I had to pull out my trusty butterfly field guides in order to ID this fellow. See that white marking on the hind wing, the one that looks like a question mark on its side? That was the key.
Happy Wednesday!
Wednesday Wild: Question Mark Butterfly
Wednesday Wild: Vacation Edition
You know I love the wild in my own backyard … but this summer I had the chance to venture outside of it and explore another wild place: Acadia National Park.
Oh, my. It’s a spectacular place!
On one of my favorite adventures, we found this baby turtle sunning and stretching its legs (if you look closely you can see the stretching) on a pond not far from Eagle Lake on Mount Desert Island. If pictures came with audio, this one would feature the croaking of frogs, the chattering of squirrels, the squawking of crows, and the gentle rain of wind moving through the surrounding forest. Heavenly.
Wednesday Wild: Barn Swallows
Can you see them up there? They’re nesting in our barn and have been lovely tenants. (I am a bit worried, however, that once the babies come we will have to park our cars somewhere else.)
Anyway, our barn swallows are wishing you a Happy Fourth of July …
… a day filled with friends and family and finery. And a little wild, too.
Wednesday Wild: Tiger Moth
I’m cheating a bit, because I didn’t actually spend a moment in the wild today. Or yesterday. And things aren’t looking too good for tomorrow either. Some weeks are like that. The good news is that all this inside-at-my-desk time translates into a steadily lengthening rough draft of my new book. (Hooray!) And since I’m sort of a wildlife-in-my-backyard junkie, I always have a backup photograph to share…
I found this moth dazed under the porch lights one night last week and was struck by its size and bright markings. It was fairly easy to identify it (through my favorite online insect field guide, bugguide.net) as a tiger moth. I followed up with my trusty handheld field guide (Caterpillars of Eastern North America, by David L. Wagner) and was surprised with this tidbit: “Adults, when gently squeezed, may bubble generous amounts of their yellow “blood” out of the front corners of the thorax …”
Eww. I did not try it.
Wednesday Wild: Catbird
One of my sons has been learning to bird by ear, and he’s inspired me to try it myself. It’s hard! In fact, I’ve found that the few bird sounds I did recognize by ear have been pushed right out of my brain by the flurry of new calls and songs that I’ve been trying to cram in there. Thankfully, our resident catbird (above) has made it his personal mission, it seems, that I not forget his mew call.
If you press that link, scroll down, hit the play arrow on the audio file labeled “mew call”, and repeat for an hour or two, you’ve got the soundtrack to my Wednesday.
Catchy, no?
Wednesday Wild: Snow
On Saturday, we central New Englanders saw the first true snowfall of the winter. Where I live, we got about five inches, just enough to strap on snowshoes and head out into the wild. My family and I explored the woods near our new house, tracked a neighbor dog, brushed flakes from hearty mushrooms, and stumbled into an area that had, moments before our arrival, been a resting place for four deer. I took photos of the woods and the tracks and the mushrooms and the deer beds, of course, but none of them pleased me as much as the image above. Is there anything as exciting as the rush into untrodden, new-fallen, long-awaited snow?
Happy Wednesday, friends!
Wednesday Wild: Painted Turtle
Yes, I realize it’s Thursday. But putting up a Wednesday Wild post on a Thursday seems about right for me these days. I’m behind in everything, you know? But now that the holidays are past and my family and I are settled into our new place, I’m expecting my days to find their old rhythm. One week soon I will post something wild on a Wednesday. (Or maybe even a Tuesday!) In any event, we’re beginning to explore our new environment, and I’m looking forward to sharing what we find. Which brings me to this painted turtle.
On my birthday, my sons made an unusual request. Meet us at the pond, they said. Bring cookies. Who am I to question such intrigue? I packed up some Oreos and went to the pond. They showed up with two school friends, and all four boys greeted me with Happy Birthday wishes. (Which I thought was adorable. These guys are thirteen, for crying out loud.)
Then they ate the cookies. (As I said: thirteen.)
Then, Come on. We’ve got a surprise for you.
I followed them along the trail beside the pond. Two of them slipped out onto the ice.
(A safety interlude: This pond is so shallow that to break through the ice would drop one into water only ankle-deep. Otherwise I would have not allowed–or joined in–such shenanigans. NEVER WALK ON POND ICE UNLESS YOU ARE SURE IT IS SAFE!)
Okay. On top of the pond, boys sneaker-skated about, peered through the ice, muttered. Eventually they dropped to their knees.
There!
A painted turtle. Under the ice. Just hanging out.
The boys waved me over. I stepped onto the ice. Loud cracks shot wildly about. The boys asked me to step back while they evacuated. They assured me the issue was their weight, not mine. (Love these guys.) And then, with the strain on the ice lessened, I slid out there alone. And I can tell you for certain that a turtle in winter is a mighty fine gift.
Back to Work
After a long and busy month of traveling and packing and moving and unpacking and celebrating and, truth be told, worrying about the work I was neglecting all the while, this morning I get back to work. I got up early, excited to begin, but was stopped short by this breathtaking sunrise. For me, it was a reminder to strive for balance. Work, yes, but enjoy beauty and family and all the rest, too. Every day. Somehow, some way, make room for all of it.
So I spent some time outside with my camera, had breakfast with the boys, walked the little miss to school. Had a cup of tea. And now, with a deep breath of gratitude for the many facets of this gorgeous morning, I’m ready to begin.
Have a wonderful Monday, friends.
Wednesday Wild: Shagbarks
We’re moving. If you have ever moved, you can probably relate to how I’m feeling these days: harried, overwhelmed, excited, and sad. The sad part has to do with saying goodbye to a place that has been Home to my family for a decade. For ten years, we’ve worked the soil here, and trampled the grass and climbed the trees and lived with the wildlife. We know this place in a way that no one else does, and it is very hard to let that go. Those trees up there, for example, are two of a dozen or so shagbark hickories that we have come to know. The new owners will surely love them as much, but when they wonder why the one on the right has no shag at the bottom, who will tell them? Who will describe the little boys who grew up playing under that tree? Little boys who one day ran their chubby hands over those tags and strips of glorious hanging bark and couldn’t help but pull. And pull. And pull. I’m sad that this story will come away with us, and that the lovely, generous, naked-at-the-bottom-shaggy-at-the-top hickory will not.
Wednesday Wild: Stinkhorn
I found this strange musrhoom growing at the edge of the front lawn. It’s a stinkhorn, and I now know where the name comes from; they really stink! The over-sweet smell is distinctive, and designed, I’ve since read, to attract flies, which land on the slime-coated tip of the mushroom, muck about, and fly off with spores stuck to their legs. Stinky, but clever.
Happy Wednesday …