If we were having coffee: For the birds edition

On the Pocomoke River, a mandala I drew last weekend.

What makes a river so restful to people is that it doesn’t have any doubt — it is sure to get where it is going, and it doesn’t want to go anywhere else.

~ Hal Boyle

Pocomoke River from the Milburn Landing area.

If we were having coffee, tea, water, or some other beverage, I would be delighted to see you again.  Hugs if you’re amenable to them.  Come on in!  It’s a little chilly outside especially after the warm week we had.  It was nearly 70°F on Wednesday.  Then, as you probably already know, the rain and snow came and a cold front followed.  Let’s grab our drinks and some snacks, and go to the living room where the sun and the wood stove will keep us warm while we chat.

We met this big, beautiful tree on our way to the Bald Cypress Trail last Saturday. Pocomoke River State Park.

How are you?  Have you been well?  Or not so well?  Have you done or seen anything exciting and wondrous?  Have you traveled anywhere?  Spent time with friends or family?  Have you gone on any good walks or hikes?  Experienced any unusual weather?  Have you read any good books, bad books, or mediocre books?  Seen any good movies?

Looking up at the big, beautiful loblolly pine.

I don’t have anything new to report on the book or movie fronts.  I’m still reading The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel and Falling into Grace: Insights on the End of Suffering.  I’ve taken a little break from Far from the Madding Crowd, but better get back to it soon before I forget what’s happened so far.  I have it on my tablet and read it when I’m traveling somewhere.  M and I have stayed pretty close to home lately so I’ve had no excuse to read it.  I’m about half way through.  I think this might be my last Thomas Hardy book.  I enjoy his prose and his descriptions of the English countryside, but I also struggle with it.

Tall trees edging the lane.

Well, what I mean is that I shouldn’t mind being a bride at a wedding, if I could be one without having a husband.

~ Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd

An owl and her handler.

If we were having coffee or something else to drink, I would tell you that it has been a quiet week here on the Wabi-Sabi Ranch.  Oh, the weather has been active and somewhat schizophrenic, trying to decide whether it wishes to be spring or winter, but for me, it’s been a low-key, almost soft, week.  This time of year usually is that way.  It’s a time of germination.  There are stirrings, tiny movements before the roots take hold as the newly formed plant breaks through and emerges.  Or, to put it in more practical terms, ideas are forming, projects are ending and beginning, the usual chores are getting done, and it’s time to start thinking about the garden.

Watching a Bald Eagle fly overhead.

If we were having coffee or tea or some other beverage, I would tell you that M and I had a good time last weekend on the Eagle Watch boat tour.  We arrived at the park about an hour or so before the tour so we could take a little hike.  We walked the Bald Cypress Trail, a trail we’ve hiked before, which passes through the usual loblolly pine groves, hardwood trees, and a bald cypress swamp.  It’s a trail best hiked in the winter months if you want to avoid ticks, mosquitoes, and biting flies.  Late autumn is good, too, if the weather is cool enough, because the trees look like this:

November 2013.

The trees are bare now, of course, beautifully showing off their bones.  I didn’t take many photos in the forest because I had forgotten to bring an extra battery and wanted to save what power I had for the boat trip.

Portrait of a Great Horned Owl.

After our short hike (it’s a 1-mile loop) we went back to the boat landing and pavilion where some of the park rangers were hanging out with a few birds that were rescued and cannot be released back into the wild for various reasons.  The owl, who you met on my Silent Sunday post, was rescued when she (for some reason, I keep thinking it was a female) was young and imprinted on humans.  She never learned how to hunt and wouldn’t be able to feed herself if she was released.

Looking back. (Turkey Vulture.)

We met a turkey vulture, whose feathers I showed you on Wednesday.  The reason I took the close-up of its feathers was to show beauty where most see ugliness.  As you already know, I like turkey vultures, and enjoy watching them here at the ranch.  I didn’t get a chance to talk with the handler of the vulture to find out why the bird was rescued and still in captivity.

Juvenile Bald Eagle.

The third bird we met was a juvenile Bald Eagle.  He didn’t seem happy at all about being on display.  He was found starving to death because of a deformed beak, poor guy.

You can clearly see his beak deformity here.

The boat ride itself took about an hour.  We didn’t see many eagles.  Jerry, our boat captain and tour guide, said that most years he sees at least 30-50 eagles out there on this tour.  Nobody is quite sure why there are fewer eagles this year.  One theory is that is has to do with the mild winter.  Because of that, the eagles are either late getting here or they are nesting early, and when they’re nesting, they don’t see as many since one bird always stays with the nest while the eggs are incubating.  I think we saw about five eagles, all in all.  Maybe six or seven.

Close-up.

We did see a great many turkey vultures.  The eagles like to hang with the turkey vultures, something I knew from watching them here at the ranch.  It’s sometimes difficult to pick out the eagles.  Sunlight hitting the birds at just the right angle helps (highlighting the eagle’s white head and tail).  Also, the eagles flap their wings more often than the vultures so I always watch for that sign first.

Sunlight on eagle feathers.

I didn’t get many good photos while on the boat tour.  The eagles we did see were quite far away, and I don’t have a lens that handles that kind of distance well.  Maybe someday I’ll get one of those great, big lenses.  Or not.  Not having the big lens allows me to enjoy just being there in the moment rather than trying to capture it since I know what my limitations are with the lenses I do have.

First sighting.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I hope to make some changes here at Ye Olde Blogge soon.  It needs revamping.  I don’t think I’ll change the theme, mostly because I’m too lazy to be messing with the widgets (which always seem to drop out when I change themes).  I rather like this theme, and haven’t seen any others that suit me as well.  I will work on some of the Pages.  I have decided to do away with my blogroll.  I don’t think anyone even uses them anymore now that we have readers and other means of following fellow bloggers, and I haven’t kept mine up to date.  I will also update Animals, minerals, and vegetables on the Wabi-Sabi Ranch.

I’m working on a series, too, that I hope to start posting soon.  It’s a series about solitude, and I’m finding it difficult going in spots, especially when it comes to the personal aspects where I am trying to figure out where my boundaries lie in terms of how much to share.

A sky full of birds.

If we were having coffee, tea, or something else, I would turn things over to you now so you can tell me about your week.  I’ve rambled more than enough (as usual!).  Thank you so much for joining me for another coffee chat.  If you have time, let’s go for a walk out to the dock.  Later we can watch the sunset either from the dock or from the Point.  I’ll leave our destination for the evening show up to you.  I’m fine with either one.

Be good, be kind, be loving.  Just Be.  🙂

This post is in response to Part Time Monster’s #WeekendCoffeeShare.  Thank you to Diana for hosting it.  Put the kettle on, start the coffee maker, open a bottle of wine, or whatever your preference is, and join us.  I’d love to hear all about what you were up to this week.