November 29, 2009 by OrientSee.

 Yesterday’s gale force winds had blown themselves out and the tide was nearly high. It was a bright day that was nearly blinding in its intensity. Rosie’s thicket was very quiet while a few ducks had the pond to themselves. Everything was so quiet that I had a foreboding that today was going to be an empty walk.

Golderod puffballs  in bright November light.

There was a flock of starlings in the park by Lawn and Leverett. Nearby a pack of contentious crows were loudly sounding off. It turned out that there was two reasons. First, the crows were mobbing a Red-Tail Hawk in a nearby tree and secondly because they had found a delicious piece of carrion that they were all feeding off. (Perhaps the Red-Tail’s breakfast?)  I turned around to see some WhiteThroat Sparrows, a Cardinal and a Mockingbird all in and out of the apple trees. The day wasn’t so empty after all.

At the start of the Overlook trail, a golden nugget gleamed in the leaf litter. A crab apple had fallen from an overhanging branch.

Just before the Overlook itself, a flock of robins were feeding in the grass. A Downy Woodpecker and a Flicker were pecking away at the bark above all the ground activity. From the Overlook, I watched this Cooper’s Hawk float past and then scare up all the pigeons by the T station. It didn’t appear to have any success.

The nicest surprise was this Kingfisher hunting in the pools and creek. I don’t see them often at Belle Isle but they are fun to watch as they splash into the water hunting fish. I like watching the huge Ospreys fish and the elegant terns diving but these birds have their own style.

Another RedTail went cruising along Bennington St. and the the Cooper’s was back trying to get a pigeon by the T stop. I got home and was surprised to see this dahlia still in bloom even with December just a few days off.

It was an enjoyable walk today.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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November 17, 2009 by OrientSee.

 Today the November tang of a fresh north wind was everywhere. The air is cool and a delight to taste. The trees are nearly all bare. It was not the leaf that  caught my eye but the leaf twig. It’s a brilliant red that I never noticed before.

Rosie’s thicket was quiet. It will take a snow fall to bring it back to life. Over the train yard, a Red Tail hawk was soaring. Not a good sign for the resident pigeons.

I came across this very well designed winter bird feeder. The small birds will ignore it for a while and then it will look better and better  until all the seed is gone, sometime in January.

A Downy was very busy feeding off the bark bugs.

The more interesting the bird, the more likely you are to cough loudly. I came very close to a Great Blue Heron and then of course, the throat tickle turned into a full blown whoop of a cough. The heron immediately fled.

It’s not unusual to see a cormorant with it’s wings spread in the sunlight. It’s just that this is the first that I have ever seen do it high grass. Usually, it’s only on a beach or pier or sand bar that they do this. On the other hand, today was such a bright day that anywhere would work.

Out in the flats, I walked along this little path and thought of allee. That’s a landscape feature usually found on large old estates of a walkway extending straight into the distance with a line of trees to either side. They are quite impressive. This allee was through a stand of Phragmites and is also quite impressive.

I was surprised to find a small flock of Mourning Doves out next to the Boardwalk. I thought that they had all gone south.

The butterflies seem to be gone except for this milkweed seed turned into a vegetarian butterfly. There were still plenty of crickets sounding in the high grass of the meadow. The flying insects have disappeared but the ground huggers are still here. We really haven’t had a serious hard frost yet.

The best treat of the walk was this diminutive bloom.  I don’t know its name but Rose of November seems appropriate.

A bright shiny day. A bright shiny walk.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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November 8, 2009 by OrientSee.

 Today was an abnormally warm November day. Not a cloud in the sky and temperatures in the high sixties. The thickets were littered with leaves which made it impossible to walk without sounding like a herd of one. I quickly changed plans and started walking across the marsh itself. The tide was racing in and the grass is drying up and losing any green. Surprisingly there was lots of airborne protein (i.e. flying bugs).

His Lord and Majesty was presiding over a puddle full of something worth fishing for.

This apple had fallen but the branch laden with water shoots caught it before it could land on the ground.

Out by the Overlook, I looked up and saw this nest which I must have walked under for months before the leaves fell away and that which was hidden was revealed.

The Overlook panne had a few black ducks and a remarkable field of foxtails backlit by the sun.

The park was quiet. By the gate, a late warbler emigrant sunned itself.

Nearby, that bright red leaf blowing in the wind was really a Cardinal.

Next to the Cardinal, some White-throated Sparrows were foraging in the grass beneath a spruce.

The creek had a small flock of Buffleheads feeding and diving back and forth. They are very energetic birds.

I was nearly home and often by now I put my camera away.  I was walking down a ramp at Suffolk Downs T and caught this great Cooper’s Hawk eyeing all the Starlings buzzing around.

It was a terrific afternoon to be out at Belle Isle.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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