"Love: as though the stars

rushed in upon a void, and in extinction

left a flower."

from Disintegration in a Dream of Love

by D.G. Jones

After a couple days of rain, note to self an uninsulated cabin

4 ft of the ground has no thermal mass and thus retains no 

heat, we are planning to add a wood stove, soon. 

Each year the environment around the cabin 

and the species present change. This year a pair of 

Yellow Warblers have decided to nest 3 ft. off the ground 

in a rose bush next to the porch. ( I just looked it up 

a nest is typically 10 ft. off the ground ) All photos were

taken thru the living room to avoid disrupting the

family, and my plans for a garter snake rock garden

there, put on hold.

First the male fed the female while she brooded.

Then the male took a break to do some brooding 

himself on his upcoming responsibilities.

Or maybe just enjoy the sunshine.

But soon the kids showed up. Hopefully they can

go undetected by the many Red Squirrels and 

Chipmunks in the area.

"But then I saw his luminous plumed Wings

prepared for flight,

and then I heard him singing glory

in a green tree,

and the I caught the vest he'd laid aside

all blest with fire."

from Marvell's Garden

by Phyllis Webb

 

"And the only poet is the wind,

a drifter

who walked in from the coast

with empty pockets

 

He stands on the road

at evening, making a sound

like a stone harp

strummed

by a handful of leaves...."

 

from The Stone Harp

John Haines

 

Irruption?

 

Thursday I went out on my lunch hour to photograph the

white tailed jackrabbits that have loped through my dreams

recently. While I encountered some, it was a flock of birds in the

spruce that spoke to me. I was initially uncertain if they

were Grosbeaks or Crossbirds but Red Crossbills they were.

One thing that confused me was that I kept seeing

Red Breasted Nuthatches in my camera. I had always

considered them the immobile resident birds of our front

yard spruce. Upon returning home some research told me

that they did indeed irrupt regularly moving about the

countryside, often in mixed species flocks. We do not see a

lot of bird species in the winter so these irruptions of birds 

 whether they be Snowy Owls, Mountain Ash seeking

Waxwings, or the flocks of Snow Buntings skittering across a cold

countryside are welcome additions to the prairie landscape.

The Crossbills are residents of the foothills near Calgary but I have

not seen one the the city for a couple of years perhaps they

are in town for dinner and a movie.Or a visit with their city cousins

the Nuthatches. There were perhaps 30-40 Crosbillls and

5-10 Nuthatches so I am not sure if that constitutes a true

irruption but it was fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found this nest at the base of a spruce

in the mountains some years ago. There was a large flock of

Crossbills in the trees so I have assumed this in a Crossbill nest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

" the seasons pass

just outside their hearing

but what they died for has faded away

and become something quite different

past justice and injustice"

 

        from The Battlefield at Batoche

                            Al Purdy

Last week there was lots of nest building going on.

This magpie objected to me watching it collect sticks.

It has chosen to nest in a tree next to a public path

and within 6 feet of a huge transformer that hums

continuously.

The tree is also dying as far as I can tell, we did lose

lots of spruce to drought a few years ago. I am worried

however that we may be getting spruce budworm here.

Since spruce are the most common conifer in Calgary

this could be a real disaster. We also have 4 fifty year old

spruce on our front lawn ( it is a bit crowded ) which house

lots of critters and I would be hate to loose them.

The next day I found another nest much bigger
and well hidden.  The two Magpies were
working on it as I watched.

"Every bird had sought its nest,
And each flower-spirit
Dreamed of that delicious rest"

                Lost and Found
                            Charles Sangster

Last week before our weekend snow, when it was fairly spring like

I went to the nearby park at lunch. I took pictures of a number

of chickadees before I found one working away high up in a poplar.

I assumed it was caching something but it kept working away 

twisting it's body like a little drill it's head completely disappearing

and I kept taking photos. I vaguely thought they inhabited spruce trees

or woodpecker holes in the winter and never gave summer much

thought. Despite having lots of bird books I tend to read up

on less "common"  birds. At some point I began to realize the

chickadee was actually excavating a hole. Of course when

I got back to my office I checked on that Canadian institution

the Hinterland Who's Who.

It was not until I got home I was able to really check the photos.

"Together, they dig out a hole in the rotting wood of a dead stump,

usually about 1 to 3 m above ground. They may also nest 9 to 12 m up

in the dead parts of live trees, or in hollows abandoned by

other hole-nesting birds. "

                          Bird Fact Sheets: Black-capped Chickadee

                                Hinterland Who's Who

"Everywhere

the stream

of life goes on,

and I try to

go with it,

non-swimmer,

paddler in a leaky 

canoe."

                              Notes to My Mother

                                         Linda Pastin