Trail Wood #22.09 by Earl Plato
Writer’s note: It was in the evening dusk on a road in Wainfleet Marsh that I heard the unmistakeable notes of a special February bird. Edwin Teale describes those sounds as only he can..
“ Evening comes-we are waiting in the dusk to watch once more the spectacle that has accompanied the end of recent days. We hear the whistle of wings, we catch sight of a chunky form with a long, down tilted bill lifting from the darkened meadows. We follow it it up and up as in wide, speeding circles it climbs into the still glowing sky. We stand with heads thrown back watching it diminish in size. We strain our ears to catch the beginning notes of that sweet, twittering warble” -
Writer’s note I recall those sounds. Of what?
“ the flight song of a woodcock. … it whirls like a gust-blown leaf, tilting and veering with such sudden changes we have difficulty keeping it in our glasses. The air is filled with he beauty of its song.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Spring is coming at Trail Wood
Trail Wood #20.09 by Earl Plato
Writer’s note: Apparently many of the readers of my “Nature article “ blog like my offerings of Edwin May Teale’s daily log write ups. I will continue to do so. Make a comment anytime if you wish,
“… the hours pass on as Nellie and I follow the old trails. Visit old friends among the trees, note the effects of winter and its storms. The day is filled with sunshine; the mercury is rising.
We find the red-wing blackbirds scattered over the lowland woods, We listen to the scream of the red-shouldered hawk above the trees. We see an emerging woodchuck nibbling on tender leaves of the new green grass. We catch the richly nostalgic scent of the warming soil, the reviving earth. We stand beside the widening band of open water along the edges of the pond. We notice how transparent it is after the months of calm beneath the ice.”
Writer’s note: I have seen only a few red-shouldered hawks in Niagara and New York state. Thanks to my slide from my Cornell collection I include it
Writer’s note: Apparently many of the readers of my “Nature article “ blog like my offerings of Edwin May Teale’s daily log write ups. I will continue to do so. Make a comment anytime if you wish,
“… the hours pass on as Nellie and I follow the old trails. Visit old friends among the trees, note the effects of winter and its storms. The day is filled with sunshine; the mercury is rising.
We find the red-wing blackbirds scattered over the lowland woods, We listen to the scream of the red-shouldered hawk above the trees. We see an emerging woodchuck nibbling on tender leaves of the new green grass. We catch the richly nostalgic scent of the warming soil, the reviving earth. We stand beside the widening band of open water along the edges of the pond. We notice how transparent it is after the months of calm beneath the ice.”
Writer’s note: I have seen only a few red-shouldered hawks in Niagara and New York state. Thanks to my slide from my Cornell collection I include it
Downy at Trail Wood
Trail Wood #19.09 Earl Plato
Writer’s Note: In my little sketch pad I drew a Downy woodpecker. Later I colured it. Ed Teale mentions this little woodpecker in this March offering.( my drawing was too faint)
“ On this morning in the wake of the quiet storm, Nellie and I wade on a wandering course through the woods, along the brook, and across the fields, clad in immaculate white. We take our time. The sun shines. The day grows warmer. The calling of titmouse and redwing charges the air with the emotion of spring.
Twice on the way home we stop beside the stems of last year’s goldenrods. Ach stem exhibit’s a round,
balloonlike swelling has been punctured by the chisel bill of a downy woodpecker. On some cold day in winter, the bird had excavated the round bevelled hole and had extracted the pupa from within the sphere of the goldenrod gall.”
Trail Wood #19.09 Earl Plato
Writer’s Note: In my little sketch pad I drew a Downy woodpecker. Later I colured it. Ed Teale mentions this little woodpecker in this March offering.( my drawing was too faint)
“ On this morning in the wake of the quiet storm, Nellie and I wade on a wandering course through the woods, along the brook, and across the fields, clad in immaculate white. We take our time. The sun shines. The day grows warmer. The calling of titmouse and redwing charges the air with the emotion of spring.
Twice on the way home we stop beside the stems of last year’s goldenrods. Ach stem exhibit’s a round, balloonlike swelling has been punctured by the chisel bill of a downy woodpecker. On some cold day in winter, the bird had excavated the round bevelled hole and had extracted the pupa from within the sphere of the goldenrod gall.”
Writer’s Note: In my little sketch pad I drew a Downy woodpecker. Later I colured it. Ed Teale mentions this little woodpecker in this March offering.( my drawing was too faint)
“ On this morning in the wake of the quiet storm, Nellie and I wade on a wandering course through the woods, along the brook, and across the fields, clad in immaculate white. We take our time. The sun shines. The day grows warmer. The calling of titmouse and redwing charges the air with the emotion of spring.
Twice on the way home we stop beside the stems of last year’s goldenrods. Ach stem exhibit’s a round,
balloonlike swelling has been punctured by the chisel bill of a downy woodpecker. On some cold day in winter, the bird had excavated the round bevelled hole and had extracted the pupa from within the sphere of the goldenrod gall.”
Trail Wood #19.09 Earl Plato
Writer’s Note: In my little sketch pad I drew a Downy woodpecker. Later I colured it. Ed Teale mentions this little woodpecker in this March offering.( my drawing was too faint)
“ On this morning in the wake of the quiet storm, Nellie and I wade on a wandering course through the woods, along the brook, and across the fields, clad in immaculate white. We take our time. The sun shines. The day grows warmer. The calling of titmouse and redwing charges the air with the emotion of spring.
Twice on the way home we stop beside the stems of last year’s goldenrods. Ach stem exhibit’s a round, balloonlike swelling has been punctured by the chisel bill of a downy woodpecker. On some cold day in winter, the bird had excavated the round bevelled hole and had extracted the pupa from within the sphere of the goldenrod gall.”
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Trail Wood Redpshouldered hawk
Trail Wood #19.09 by Earl Plato
Writer’s note: Apparently many of the readers of my “Nature article “ blog like my offerings of Edwin May Teale’s daily log write ups. I will continue to do so. Make a comment anytime if you wish,
“… the hours pass on as Nellie and I follow the old trails. Visit old friends among the trees, note the effects of winter and its storms. The day is filled with sunshine; the mercury is rising.
We find the red-wing blackbirds scattered over the lowland woods, We listen to the scream of the red-shouldered hawk above the trees. We see an emerging woodchuck nibbling on tender leaves of the new green grass. We catch the richly nostalgic scent of the warming soil, the reviving earth. We stand beside the widening band of open water along the edges of the pond. We notice how transparent it is after the months of calm beneath the ice.”
Writer’s note: I have seen only a few red-shouldered hawks in Niagara and New York state. Thanks to my slide from my Cornell collection I include it
Writer’s note: Apparently many of the readers of my “Nature article “ blog like my offerings of Edwin May Teale’s daily log write ups. I will continue to do so. Make a comment anytime if you wish,
“… the hours pass on as Nellie and I follow the old trails. Visit old friends among the trees, note the effects of winter and its storms. The day is filled with sunshine; the mercury is rising.
We find the red-wing blackbirds scattered over the lowland woods, We listen to the scream of the red-shouldered hawk above the trees. We see an emerging woodchuck nibbling on tender leaves of the new green grass. We catch the richly nostalgic scent of the warming soil, the reviving earth. We stand beside the widening band of open water along the edges of the pond. We notice how transparent it is after the months of calm beneath the ice.”
Writer’s note: I have seen only a few red-shouldered hawks in Niagara and New York state. Thanks to my slide from my Cornell collection I include it
Downy
Trail Wood #19.09 Earl Plato
Writer’s Note: In my little sketch pad I drew a Downy woodpecker. Later I colured it. Ed Teale mentions this little woodpecker in this march offering.
“ On this morning in the wake of the quiet storm, Nellie and I wade on a wandering course through the woods, along the brook, and across the fields, clad in immaculate white. We take our time. The sun shines. The day grows warmer. The calling of titmouse and redwing charges the air with the emotion of spring.
Twice on the way home we stop beside the stems of last year’s goldenrods. Ach stem exhibit’s a round,
balloonlike swelling has been punctured by the chisel bill of a downy woodpecker. On some cold day in winter, the bird had excavated the round bevelled hole and had extracted the pupa from within the sphere of the goldenrod gall.”
Writer’s Note: In my little sketch pad I drew a Downy woodpecker. Later I colured it. Ed Teale mentions this little woodpecker in this march offering.
“ On this morning in the wake of the quiet storm, Nellie and I wade on a wandering course through the woods, along the brook, and across the fields, clad in immaculate white. We take our time. The sun shines. The day grows warmer. The calling of titmouse and redwing charges the air with the emotion of spring.
Twice on the way home we stop beside the stems of last year’s goldenrods. Ach stem exhibit’s a round,
balloonlike swelling has been punctured by the chisel bill of a downy woodpecker. On some cold day in winter, the bird had excavated the round bevelled hole and had extracted the pupa from within the sphere of the goldenrod gall.”
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