by Winding Pathways | Jun 27, 2020 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Reflections/Profiles
We are fully into summer and still pausing as SARS-CoV-2 and the subsequent disease COVID-19 resurges. So, looking back how did you manage from Mid-March through now? What interesting activities did you do? How did you connect with Nature? How did you nurture yourself? What did you do for others? Make a short comment that I’ll review, sort through and share some.
We did the usual projects at home and in the yard. Then, we found that taking regular forays in the truck around town exploring different neighborhoods helped acquaint us with Our Town. Weekly we took day trips to natural areas and made short videos for families to see. Our interactions with others were minimal and always at a distance. People nodded, waved and we all went on our way.
Painting small deck
Projects: scrubbed the porch and deck railings. Re-sealed the big deck and painted the posts. Cut wood. Hauled wood from downhill to uphill. (naturally!)Stacked wood. Cut more wood. Hauled more wood. Stacked wood. Refreshed the woodstove room with new paint. Sorted and discarded “stuff.” Planted the garden. Painted the inside of the barn. Built birdhouses. Watched the birds court, nest, raise young.
Yellow River State Forest
Activities: Walked nearly daily. We found it best to walk less frequented places. Rode Bikes. Took in many ZOOMs through various organizations. Attended church via ZOOM. Increased our blogging and FBLive with Hoover’s Hatchery. Maintained our schedule with Winding Pathways. Day tripped to Ram Hollow, Matsell Bridge, Wildcat Den St. Pk., Hopped a car ferry across the Mississippi, skirted the River, crossed to Iowa and lunched at Yellow River St. Forest. Explored Ciha Fen twice. Foraged wild spring greens like nettles and lamb’s quarter. Slept in our tent in the backyard two nights between bouts of rain. Overnighted at Beaver Creek Hollow State Park and came away drenched.
Oreo discovered carrot tops.
Since we were home so much of the time and with no travel in sight, we got back in the bunny business. We adopted a black and while hybrid “Lionhead” bunny named Oreo. She needed a new home. So, we said, yes. She is funny, shy, thumps when she wants attention, and squeaks.
by Winding Pathways | Jun 25, 2020 | Birds, Garden/Yard, Nature
She feeds ’em. I shoot ’em.
Guest Bloggers STB
Yes, this sounds like a love/hate relationship. But, it is truly pure enjoyment for my wife and me to witness the birds that visit our backyard feeder here in SE Minnesota.
Throughout the year a variety of birds comes from the woods to feast at my wife’s feeder. From late April to early May the orioles make their appearance. Baltimore Orioles have a vivid bright orange color and the Orchard Oriole has a noticeably darker burnt orange color. The recent reality of retirement has allowed us more time for photography and our birds have become a passion.
Capturing a static image of a perched bird is relatively easy but my goal has been to catch them in their interactions and flight. Shutter speeds of 1/1000th of a second or faster are recommended and patience is mandatory but the results might get you hooked. Beware…
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The jelly attracts the orioles.
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Sparring over rights to the jelly.
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Warding off the in-coming oriole.
by Winding Pathways | Jun 18, 2020 | Birds, Garden/Yard, Nature
Another beautiful, blue-sky day. This early morning I am drinking tea and looking out the patio windows. As I enjoy the view of the freshly cut lawn and watch the birds flit about, a bit of busy-ness above the deck catches my attention. A small, loose clump of grey moss trembles and jerks around. It seems suspended like a little tube sock from a maple branch.
A tiny head and two bright eyes appear. In a wink, she’s gone. Moments later, another flash, this time with a hint of yellow. More trembling and jerking around, on the branch. And now I’m sure we have a nesting pair in our tree at the end of the deck.
Despite the yellow, her beak is too long and slender to be a goldfinch. A burst of warbling and I think it might be ‘Mistress Mary’, one of my favourite songbirds that keeps me company on long summer afternoons.
I can look forward to hours of entertainment.
Mistress Mary is just my name for a songbird whose phrases sound like an event organizer ordering people around:
“Jay-jay, sorry, Jo-Jo, sit here.”
“That’s your story?
“So?”
“Bring it here.”
“Will you do it?”
“Where are you?”
“Do ya think?”
She has quite a repertoire of a dozen or so phrases that she repeats faithfully. Fun to listen to. I first heard her about five years ago.
The Hermit thrush has also arrived in Eastern Canada for his summer stay. His ethereal song echoes in the woods.
Readers, scroll through the article in the New York Times to read an interesting article interspersed with bird sounds: Hear 13 Birds Flourishing in a Newly Quiet New York (City).
by Winding Pathways | Jun 11, 2020 | Birds, Garden/Yard, Nature
We’re lucky. Scarlet tanagers nest near us. Winding Pathways abuts Faulkes Heritage Woods, a protected 110-acre forest of mostly monstrous oak trees. So, every May we’re delighted as this brilliant bird arrives and sets up home.
Male scarlet tanagers appear at our feeders in mid-May. Females come a few days later. The male’s amazingly brilliant red feathers and contrasting black wings make the bird unmistakable. For only a week or two they visit the orange-colored suet we set out and pick sunflower seeds from silo feeders. Then they disappear. We knew they abandoned our yard to nest near the tops of big oaks in the nearby woods, but they are very hard to spot there, even as they sally forth to catch insects from mid-air catching a meal. Their summer diet is mostly insects.
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The male scarlet tanager arrives. several days ahead of the female.
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The tanagers willinging come to the platform feeder.
We wondered where they went after nesting and consulted our friend Jim Berry, retired executive director of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute in Jamestown, New York. Here’s what he wrote:
“Once the baby birds fledge, familial responsibilities end and the birds move away from forests to places where they can find food and molt. Often these are old fields and marshes, where they seem to disappear. This is called the post-season dispersal.
They soon replace their brilliant red feathers with duller-colored new ones that help them migrate.”
Jim told us we are lucky to have scarlet tanagers come to our feeders. They don’t where he lives in Western New York.
After they molt the birds fly all the way to northwestern South America for the winter. We won’t see them again until next May.
These are breathtakingly beautiful birds that brighten our yard for just a short while each year. We’re humbled to be able to host them.
by Winding Pathways | Jun 6, 2020 | Reflections/Profiles
We wish that we could have sat on our back deck with George Floyd and the policemen who caused his tragic death. This may sound strange. Yet, we know the healing power of nature. We wish that they and all could experience the peacefulness of the trees, grasses, flowers and blue skies.
This brutal act of George Floyd’s and others’ deaths have appalled us. We extend our thoughts and compassion to Floyd’s family and all people and their families and friends who have been the victims of overt and subtle racism. We are all people and everyone deserves to be treated with respect, compassion, and decency.
We believe that being in nature soothes the soul, calms emotions, and stimulates curiosity. It blunts the edge of aggression and hate. In this time of both disease and racial challenges, we invite everyone to find a place of quiet natural beauty, absorb its calming embrace, and emerge with a dedication to make ours a fair and just world for all.
