2•1•2021
I See You
Dear Nature,
It’s a bit of a blizzard outside right now, but I know that the barred owls are thinking about Spring! February marks the start of their breeding season, so they are a little more noticeable than usual. I know a few owl pairs that live in the woods where I take walks. By early February, I tend see them more, hanging out together in their pine tree sanctuaries.
I am hoping that Dobby, our house owl, will find a mate and set up house close to our backyard. Dobby fledged from our local pair and became attached to us, visiting when we were outside on the deck enjoying the warm evenings. I hope we get to see Dobby’s kids this next season.
With Love, Kelly
2•2•2021
Winter Gold
Dear Nature,
The winter birds are mostly subtle, matching the monotone colors of the sleeping season. There are exceptions of course, like the mercurial flashes of red on the woodpeckers resembling fleeting cool flames. The scarlet red of the cardinal, blindingly bright against the pristine white of the snow, always stops me in my tracks.
It’s easy to over look the winter goldfinch, as they are not dressed in their sunny lemon yellow summer suits, but rather they are garbed in their wintertide subtly shimmering feather coat of soft sunlight and lavender gray shadows. They are quite beautiful, don’t you think?
With Love, Kelly
2•3•2021
Fire Dripping from the Sky
Dear Nature,
I know I keep writing to you about your sunrises and sunsets, but they are irresistibly magical.
There is a moment in every dawn when light floats, there is the possibility of magic. Creation holds its breath.”
― Douglas Adams, The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
With Love, Kelly
2•4•2021
Pretty Little ‘Possum in the Snow
Dear Nature,
We had the first real frigid sorta blizzard ‘y’ snowstorm three days ago. When the snow finally stopped falling the next day, it left behind about 10” of snow. At lunch we had an unexpected visitor at the bird feeder, this adorable little opossum.
I live by the old adage ‘You learn something new every day’ and I learned a little about ‘possums that day. This little one has pink ears which means that she was born last year and is considered young. I learned that males have noticeable fangs, so this one is either definitely a female or a young male. I’m going with female!
She was happily eating bird seed until the Murder Crows showed up, noisily harassing her. She became visibly nervous, and skedaddled. To our watershed, hugging the wall, over the stone wall and then beelining it to an unused run-in. Her tracks led inside. I’ll be keeping an eye out for her!
With Love, Kelly
P.S. ‘possums have really cool feet, complete with toenails!
2•5•2021
Softly Sleeping
Dear Nature,
I miss the soft, mournful ‘coo-coos’ of the mourning doves (!) in the winter. They are still here, but they are just trying to survive the cold and the predators. Their melodious coos are spring and summer songs. I do my best to help them in the frosty winter. I keep the bird feeders filled, I spill seed on the ground and I have sheltered places where they can rest. One of their favorite places to gather is around the heated bird fountain. They tuck up against each other to capture and conserve heat. I also have many shrubs in my gardens that give them shelter. One of the bird’s favorites is the huge pee gee hydrangea near the house. In the fall it is festooned with antique white panicles tinged with pink, in the winter it is decorated with the browns, grays, whites and occasional ‘house finch’ purple of my winter birds.
With Love, Kelly
2•6•2021
What’s for Lunch?
Dear Nature,
Coops or Sharpie? Sharpie or Coops? That is the question! It is very difficult to tell the difference between these two forest hawks, the coopers and the sharp shinned. The only thing that is certain here in my garden, is that if I feed birds in the winter, I will also be ‘feeding’ these stealthy little predators.
My decrepit garden bench, a house-warming gift from my parents almost 30 years ago, is now relegated to hosting a summer-blooming clematis, sheltering my winter birds and providing the hawks with a hunting perch.
They are both small, sleek elegant hawks. They can maneuver through the tightest of spaces and hop along the ground in pursuit of their prey. Just the other day I watched one fly out from under the bench with a small gray bird in its talons. Coops or Sharpie? Either or, I sighed in acknowledgment of the snowbird’s demise, but then said softly to myself, ‘everyone has to eat…’
With Love, Kelly
2•7•2021
In My Neighborhood
Dear Nature,
The return of the bald eagle from the brink of extinction is one of America’s best conservation successes. For my little corner of the planet, that means we now have a resident pair of eagles nesting in my town. Before I knew where the nest was, my first glimpses of them were tantalizing flyovers as I would drive around my neighborhood. The first time I saw one soar over our backyard I was speechless, how about that for my yard bird list?!
My first real glimpse of our eagles was this one perched in a pine tree by the lake, on this date several years ago. Last year I watched them raise two eaglets, fledging both of them successfully. Over the last few weeks I’ve observed them tending to the nest in preparation for a new family. Just the other day, I saw one of the adults fly over our pasture. I was speechless.
With Love, Kelly