Mill Pond Wildlife

This was an interesting day and much cooler than yesterday, about thirty degrees cooler to be exact.  We did manage to get the rest of the debris from the two oak trees we removed over to the compost yesterday morning well before the oppressive heat set in. After that it was movie time in the nice cool living room.

Today turned out to be a little more adventurous. After a trip down to the refuge and seeing that not much was happening there I went over to Mill Pond in West Newbury. I found a little more action there and it kept my attention for a few hours at least.  It Seems the beaver in the Southern part of the pond is building an addition, but as I moved in for a shot he caught my sent and was gone. I did manage to get three or four shots as I waded around to get a better eye on him, but nothing worth posting here. On my way I was able to sneak up on a woodpecker, some small turtles, and a few of the local bull frogs.  For me being out there connected to nature has spiritual connotations on a very basic level. 

All in all not a bad day out there, I even contemplated taking a nap out at the pond, but my hunger soon took over and eradicated that thought from my mind. Hope everyone is staying healthy and not getting too concerned over the Swine flu. So far no confirmed cases in Newburyport, at least that's the news we got from the town via the schools call back system.

Heat Wave

WOW, with temps soaring to 86F here at the ranch yesterday and today expected to do the same I completely forgot about the frost on my car just last week. I think just about everyone I spoke to was thankful to be able to shut their heat off.  Even with crude oil at $51.49 per barrel this week and expected to drop I was extremely happy to cut the heat off. 

I was able to catch this Tufted Titmouse moving into our bird house today. A pair of these characters worked all morning long collecting and ferrying nesting materials to their new quarters.  These will be our first tenants since we put up the house at the end of last spring.

Karen's new Adirondack chairs were finally assembled after a team effort getting them stained with our new favorite color "Crocodile Tears" needless to say the extremely warm weather helped speed the drying process along. These things are actually pretty comfortable. 

Earth Day 2009

So are you doing anything today or have you done anything this week in support of Earth Day.For me everyday is earth day and I try to do something each day. My daughter is always reminding me how important the earth is to us and she has a great passion for the well being of animals. We'll be tree planting today and also seeing "Earth"
I wanted to share with you my daughters new "Hero of the Earth" Sebastian Copeland some of you may have picked up on his story from myspace as did I. This mans expedition to the end of the earth is truly a nobel and inspiring one.

I dropped his mom a line last night and I received this message from her this morning:
Thank you! He needs as many people like you as possible! I am indeed proud of him - I can't imagine ever in my life even dreaming of wanting to do what he is doing, but he is on a mission for the future of the planet, and I admire him greatly for that.
Best wishes---

Please spread the word about Sebastians mission using your networks! Oh' and don't forget to send him messages of support and encouragement on his blog. Sebastian's myspace
Gods Speed Sebastian, Gods Speed....

The morning fog

After an extremely foggy ride home from work I struck gold! I took the scenic route back to the house and I could not believe the activity along Turkey Hill Rd. Hawks (Northern Harrier), Turkey Vultures, Geese, Red Wing Black Birds….It was like the entire road was alive, but guess what I didn’t have with me? That’s right, my camera! So I maintained a lawful speed, continued home and retrieved my DSLR.

So after a quick change I returned to the locations and to my amazement one of the Northern Harriers was still around.  I also had to snap a picture of this young sapling reflecting in the swamp. I thought it looked cool posted upside down...

 

The Sun

Finally some warm weather comes our way! What a day Friday was! At the cost of some valuable sleep I was sure to get outside before work. I did manage to put a dent in some well needed yard work, but I was soon over taken by the “Z” monster. I found myself simply sitting in the sun just letting the heat of that gorgeous yellow and orange planet warm my cheeks. Let me tell you after a long cold winter it was well appreciated.
Well, only a day to go before vacation and I can hardly wait to spend time with the family. How we quickly forget what is truly important and why we were put on this planet. For His pleasure is what the Bible says and I have to remind myself of that every time life throws one of its nasty curve balls. I’m 100% sure I was not put here to pay taxes, or work a full day to put oil in my tank.
It’s hard to believe that this month marked 11yrs of me working in Natick, most would reflect on the job itself, but I reflect on the driving. Somewhere around 26,000 miles a year so that’s about 286,000 miles in those 11yrs and I wonder why I have had every car problem known to man. Yes, folks I own a SUV and could be lone the source of our epic oil crisis.

Slow Start to Spring

Another day of looking for signs of spring and with temps hovering around 48F most of the morning it was hard to find any. Even the crew on the USCG Merrimack River 47' motor lifeboat were still bundled up this morning.

Of course no day would be complete if I didn't visit my friends down at the refuge ! I found the usual suspects enjoying the sun, but it seems the kestrels want to make this a test of wills.

The Begining

I guess most blogs have to start some where and this is the start of mine. This morning I woke up and decided to attempt to catch the kestrels down at the Refuge. Well, after 4 hours I was able to find 4 of them, but they were just too far out of range for my 200mm lens. I did however, catch this snowy owl.