May 2015 – Skelton Sketches

Ripening Springtime

Posted on May 28, 2015April 29, 2017 by lindaskelton

The sweetness of the wild rose…

The quiet of an early morning stroll on the Rail Trail listening to birdsong…

The shimmer of little goslings preening in mellow evening sunshine…

These are the tokens of ripening springtime.

How sweet it is.

–LS

“…and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.” Is.35:1-2

Little bear antics

Posted on May 20, 2015April 29, 2017 by lindaskelton

It was a quiet early evening. We’d had some chips and salsa for supper on the balcony just off the kitchen… Now the dishes were tucked away and I stepped back out on the balcony to listen to the birds and crickets and enjoy the quiet of the day…

What is that! A shaggy black coat stood by the tree just down the slope out back. And it wasn’t Jim!

I ran to find him and his dad and we stood on the balcony watching our very own ‘Minute-Circus’ act.

This little bear was intent on getting at some old cans hanging there for target practice…What a clever acrobat he turned out to be!

If at first you don’t succeed, try again another way!

Our backyard minute-circus

–LS

“A worker’s appetite works for him; his mouth urges him on.’” Prov.16:26

Birding for the first time…

Posted on May 14, 2015April 29, 2017 by lindaskelton

There aren’t many things worth volunteering to get up at 5:00 for… but I discovered it to be a lovely and peaceful time of day, perfect for listening to birdsong!

One morning this week I accompanied an expert birder on her rounds to inventory a set of marsh birds in several local riparian areas. Distinguishing birdsong is quite an incredible skill. I know a raven. And a duck. And a red-winged blackbird. Oh, and a chickadee! (Ha!) But the rest is just…generic birdsong. A Rail and a Sora? I didn’t even know those were birds? A Bittern I had heard of, and a Coot and a Grebe. But their calls? Most unusual. One was rather like an amplified PLUNK of water. Another reminded me of a cross between a donkey and a squeaky water toy. Then there was the one that resembled a shoot ‘em up arcade game…

We listened for these and other calls and we listened to the morning birdsong of a host of other birds (that I could not identify!) waking the dawn. And we felt the sun rise to chase away the early morning chill.

And though we did not actually see the birds we tracked and hoped to hear (some of them are extremely secretive), we did see the morning in all its freshness and it was worth rising early… just to listen.

And of course I had to take pictures of what I could see…

Flowers, of course…

And Mr. and Mrs. Mallard!

–LS

“The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing [of birds] is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land…” Song of Solomon 2:12