First Snowy Owl Sighting

Today I saw my first snowy owl. I made an afternoon visit to The Parker River Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island hoping I would get a chance to see this beautiful bird and I wasn't disappointed.

I had been told by a woman at the refuge headquarters just where to find the bird I was looking for. Unfortunately, the owl was perched in a distant grove of trees and my binoculars weren't strong enough to get a closeup view. Luckily for me a fellow birder had his high-powered scope set up and was kind enough to let me look through it. As beautiful as all photos of snowy owls are they can't really prepare you for the glorious vision of your first live view of this magnificent creature.

I left the refuge with a feeling of gratitude and awe at seeing yet another one of the many wonders of nature.

A New Year And More Snow!

We had over twenty-seven inches of snow last month and missed within a fraction of an inch of having the snowiest December in New England history.

Here it is New Year's Day 2008 and it's snowing heavily again this afternoon. It looks like we'll get a few inches or more before it ends tonight.

With all this snow many people are all ready beginning to tire of winter. They've had enough of shoveling and sanding icy walkways and roads.

It's a fact of life that winter is often a bother and a nuisance but it's also true that like the other seasons winter has its own special beauty. There is the lace of snow clinging to the bare branches of trees adding grace to the winter landscape. The sound of children's laughter as they play in the snow or skate across a frozen country pond. And the merry music of the chickadees busily flying from feeder to fence post.

Spring!

Today is the day that spring officially arrives. With almost a foot of snow still on the ground it still seems like a long time before we will see signs of the season. But the March sun will soon melt the snow away and the bare ground will begin to turn green with the first new grass of the season. Soon the familiar songs of robins and other songbirds will be heard in the trees.

After A Night Of Rain

Around six this morning, just as the all night rain was ending, I heard a solitary bird singing outside my window, filling me with a feeling of peace and joy, if only for a few precious minutes.

Back From The Everglades

I just returned from a trip to Florida where I had a chance to visit part of Everglades National Park. It was the northern section of the park located in Everglades City. My brother and I took the guided tour on a small tourist boat with about a dozen or so passengers. We went into a wide swamp where our guide pointed out such attractions as manatees and small islands full of mangrove trees whose twisted exposed roots fed on the salty water of the swamp. Our guide mentioned the fact that there were no alligators here because they lived in fresh water. We also got a glimpse of a diving dolphin as well as seeing herons,terns, ospreys and other birds. Interesting trip. I would love to return someday and visit the rest of the park.

Eagle Festival

Got my binoculars out this morning and drove to Newburyport to attend their annual eagle festival. There were several places inside and outside the city where activities were being held. I went to visit the new headquarters of the Parker River Wildlife Refuge on Rolfe's Lane in Newbury. I sat for an hour with young couples and their kids on benches in a small room off the main lobby to listen to a talk by an expert on birds. He brought with him some papier mache birds' heads that he had made and put on a great show, increasing our knowledge of the lives of birds and making us laugh while doing so.

I left the building with a map of spots in the local area where bald eagles had been seen. When I got to Spring Street in Newburyport I found a small crowd standing on the snow-covered bank of the river gazing through their binoculars at the sky and at the upper branches of trees along the far banks of the river. Looking through my binoculars I saw one eagle perched on a tree limb that jutted out over the water and another soaring above the highway bridge that crossed the Merrimac. Seeing those beautiful birds made my day. As I drove home I realized how fortunate I was to have a chance see bald eagles almost in my backyard. I will definitely be going back again soon!