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.
8.27.16
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!
8.27.16
After his thirst was quenched he decided to walk over to investigate a noisy group of gulls nearby.
8.27.16
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)
Little Katherine and her mom, Larisa, visited us for a few days during a 10 day heat wave in July. It was miserably humid as well. One morning Larisa and I took Katherine to the aquarium where she was delighted to see so many fish and beluga whales and sea lions – all rescues I believe. And she got to touch a sting-ray! It was so much fun watching her discover so many new creatures because she is definitely an animal lover.
It was so humid outside we didn’t make it over to the penguin exhibit but even so, a penguin is what she picked out for a souvenir of the day. 🙂 She named him PB and even had supper with him. But the best part of the day was yet to come. When Grandpa Tim came home from work we all went down to the beach. Katherine loved chasing the bubbles her grandpa blew for her.
Not sure why some pictures came out blurry but they still capture some of the fun they were having. 🙂
Back at home I caught Katherine sitting in my spot, using my laptop. (If only I had thought to remove the bowl from the shot, but that might have disturbed her concentration.)
The next day Larisa and Katherine flew home. But we will be flying down there to visit them in September, so we still have another visit to look forward to. So many good-bye hugs and kisses. After they finally got home – there was a cancelled flight and other delays to deal with – we got this picture in an email from our sweet little granddaughter.
Dear Grammy & Grandpa, Thanks for the lovely visit. PB the Penguin and I had lots of fun. I’m very tired. Airports are only fun for a little while. But Mommy played with me a lot. People were nice to me too. *kiss* -Katherine
