October 7, 2008 by OrientSee.

Today was a bright brilliant October day. After this morning’s walk in the marsh, I had to go out again. So I got on my bike and rode out to Deer Island. The sea air and the views of Boston Harbor were magnificent. I got home and the construction guys up the street started yelling about a hawk. I looked up and perched on a telephone pole ten feet from my third floor windows was an immature RedTail Hawk. I ditched my bike in the cellar and raced upstairs. He was still there as you can see.

He was standing on one foot with the other tucked up under his breast.

The closest shot was through a dirty window. That’s why the speckles.

It was a gift.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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October 7, 2008 by OrientSee.

Today once again a RedTail Hawk was at Rosie’s Pond keeping an eye on things till I showed up. Rosie’s thicket had a lot of warblers which were mostly YellowRumps. This picture clearly features the yellow rump.

Moving over to the Long Thicket, I found a delightful piece of Ikebana on display.  Better done than most that I have seen at the Flower Show.

Usually I don’t go far out into the marsh until it gets colder but today I walked out and found this black hole.  Really, it’s just a little mummichog hole.  Mummichogs are little fish  that tolerate some harsh swings in salinity and temperature and are of course the food of choice for the Egrets and Herons.  Some of these puddles still have some life in them this late in the year.

Because I was out further than usual, I could see over the edge of the marsh grass down into the creek at low tide. There were five Great Egrets, one Great Blue Heron, a  few Cormorants and a duck or two. There was no way to see them without going further into the marsh grass. Some people are now going over to the Winthrop Cemetary because of the high ground and the commanding  view.

A Northern Harrier cruised the marsh for a while but apparently found no prey and moved off towards Winthrop. Up in the park there was an amazing number of white and yellow butterflies. The night temperatures have been down into the low forties several day now. It was a surprise to see so much insect activity including bees.

The day is gorgeously clear and brisk.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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October 5, 2008 by OrientSee.

Today started at Rosie’s Pond with two Crows complaining loudly.  That usually means an intruder and in this case it was a RedTail Hawk. The hawk was fine with my presence until I lifted my camera to take a shot and then it flew off.  By Palermo Street, this House Finch was up in the apple tree with a horde of compatriots bouncing from branch to branch.

Since it was  overcast and cool, I wasn’t prepared for the Long Thicket today. It was as if the calendar had been turned back to April or May. There were literally hundreds of warblers. Mostly YellowRump Warblers like this one or Pine Warblers. The phragmites and the trees were full of birds hopping all around. There were enough of them that the sound of their flight through the leaves and reeds was very noticeable and on top of that were their calls.  It wasn’t RedWing Blackbird loud but nearly so.

A Blackpoll Warbler.

The park was quiet and so was the Boardwalk except for these two Great Blue Herons who passed overhead.

The huge number of warblers made for a bright speck of color under today’s drab skies.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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October 2, 2008 by OrientSee.

 After all the rain and home improvement, I finally got out today. It was the middle of the day but high tide. I did not have great expectations. Rosie’s thicket was empty except for the newest crop of beer cans, etc.  The wind was blowing strong and the temperature was dropping. The few mosquitoes were so sluggish that I could take my time flicking them off. Surprisingly there were some dragonflies and a lone bumblebee actively flitting about. The marsh itself has put on its October coat.

I was very happy to watch a Kingfisher hovering and diving successfully for a quick snack. A Redtail Hawk cruised by while a crow was discomforted by its passage. There were nearly twenty Egrets spread across the south flats. Just a few were Snowys most were Greats. Along the bank by Palermo and Lawn, a Great Egret posed for a formal autumn portrait.

By the entrance to the Overlook walk, I was able to watch two Great Blue Herons until they realized that a human was near and they took off.

At the Boardwalk, the Egrets has spread out and moved over here. One of them landed as I watched.

The park was quiet and so was the creek. The weather was gorgeous and I saw more than I expected. Another enjoyable day at Belle Isle.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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September 25, 2008 by OrientSee.

We mostly edit what we see. You see what you expect to see or look where you always look. As I entered Rosie’s Thicket today, I stumbled on a rock in my usual graceless fashion. As I twisted catlike (really more hippolike) I saw a stand of these flowers. Under the overcast sky it was like a borrowed bit of sunlight. The flowers had to have been there for days but I just never looked in that particular direction.

Then further along I was amazed to find this bit of human strewn indifference. Golf balls are hardly a common item in a thicket which specializes in dead tree limbs and rose thorns.  Your next assignment for short story class is write a narrative that explains this ball in a thicket next to a casket factory.

I watched a Snowy Egret in the pond stretched out motionless and horizontal on the surface of the water. For a moment I thought that it was dead but suddenly its head popped up. I have never seen an egret hold such a pose for so long a time. It must have been one big fish that it was hunting.

Still in the thicket, I looked out between some low branches and witnessed this Great Egret take off.

Finally leaving the thicket, a Monarch was catching an early lunch.

Rosie’s thicket was full of wonder today. The Long Thicket was not so filled. Catbirds, Robins, Crows and mosquitoes were the rule. The overlook had a Yellowlegs and several ducks and little else. Walking over to the Boardwalk, I caught  a picture of this late season dragonfly, a sort of insect Audrey Hepburn.

The Crow posse was very vocal and omnipresent today. Behind the Boardwalk one of them vented very loudly its outrage at my presence. I wasn’t very sympathetic.

Today I had very low expectations and yet I got to see a lot, things that I didn’t expect because I hadn’t looked in the right place before or things which just didn’t belong there were nonetheless there. An educational sort of walk today.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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September 23, 2008 by OrientSee.

Sometimes I feel the need to explain what I do but today I realized that I needn’t bother. I walk. I look. I take pictures. It gives me enormous pleasure and peace to do these things. I share them because it may give some one else the same experience.

Flame in the grass. Actually it’s just a random sumac leaf caught in the marsh grass but it looks like a gasp feels.

There is still plenty of life in Belle Isle. There are even still some dragonflies. The bugs are busy before the first freeze arrives. So the bumblebees are frantically busy before they must return to their burrows. The birds were not plentiful today (except for a biggish cloud of starlings) but low tide and noon are the usual culprits for the low turnout. This Yellowlegs was calmly feeding in a small puddle out by the Overlook.

The plant life still hosts a variety of critters like this orange and black dude.

The best sight of the day was this milkweed pod exuberantly bursting with seeds. The bundle of fluff was a sensuous delight to my fingertips.

The equinox has passed but the year is far from over.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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September 20, 2008 by OrientSee.

Signs of the time. The other day before sunrise I saw Orion, the winter constellation.  Today I saw speckles. The Starlings are putting on their winter plumage, spots instead of solid black, green and purple.  The best sign is that I no longer need to coat myself with bug spray.

The thickets were fairly empty and a few egrets were wandering around. At the Boardwalk two Great Egrets were feeding in and by one of the pannes.  It was a moment of still beauty. These two were not quarreling and the morning quiet was full.

Overhead a flock of southbound cormorants flew by.

An enjoyable walk this morning.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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September 19, 2008 by OrientSee.

 Today was definitely windy, cool and fall. The rich greens are fading. Reds and golds are clearly evident everywhere. It’s my kind of weather and a walk today was the best treat.

The only better way to have toured the marsh today was by rowboat and these people certainly knew best.

The thickets were quiet except for a few insects. No catbirds squawking, no crows calling out alarms.  Just dappled shadows and crickets. Out by the Boardwalk, two Snowy Egrets were bothering each other. One had his crest up and it looked like a mating dance of some kind. A few Great Egrets were spread across the flats but far out. A Great Blue Heron was on the Winthrop side of the creek.

Walking through the park meadow, I found the milkweed pods opening up. The seeds were tugging with the wind to get free.

On the way out of the park, this plant did purple with boundless enthusiasm.

I didn’t get to see the Whimbrel which some one spotted yesterday but it was still a great day to be out.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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September 15, 2008 by OrientSee.

The last gasp of summer. The wind was fierce from the southwest and fragrant with the smell of grass and flowers. It was humid and heavy with sunlight but it is mid-September and likely to be the last summery day till next May or June. We can still have a bright nearly hot day or two in October but none of us will count on that.

The seed heads of the phragmites reeds are turning already. The magnificent silver display will soon turn into a waving ocean of silver. The occasional florist or interior designer may come by and cut a dozen canes to use in an arrangement. They are just one more of the usual migrants who stop over at Belle Isle.

The wind was so strong that nearly nothing was flying. At the start of the Long Thicket, four crows took offense at my presence and protested loudly.  I was surprised that they let me stand beneath their perch in a tree without taking flight. Usually all I have to do is point my camera or binoculars and they take off. Not today.

The Overlook was quiet but just beyond the Long Dike I saw some egrets and so creeping up and over the dike, I watched the Great Egret clan with a few Snowys and a Great Blue Heron gathered in one of the small pools. The wind kept them down on the ground and so far they have not left for the warm south but I expect any day that they’ll be gone just like the swallows here today and gone tomorrow.

The  creek was filling up as the tide was coming in. In North Dakota you can see a fields of wheat in September that look this ripe. No wheat grows here and it’s probably not possible to bake a loaf of spartina bread but this stand of marsh grass  looks as full and rich.

It was slow today but noisy with the wind roaring above. It was calming to walk beneath the speedy clouds and watch.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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September 11, 2008 by OrientSee.

 I got up early to drive some one to the airport and since my kitchen window looks out over Short Beach between Revere and Winthrop, I saw this through my sleep disabled eyes.

Much later by the edge of Rosie’s Pond, the dew had silvered the spartina.

The south flats were quiet except for a lone Osprey on one of the poles. No swallows, no starlings, no dragonflies. Nice views but nothing much else.

Finally along the Long Thicket, some catbirds and these two visitors who were passing by on their way down to the Carolinas.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Red-eyed Vireo (thanks to Soheil for the identifications)

Out by the Overlook, it was even more empty until I turned and saw three crows and two mockingbirds harassing this magnificent Redtail hawk. One of the mockers actually dove and hit it. I was rooting for the hawk to turn and take the annoying mocker but finally he just got tired of the fuss and flew off.

From the Boardwalk, you could see the Great Herons and Snowys further out. This group of three were feeding and bickering while I watched. A few mallards and yellowlegs were feeding but the place still felt empty.

Over in the creek by the Bennington St. bridge, a dozen Redwing Blackbirds were in the reeds feeding.

The sky was clear and the temperature was pleasantly lower. Just another day to enjoy Belle Isle.

Ciao!

-Jorge

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