The Fancy Feast

I think it is so nice when one dresses for dinner, don't you? These fancy feasters are even so formal as to be wearing tails!

And below begins the dancing after dinner.

Bird Operetta

This Carolina wren has built a nest in the tongue of the boat trailer. We are hoping her young fledge before our first hurricane warning! We have at least three wren nests in the front yard.

There is nothing quite so amazing as the full-throated song that comes from the little brown Carolina wren during the heat of the day. His/her call is so robust and yet so sweetly lovely that it makes one wonder where the amplifier is hidden in that small bird and who does the wonderful composing for such arias? What dreams does this bird dream that give them such a beautiful vision and such robust hope for the day?

They are the true operatic sopranos of the bird world. You hear his/her call and have to stop mid-pull in your weeding, or mid-inhale in your enjoyment of that pink rose, or just stop daydreaming and find that you are compelled to train your eyes toward the sound to see the amazing feathered music machine that is perched head back and beak open on that high branch of the poplar tree singing away to the sky.

When your eyes narrow and focus on the far limb you see that it is just a tiny brown bird with the cutest little uptail. Watching them sing, poke under the leaves of the geranium plant, seek out housing or build their nest is quite a show of energy and optimism. The world is their oyster and nothing can stop them. They are quick and perky and one might think their song would be simple and short. Every year they try to nest in the hanging canoe in the garage even though our work habits startle them on a regular basis. They are determined.

Two of these wren families have taken up raising a family in the unpainted house and the green birdhouse. My comment to the bluebirds is "You snooze, you lose."

Osprey Dinner

I am never passe about the regal beauty of osprey. Their large eyes and sharp talons and elegant wing span capture my heart. These two were spending time catching dinner along the mouth of the river while we sat in the boat trying to catch some dinner of our own. Hubby was fishing (not catching) and I was reading my novel as I sat in the front of the canoe dipping an occasional paddle to reset the bow away from the shoreline. Clearly the successful fish hawk in the second photo did not want to share his bounty in any way.
(Click for enlarged photo.)

Moonglow

Hush child.
The moon soon will rise
And with its glow
A milky path will
Lead you toward home.

Don't cry.
The grass along the path
Will hold your tears
Until you need them
For another moonless time.

Sleep now.
Let the soft moonglow
Enfold your tender body
In an easy caress
As you dream of love.

Dream sweetly.
See in your mind
The best that comes
When you awake
And the moon sails on its way.

The Hell I Can!

There was an abundance of Pelicans in Florida during my last visit. The bait fish were also abundant swimming in balls of motion close to the sea walls. These large and awkward looking birds spent the entire afternoon diving clumsily into the water and filling their mouths with scoops of little fish. It was not unusual to see small collisions when three birds decided to dive into the same small area as in the third photo above. They are the air-clowns of the tropics.

Begin the Harvest

I harvested two eggplants yesterday...the first we have ever successfully grown. We are finishing the last of the sweet and crunchy edible podded peas with the warm weather coming on fast and furious. They have been wonderful in salads and soups. There is also lovely leaf lettuce that seems to be producing quite well in the heat of the weather. But the piece de resistance is what my husband waits for all summer long:

Catching Oysters

On my recent trip to Florida I was able for the very first time in my life to see an American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) in the wild. These photos (with my point and shoot) are not very good, but considering I was not too close, my skill level is wanting, and also I did not want to disturb them, it is the best that can be expected. That bright colored bill is so strong that it is used it to pry open clams, oysters and other shellfish.

This bird is supposed to be in my area of the mid-Atlantic, but I had to travel all the way to Florida to get this shot.