Ripening Springtime

The sweetness of the wild rose…

The quiet of an early morning stroll on the Rail Trail listening to birdsongā€¦

 

 

 

 

Ā TheĀ  shimmer of little goslings preening in mellow evening sunshineā€¦

These are the tokens of ripening springtime.

How sweet it is.

–LS



ā€œā€¦and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.Ā  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.ā€ Is.35:1-2

Little bear antics

It was a quiet early evening.  Weā€™d had some chips and salsa for supper on the balcony just off the kitchenā€¦ 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 dayā€¦

What is that!  A shaggy black coat stood by the tree just down the slope out back.  And it wasnā€™t Jim! 

I ran to find him and his dad and we stood on the balcony watching our very own ā€˜Minute-Circusā€™ act.

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

If at first you donā€™t succeed, try again another way!

Our backyard minute-circus

–LS

ā€œA workerā€™s appetite works for him; his mouth urges him on.ā€™ā€ Prov.16:26

Birding for the first timeā€¦

There arenā€™t many things worth volunteering to get up at 5:00 forā€¦ but I discovered it to be a lovely and peaceful time of day, perfect for listening to birdsong!

JaniceOne 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 justā€¦generic birdsong.  A Rail and a Sora? I didnā€™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 ā€˜em up arcade gameā€¦

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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. 

Janice birdingAnd 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 earlyā€¦ just to listen.

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And of course I had to take pictures of what I could seeā€¦

Flowers, of courseā€¦P1170408

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And Mr. and Mrs. Mallard!

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–LS

ā€œThe flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing [of birds] is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our landā€¦ā€  Song of Solomon 2:12