Tag: birds
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Secret Signs in the Snow, part 1
I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape — the loneliness of it — the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it — the whole story doesn’t show. ~Andrew Wyeth, c. 1973, quoted on http://www.quotegarden.com/winter.html A wintertime visit to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens might seem boring or dull compared…
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Coot Feet are the Best Feet
One of my absolute favorite birds showed up at the park this winter: an American Coot (Fulica americana). They seem like a fairly plain bird, until you get a look at their amazing feet! The first picture in the gallery above is zoomed in on the best shot I could get of the coot walking…
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Ranger Life
One of the central parts of my job is opening the park every day. All of us who are on duty for a given day unlock the gates and then make our way to the Visitor Center. Once we’ve opened our offices and deactivated the alarms, we go on a walk around the ponds and…
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Duck Envy
I love the wintertime. Not just because I enjoy cozying up in cold weather, although that’s pretty nice– and Luna gets extra cuddly too when it’s cold out. But my main reason for loving winter is that’s when lots of duck species show up in my area. Huge flocks (or rafts) sometimes show up in…
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Monhegan Island Wildlife
[Note: this post was originally written in 2023, and now a year later I’m finally posting it while back at Monhegan!] I’m spending a week with family on Monhegan Island, ten miles off the coast of Maine. The habitat up here in Maine is much different from the warm, moist Mid-Atlantic where I live. There…
The Contented Naturalist 