ready for Tropical Storm Hermine… I had some fun trying to identify the different stages of life of the laughing gulls…
9.2.16 ~ non-breeding adult? or first summer? laughing gull
9.2.16 ~ non-breeding adult? or first summer? laughing gull
9.2.16 ~ non-breeding adult? or first summer? laughing gull
We had a few gusts of wind which ruffled some feathers…
9.2.16 ~ laughing gull with feathers puffed up from a gust of wind
I wondered if the cormorants would be staying out on their island during the storm…
9.2.16 ~ cormorants on their exclusive off shore island
The baby great black-backed gull wondered if we would be handing out a french fry. Tim had unintentionally dropped one recently, renewing hopes for some of the younger birds…
9.2.16 ~ juvenile great black-backed gull
My friend knows better — he’s content to visit with us. 🙂
9.2.16 ~ my herring gull friend with the mangled foot
We also saw a great egret — they don’t often come this close, preferring their island in the middle of one of the salt ponds.
9.2.16 ~ great egret
The swan’s pond has mostly dried up due to the drought…
9.2.16 ~ swan
Sharing the estuary by the sea wall, we were amazed to see eight snowy egrets feeding with the great egret, the swan and a flock of Canada geese!
9.2.16 ~ swan and snowy egrets
9.2.16 ~ great egret, snowy egrets and Canada goose
The calm before the storm… Hermine gave us mostly gale force winds and drizzle. Several branches and many leaves and twigs came off the trees, but no trees were uprooted in our vicinity. That was more than enough excitement for us!
9.4.16 ~ USS Truxtun found a safe harbor at Fort Trumbull Pier New London, Connecticut
Tropical Storm Hermine is supposed to head out to sea south of us, sending us very little rain or wind. (Too bad because we could really use some rain here.) Of more concern is a predicted storm surge of 2-4 feet tomorrow and beach erosion. But Hermine delivered us quite a surprise yesterday, a huge guided-missile destroyer, seeking shelter from the storm.
Today we decided to take a water taxi across the river so I could get a picture of this huge warship. As it happened, three sailors from the ship were on the water taxi, too, and Tim got to talking with them while I was snapping pictures. After the storm passes they will be headed to the Gulf or the Med, which is sailor slang for the Mediterranean Sea. They are hoping for the Med because it is hotter than hell in the Gulf.
When Tim called their ship a boat they corrected him — they refer to it properly as a destroyer. We may think this vessel is huge but they said it is one of the smaller navy ships.
These fellows seemed so young, even younger than our own children. As we go about our busy lives, it’s so easy to forget that our nation is still at war, that so much is being sacrificed. Carry on sailors, and thank you for your service.
9.4.16 ~ the USS Truxton dwarfs the Cross Sound Ferry and New London Ledge Light
Nature is not a place to visit, it is home – and within that home territory there are more familiar and less familiar places. ~ Gary Snyder (The Practice of the Wild: Essays)
8.27.16 ~ probably a juvenile great black-backed gull
So… Yesterday there were three cormorants sitting on the breakwater, closer to land than I’ve ever seen them before. But, confound it, still too far away for a decent picture. And of course, they had no interest in spreading their wings out to dry. So tantalizingly close by, yet still so far away…
8.27.16 ~ cormorants on the end of the breakwater at high tide
However, in my efforts to get as close as I could to the cormorants, I discovered a large group of gulls wading in the rocky pools created by high tide.
8.27.16 ~ herring gull, wading
8.27.16 ~ herring gull, rock climbing
8.27.16 ~ herring gull, waiting for the next wave to cool off his feet
A few days ago my gull friend with the mangled foot came back! He was sitting on the white post in front of us as we sat down on a bench to eat our supper. 🙂 He took off several times, soaring up high and circling around the beach house and landing each time again on the post in front of us. I think he was trying to demonstrate that he was just fine, thank you. He seems so healthy and energetic now — he must have recovered from whatever malady was troubling him earlier this summer.
8.27.16 ~ look who is back!!!
Yesterday I spotted him hanging out with the other gulls on the rocks. He was getting a drink of water. Gulls are able to drink salt water or fresh water.
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8.27.16 ~ posing for me – doesn’t he look sprightly?
My family thinks I should come up with a name for him but for some reason I can’t think of one. I’m also not even sure if “he” is male or female.
8.27.16 ~ more drinking
8.27.16 ~ so refreshing!
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After his thirst was quenched he decided to walk over to investigate a noisy group of gulls nearby.
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8.27.16 ~ walking with a sense of purpose
8.27.16 ~ pausing to listen and contemplate
Meanwhile, another herring gull walked into view. He’s pretty handsome, too.
8.27.16 ~ another herring gull
It seemed like everyone wanted their pictures taken!
8.27.16 ~ another juvenile great black-backed gull
8.27.16 ~ juvenile great black-backed gull
I’m still amazed that the juvenile great black-baked gulls are larger than the adult herring gulls. In fact, they are the largest species of gull in the world.
We didn’t see any laughing gulls this day, who are smaller than the herring gulls, but had seen several of them a few days beforehand.
8.27.16 ~ Mystic Whaler heading out for a dinner cruise…
Summer is winding down, but it’s still hazy, hot and humid. We are close to setting a record for the hottest August in Connecticut weather history. Sigh… Looking forward to October!
What we overlook is that underneath the ground of our beliefs, opinions, and concepts is a boundless sea of uncertainty. The concepts we cling to are like tiny boats tossed about in the middle of a vast ocean. We stand on our beliefs and ideas thinking they’re solid, but in fact, they (and we) are on shifting seas. Any ideas or beliefs we hold in our minds are necessarily set against other ideas and beliefs. Thus we cannot help but experience doubt. ~ Steve Hagen (Buddhism: Plain & Simple)
Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each. ~ Henry David Thoreau (Journal, August 23, 1853)
In the woods, sitting still, there is subtle joy in listening to the tiniest sounds. There is delight in the textures of light. ~ Joan Tollifson (Awake in the Heartland)
7.24.16 ~ Richmond, New Hampshire
We, all of us — blue-green algae, galaxies, and bear grass, philosophers and clams — will some day dissipate into vibrating motes. In the end, all of natural creation is only sound and silence moving through space and time, like music. ~ Kathleen Dean Moore (The Pine Island Paradox: Making Connections in a Disconnected World)
