Thank Goodness for Busy Fingers!

So, I was stranded at the airport for what felt like forever, but was only 20 hours, along with multiple others.  Some became irate, some became resolved, and one young man never stopped smiling!  

  I am so grateful for having little portable projects with me.  Mostly, I knitted away on a scarf that I had started last winter.  I found this pattern on Lily Boot's site shortly after I knitted my first hat.  A great big thank you to Lily for sharing.  I am going to need this baby the next time I step out the door, so I will keep those needles clicking all day today!  It's snowing to beat the band outside my window, a wintery welcome home from the more temperate S. Texas climate where I've spent the past 3 weeks visiting my daughter and her family for the Christmas holiday.




Before I began my wintertime travels, I fashioned this sweet little traveling container for my supplies.  I purchased a fabric pencil case from the dollar store.  (It cost only a dollar.)  I prepared a matching tiny foundation pieced heart, and appliqued it over the existing logo. It has plenty of room for all of my smaller supplies and has been handy to take to my quilting group, as well as on my cross country travels!   


My portable quilting project is, as shown, brightly colored batik flowers. I will be cat-sitting at my sister's for the next two weeks and her sewing machine is in storage.  With that in mind, I prepared this little project to keep me busy throughout my stay.  A traditional quilter, it's fun to work with such bright colors.  Once I returned home from the fabric store and made my first flower, I wasn't exactly impressed with my fabric choices, but they are growing on me and I'm stuck with them, anyway.  Might be the ugliest quilt I've ever pieced!  My experience has been to stick with it, because once everything is pulled together, what I was calling my ugliest quilt, turned out to be not so bad afterall!  


Ugly or not, it kept me contented while I lounged around the airport and waited and waited and waited..........

First Bird 2010?

My sister tells me (in her "Don't be so stupid" tone of voice) that I have to consider the pigeons at the airport as my first birds of 2010, but honestly, I didn't look at them!  They were just there in my line of vision!

Truly, my first bird of 2010 is this little beauty, who was patiently waiting for me to return home after being held hostage by Continental for almost 20 hours at the Newark airport.

[I'd like to extend a warm thank you to the airline for finally getting me home minutes before the big snow started flying, and to Mother Nature for holding off on the forecasted storm until I arrived safely in the boondocks!  All I can say is, "Whew! That was close!"]

So, okay, if I play by the rules, the pigeon was my first 2010 sighting.  That stinks.  But this little Snow Bunting, (Plectrophenax nivalis), certainly was eye candy to the weary traveler. I've only ever seen them, sometimes numbering in the hundreds, in the farmer's fields during the cold winter months here in Maine, and never this close up!  I imagine this little guy is kind of lonely.

Snow Buntings nest and breed during the summer months way up north in the Arctic, moving south, as indicated on the map to the right, in search of food during the winter.  They are ground feeders and a tasty treat for them is comprised of seeds and insects.  

They nest in rock cavities and return to the tundra very early in the spring to ensure that they get the best spots!  Men who cook are always my favorite, and the Snow Bunting male is right up there on my list!  Because of the location of their nests deep in the rocks, it stays mighty cold.  In order to preserve energy and life, the male feeds the female on the nest during the entire incubation period.  Her sole job is to keep those eggs warm and cozy and safe.  Predators aren't a huge problem because their nests are so tucked away.

Presently, they are on the "of least concern" list in both their winter and summer habitats.

Melanistic Buteo

Harris's Hawk

(Parabuteo unicinctus harrisi)

While exploring the Texas landscape west of San Antonio, my daughter spotted this beauty. She's not a birder, but she has the eye! Even from a distance, and traveling 65 mph, she was able to tell that this bird was different enough from the hundreds of Red-tail Hawks that dotted the trees along the roadways, to warrant turning around to take a better look.

                                                                                                                                         A buteo of the scrub prairies             found in South Texas and other semi-arid habitats, the Harris's Hawk is probably my most favorite of all the raptors.  Now, those that know me best would tell you it's because they are so easy to identify, knowing how I struggle with identifying  birds of prey.  But the truth of the matter is they are simply gorgeous birds!  You can't see it in my photo, but they are a chocolate brown with chestnut shoulders.  Absolutely stiking!  They have a white band at the tip of a tail, and in flight, sport a bright white rump patch like the Northern Harrier.  For a better view of Harris's Hawks in all their  splendor, check out these captivating photos at:  http://www.greglasley.net/harrishawk.html. 

I find it most interesting that the the Harris's Hawk are such social birds.  They live and hunt in family groups consisting of sometimes up to ten  individuals, but most regularly 2 - 6.  How smart is that?  This gives them the opportunity to snag a jack rabbit once in awhile, a welcome break from snakes, lizards, and large insects!  Another most interesting fact is that the female can be up to 40% larger than the male.  This phenomenon is called reverse sexual dimorphism.  I think, but I'm not sure, that this allows the female to protect herself and her nest and family while her mate is away to ensure survival of the species.  Just a guess. 

Although it's population is declining in the US, the Harris's Hawk was on the 2002 Watchlist, but is not on the 2007 Watchlist.  For more information, go to:  http://audubon2.org/watchlist/viewSpecies.jsp?id=106

Peace on Earth

Make a Smilebox greeting

Turned to the Wall

July 9, 2009

There hasn't been much immersion in nature happening these past rainsoaked weeks in Atlantic Canada. Indeed, the only use for my kayak is to maneuver the roads of the village!

Finally beginning to succumb to the desparaging gloom that's hung low over Isle Madame interwoven with the fog, I lumbered out to the shed in my oversized rubber boots to get an armload of dry wood. Perhaps a cheerful fire to ward off the chill and damp would also serve to perk me up!

Beside the shed grows a row of trees, planted many years ago along the border of this property and the next. Now lush and thick with its summer cloak of leaves, this very morning at that exact moment they hosted a flock of Cedar Waxwings, with their distinguisable thin lisping cries filling the air. My heart warmed instantly - no need of a fire!

I stood under the branches of the trees, partly shielded from the rain, looking up - each bird sitting still on his own branch, each bird with is back toward me, totally unnerved by my presence. Time stood still for only a few moments before they lifted as one and flew across the meadow out of sight, their message delivered.

"To a person uninstructed in natural history, his country or seaside stroll is a walk through a gallery filled with wonderful works of art, nine-tenths of which have their faces turned to the wall."

-Thomas Huxley

*****

July 12, 2009

Summer has finally graced Isle Madame with its appearance, at least for a few days. This morning's special treat was a snipe (Gallinago gallinago) in the rock garden!

I've been hearing their "other-worldly" calls from the nearby wet meadows and my heart raced as I slid open the backdoor during the early morning hours to enjoy my first cup of coffee in the rising sun and there he was. I only needed to turn to grab my camera, which is never too far away.


And now that the days are sunny and warm, my favorite attire is jeans and a beautiful, bright, cheery tie-dyed t-shirt from Lizzyoos. A quick visit to her Etsy shop will reveal lots of delightful surprises for every shopper.

Beyond the Glass

Off the grid most certainly does not mean 'out of touch', as all of my senses are stimulated by the bounty that lies before me, including my sense of wonder. "Wonder is that extravagant state of bliss induced by something new - the strange, astonishing, mysterious, and unexpected. Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow." (Sarah Ban Breathnach)


Just this morning, as I stood in my backyard taking in the cool salt air and surveying the lush greens, purples, and pinks awash with 3 days of nourishing rains, a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird took center stage of my awareness. Against the backdrop of Tamarack, Balsam Fir, White Spruce and Lupines, he performed his courtship display not 15 feet from where I stood, stock still!

During the courtship display, the male hummer flies back and forth in a wide arc, like the pendulum on a clock, making a whirring, buzzing sound on each dive. Reaching heights of 20+ feet at each end of the arc, he swept down to within 2' of the ground with each pass. There was an ethereal effect to this early morning occurrence as the fog had thickened around me obscuring all by my immediate surroundings. I live in a hollow, my driveway circling around the back of my house, giving me the sense of being in the bottom of a bowl on days when I'm banked in by the fog.

I thought I was so lucky to have observed this behavior through my kitchen window on May 30 and 31st, but now I feel honored, humbled. This small delight will carry me through my day as I wait for the next magical moment to unfold before me.

I leave today with this thought to share:

"There is a real world, beyond the glass, for children who look, for those whose parents encourage them to truly see." Richard Louv, "Last Child in the Woods"

Seventh Summer

I have been off the grid since returning to my Cape Breton island retreat on May first and have, with childlike delight, been rewarded over and over again by Mother Nature with gifts large and small.

Without transportation and pretty much confined to my immediate area, I am reminded almost every day of the wonders in our own backyards. My new motto: A little bit of awareness goes a long way. This phenomenon is not necesserily new to me but each time I witness "an event", it gives me great pause, and the whole world stands still as I observe. I feel badly for those that flock to video stores and malls in search of entertainment.

My yard list is already quite impressive, including a couple of uncommon and rare visitors just passing throuogh, one of which was an Orchard Oriole. My attempt to entice him to linger longer was to set out some orange halves and some homemade blueberry jelly. Not surprising, my 2nd year male visitor moved on, but what was a delightful surprise was to discover the resident Song Sparrows frequenting the jelly! It goes without saying that the "jelly cup" is filled each and every morning as part of my routine.

Before I returned to Isle Madame, I purchased some wonderful soap from Long Winter Farm and I often like to end my day soaking in a tub of hot water and lathering up with my favorite scents. This soap is marvelous - a special treat - and I can't wait to afford ssamoling som of her other products. Most days are still cool here, facing the South onto the water, and nothing takes away that deepened chill better.

Many thanks to Peggy from Three Bridges Sewing Co. for sending such a beautiful, well crafted give-away giftr. With much anticipation, I unwrapped a navy blue, nautical print cosmetic bag, too nice to use! I thought waht fun to be able to order a few now, then spend until Christmas picking up little items to fill them for different people. What lovely, fun and personal gifts they would make.

I sit now in the warmth of the waning evening sun, out of the wind, and enjoying all of the bird life around me. I give thanks for another beautiful day and tmy good fortune at being here among my island friends and neighbors.