October 31, 2007 by OrientSee.

A bright windy day. There were plenty of planes overhead but it was strangely quiet in spite of the jets. The birds were out of sight except for this artifact. It was lying on the spartina close to another feather. Perhaps there had been a gull tangle. In any case, it added to the zen calm of the day. Wandering close to the edge of the marsh can be a form of wandering by the teeming void, a sort of ambulatory meditation. It empties you out but you’re not empty. There something else there.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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October 30, 2007 by OrientSee.

Gulls soar and occasionally scratch themselves in mid-flight. They can ride the air currents like sailboats. Pigeons are the hip-hop masters of urban flight. They can maneuver their way through buildings and trees and never miss a beat. This is a Northern Harrier, another master of the air. Harriers fly above the marsh but only three or four feet above the grass. They flip over a stand of phragmites like a surfer and coast down the far side always looking for prey, mostly mice etc. They’ll pounce on something in the grass and then move on. This one flew right past me so close that I nearly jumped off the overlook platform. The marsh is in full autumn display now as you can see from the foxtails waving in the breeze.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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October 29, 2007 by OrientSee.

Yes, this is a pelican. No, I did not see it at Belle Isle Marsh. I just got back from the Outer Banks of North Carolina. For someone used to his own neighborhood marsh, it came as something of a shock to see a marsh several miles wide and twenty or more miles long. There were birds everywhere. We had Boat-tailed Grackles outside our room and they are now the winners of the most annoying bird sound award. They are very aggressive birds and their antics are entertaining but their calls are far from musical. One of the highlights this spring for me was seeing a Tricolored Heron but in North Carolina, it was just a middling interesting bird. It was a great trip and a pilgrimage for me to Kitty Hawk. I have always wanted to see the dunes that the Wright Brothers first flew from. There was a monument and a museum and it was all that I had hoped to see. When you first see the markers that stand at the end of their first three powered flights, it is an amazing sight. From that piddling distance to now, that is the difference between 800 feet and a trip to the moon. Back to the marsh tomorrow.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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October 17, 2007 by OrientSee.

A soft breeze and a warm tide. October can bring a moment of quiet splendor. A day gone well and a bright sky. The taste of satisfaction lingers. A very enjoyable ramble through the marsh with warblers, herons and egrets. I’m trying hard to forget that November looms closer and closer. Today is enough.

p.s. A road trip beckons and I’ll be back soon.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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October 16, 2007 by OrientSee.

The canopy is thinning and the breezes cooler. There are bright yellows, reds and oranges everywhere as the leaves turn. Ordinarily October is not a month that is known for wildflowers but in fact there are still plenty of blooms to savor such as this. The casket company thicket was literally crawling with warblers this morning while the long thicket out to the overlook was very quiet. It was low tide so that the only herons and egrets were over on the Winthrop shore. I was surprised on the Bennington St. bridge by an enormous number of small minnow size fish. Actually the lack of birds feasting on the school was the big surprise. It was a protein extravaganza but not a bird in sight. The day was bright and another gift to anyone who came out for a stroll.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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October 15, 2007 by OrientSee.

Yellow butt. Well to be polite a Yellow-rumped Warbler. These small warblers have been hanging around the thickets these last two weeks. They are less secretive than some other warblers and this particular bird seemed to enjoy my attentions. Apparently they are very fond of bayberries which the marsh supplies in abundance. Crush the berry or a leaf and you’ll smell that wonderful odor. Used in cooking, aftershave and candles, bay supports bird life as well. The yellow rumps are very active and the little yellow spot makes them easy to follow. I’m afraid that once they leave the thickets will be mostly silent until March or April. Time and seasons are passing on. This morning early, I saw Orion which definitely portends the cold weather. It is one of the few constellations that I can readily identify. The belt is very distinctive. The winter sky is nearing.

p.s. Yesterday’s non-blog event was due to senescence and operator error.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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October 13, 2007 by OrientSee.

The bright October sun hits the water at an angle and the camera sees rubies and diamonds as well as ducks. Your eyes just see glare. It has been a jewel of a day. The air is clear and clean. There is a brisk breeze. The ducks are more numerous as some of them will overwinter here at Belle Isle. Another unusual sight today were two people fly fishing in one of the bigger drainage channels by Rosie’s Pond. It was mesmerizing to watch the lines snake through the air catching the light as they cast. I wonder what they were trying to catch. The heron gang is still here. The five Great Blue Herons were sitting at the edge of the grass by the creek. It looked to be a great place to be catching your afternoon siesta. Which reminds me!

Ciao!

-Jorge

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October 12, 2007 by OrientSee.

Migrants pass through on their way south. Often there are birds which never spend their summers or breed here. Sometimes they seem out of place in a marsh separated from the Atlantic by one road and a small bridge. This little guy is a Brown Creeper. They creep around and up and down tree trunks eating bugs. The curved bill is very elegant. This particular bird came to my attention while I was watching some herons. I didn’t even notice it until it popped into my binoculars obscuring my sight of a Great Blue. What is this? Taking the binocs from my eyes, I could focus on this bird not eight feet in front of me. It was totally oblivious to me and was busy eating. This is a bird that belongs in heavily wooded forests and not in a thicket next to a marsh. It was a delight to watch.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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October 11, 2007 by OrientSee.

Real recycling. Riding back to the redemption center is a genuine participant in treating the world gently. There is always trash in and around the marsh. Sometimes it is mind boggling how much gets dumped at the edges of Belle Isle. I have noticed that at least the bottles and cans get picked up because there is an incentive. Now a nickel may not be much to some people but to others it does add up. In the thicket by the casket company, the beer bottles start to pile up and then mysteriously they all disappear. If only the styrofoam had a bounty too, then that ugly stuff would also disappear as quickly. One problem is that people are willing to carry all kinds of stuff with them wherever they go but seldom can be bothered to carry it out again. The other bigger problem is all the smaller towns around that make it harder to dispose of waste at home than it is to drive it into Boston and abandon it by the side of the road or marsh. It is a daunting thought to pack all this stuff up and carry out other people’s mess but then the city doesn’t cooperate in picking it up. I know this sadly from personal experience. Enough of the pulpit. The marsh is still a beautiful place to visit even if it get’s a little messy some times. In any case, this guy is terrific.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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October 10, 2007 by OrientSee.

Today was a dreary day with rain threatening and so I had no hopes of seeing much today. As I started walking up the path through the thicket, I met this fellow pedestrian. It wasn’t too disturbed. It just picked up its pace and moved on up the path and out of sight. I was surprised that it made no noise or effort to take off. Then the rest of the walk through the thicket was terrific. Robins, warblers, woodpeckers, sparrows, crows and starlings, all were out and noisy. It was like springtime. It seemed like every bush and tree had a bird in it. I wish that I had an experienced birder along with me because most of the little fast moving birds were just a blur of unfamiliarity to me. It was great to see and hear so much. The marsh on the other hand was very sedate with little to see. Today it was all about the smaller guys and not the herons. It made up for the gray day.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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