May 2023

 Monday May 1 Enjoying spring flowers and blossom bursting out everywhere.

 

Friday May 5 In Provincetown for a few days. Looking out the window, there are still red-breasted mergansers, common eiders, long-tailed ducks and a few black scoters feeding in the bay. I would have thought they would have taken off for their breeding grounds, further north, by now.  Brant geese, too.

Walking into town, we ran into a guy with a Bedlington terrier.  The breed was originally bred in Bedlington, Northumberland, where my parents went to high school. My mother always had a fondness for Bedlingtons, with their lamb-like looks.

 Full moon tonight, beautiful rising over Truro and the bay.

Sunday May 7  Walking at the beech forest near Race Point, we came upon a scruffy fox, snuffling on the path, then trotting around us.

Monday May 8 Walking along Commercial Street, saw blossom petals surrounding this sculpture and along the path.

Thursday May 11 Back in Boston, there's a new quote on the bandstand at Jamaica Pond: "I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship", from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. Apart from the life metaphor, appropriate as they teach sailing at the boathouse, next door.

Several neighbors have told me they've seen a bald eagle at the pond over the last couple of weeks; Robert Amelio got this photo of it today.  I've been on the lookout for it, but still haven't seen it.

Robert Amelio

Walking to Route 9 along the Emerald Necklace, I stopped at the ball field to check on the red-tail hawk nest near the top of one of the light poles, but no hawks at the nest.

On the way back home from an Audubon meeting at Broadmoor in Natick, I stopped at a little park with this tranquil view of the Charles River. 

Saturday May 13  Back in Provincetown, loved this espaliered fruit tree with the begonias.

Friday May 19 Wonderful morning at a bird banding station at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge (aka Plum Island) with a Mass Audubon group.  The banding station is a small, one room wooden hut, with one wall that is all doorway, and the other three walls with large openings with shutters to close them off.  Inside, a few benches and shelves to keep supplies.  A couple of volunteers check the mist nets, set up in the woods not too far from the hut, every 15 minutes so that birds aren't trapped in the net for too long.  They disentangle each bird, place it in a cloth bag, close it with a drawstring and bring it back to the hut;  they sometimes brought several birds back at a time.

Wilson's warbler

 

First up, a Wilson's warbler, with its black cap, looking like a yarmulke, olive yellow sides and yellow belly.  Then an ovenbird, with its orange and black striped crown and white belly with black streaks.  Then a least flycatcher, magnolia warbler, common yellowthroat, and finally, a black-and-white warbler. And in between watching the banding, the group was spotting warblers in the trees right next to the hut.

Ben Flemer, the licensed bird bander, banded each bird, with different sized bands for different size birds, measured its wing chord length, blew on its belly feathers to expose the skin to check how much fat it had, then placed it in a paper cone and placed the cone in an old frozen juice container on a scale to weigh it.  

Banding

 

Exposing skin to check on fat

Weighing

 

After about an hour and a half, we walked along the roadway for a bit, seeing yet more warblers in the trees: chestnut-sided warbler, Tennessee warbler, yellow warbler and Canada warbler.

Wednesday May 24 On our drive to Montreal, somewhere in New Hampshire, we saw a fisher cat in the grass, heading towards the road, then stopping to poke its head up over the top of the grass. Amazing.

On Rue St Denis in Montreal, near the place we were staying, we found a Mycoboutique: a mushroom store, selling "wild mushrooms, fine products, outings, books, supplies and mycelium".

Thursday May 25 With my friend Sylvia, we visited the large Jean Talon market in the morning, wandering around the stalls, admiring the fresh vegetables.

And in the afternoon, we joined a walking tour of murals done for Montreal's mural festival in past years. This rooster seemed appropriate for nature notes. 

Friday May 26 Walked up Mont Royal, enjoying the park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. Great view from the Kondiaronk lookout over downtown, the St. Lawrence River and the Eastern Townships off in the distance (scene of the Louise Penny crime novels).

 

In the afternoon, we went to the Museum of Fine Arts and saw an exhibit by a First Nations wood carver, Dempsey Bob, from the Northwest coast.  Wonderful carvings, with representations of eagles, ravens, beavers, bears, frogs and people.

Eagles North

Saturday May 27 We went across town to the Botanical Garden, where there was a festival with all sorts of plant-related booths: garden clubs, rose society, botanical products etc.  (We were struck by the number of festivals in Montreal: in just the few days we were there, we saw a Comic Arts festival, a Portugese festival and the Botanical Garden festival.) As part of the festival, several women, costumed as trees, were walking slowly along the main path, reaching out to kids along the way with their branches.

We especially loved the Chinese garden, with its ponds, waterfall and pagodas.

Tuesday May 30  On the way back to Boston, we stopped overnight at White Pine Camp at Paul Smiths in the Adirondacks, where Jeannie and I used to go - it was as beautiful and peaceful as ever.