I'm posting a few days late. The landscape has changed significantly since I took these photos last weekend, but here is how it was. The ice was beginning its retreat on Saturday. A pair of mallards had already taken advantage of the open water around the edges. They quacked indignantly when the bounding dogs made them clamber up onto the ice.
When we returned from a weekend away on Monday evening, there was one patch of watery ice remaining on the northern end of the pond. The next day it was fully clear. You'll see on my next post, which probably won't be too long from now, since the mornings are so exceptional right now.
Our first spring with our new birding binoculars has been wonderful. On a recent evening walk, J and I saw cardinals, mallards, geese, chickadees, robins galore, red-winged blackbirds, crows, and a bunch of black birds we haven't identified. I have heard woodpeckers in the distance, but haven't pursued them yet. We also wandered down by the Penobscot River yesterday and saw a pair of eider ducks soaring just over the water's surface. And the coolest sighting yet, for me, was a year old bald eagle that landed in a tree right near a riverside home where I was doing an interview for my column.
It seems to have been a busy season, with yet more travel ahead - a cross-country trip with my daughter and a double-college-graduation weekend before May is over. I have two book projects hanging over my head and am looking to generate more of steady income with my writing or other work. Funny how quickly this empty nest became very full. It's all very exciting and stimulating, but I am also looking forward to a stretch of time when I can just stay put for a while, maybe get into a steady rhythm of just living and working and being right here at home.
Get outside for one of these springtime dawns. You won't regret it. If you do, send along some photos to share...
that is very nice... some thing like that on http://yaariclub.com
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