A New Gentleness on the Land

Spring is tender and pastel. We respond as if we are seeing a newborn child or a miracle. We may dance in the fields but with light-footedness so as to not crush the new blooming violets or frighten the waking fairies. We smooth our joy with gentle giggles and with restrained if open-mouthed glances. Deep sighs and soft smiles are traditional as well.

Rusty and Ready

Spring is teasing today. Weather is almost warm even though the skies are slate gray. The songbirds are checking out some new houses that we got as holiday gifts and that we put up a day ago. Some animal has dragged the suet away from its fishing line across an outside part of the deck. This is the third time, and it means we probably will no longer hang out more suet even if we can find the wire cage somewhere down the ravine.

A few weeks ago the weather was crisp but dry and sunny.  I glanced out my bedroom window and in the rust-colored grasses I saw movement.  I had to squint my old eyes, but sure enough, there was a healthy looking fox.

I took photos with my camera, but my window was angled and I was afraid to open it and frighten him away.

When I checked my photos and then looked back he had been joined by another.  They sniffed and kissed and nipped and made small sounds for quite some time.

They were so lovely and I am sure that the brambles just up the way are going to be the cover for a den under a large tree trunk that fell years ago.  I have mixed feelings because I think this is also where the deer gives birth to her fawns.

I worked on the photo above to sharpen it and give it some energy.  You may remember that I wrote about these two a few months ago after the newly fallen carpet of white snow when they were running and jumping and actually almost ran into me before they recognized I was human.

It comes and it goes

I know that come August and the third day that temperatures soar above 90F I will wish for something cooler like below. But for now, I am glad this has melted today and hope this is the last of Winter's snows.

My Impressions of this recent snowfall.

With nothing better to do than stay inside after a morning walk, I will share our weather right now. (Impressionist version.)

More birds

Our second day at the dock in the second port there was good old-fashioned rain and lots of it!  It is a rainforest, after all. These birds were fun to see as we had only seen the horizon where the ocean met the sky for days along with a rare frigate bird high in the distance. These had taken shelter in the ship's rigging and were busy eating all the bugs that had landed on the boat attracted by the lights at night.

A New Bird for Me

This bird below is a Yellow-rumped Cacique which we were able to see early (very early) one morning outside a town on the Amazon river. My camera decided to choke on the autofocus modes unless the temperature was in a very tight range on this trip...so these are not a sharp photos. (I know, what a bad time for the autofocus to opt out!)

They nest in long pods of woven grass that hang from branches of trees that are usually close to marsh or lake edges. Being social and fairly common they can breed in colonies of up to 250 nests! Females do all the nest building, feeding and rearing. The male just fights for territory. They eat both insects and fruits. The males are polygamous and can consort with up to 30 females...since they only impregnate and fight for territory.  By clustering together they also can defend themselves from predators by mobbing the enemy.  

A Bigger Window

Far from land, the vast horizon across the ocean gives one a better perspective on the size of human life. When you do finally see a coastline, especially a tropical coastline, it usually means weather.

But the weather may also be a very small localized bit of weather.

Following the Sun

Sunsets are lovely everywhere it seems. These were taken offshore of Miami, Florida before our recent trip through the Caribbean and further South.

That old sun is such a mugger.