The Eagle

Here is a favorite eagle poem of mine.   I'm sharing it, and this photo of an eagle I took, in honor of my son.  He earned his Eagle Scout rank this week.

This one's for you, Jason.*  I'm so proud of you!


                                                             The Eagle
                                                  by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

                                        He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
                                        Close to the sun in lonely lands,
                                        Ringed with the azure world, he stands.

                                        The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
                                        He watches from his mountain walls,
                                        And like a thunderbolt he falls.

*Names have been changed to protect the - well - they've been changed!

Butt, Butt, Butt!!!

No more excuses, people.  Stop littering.

Requirements for a Wetland

According to the EPA, "...wetlands are lands where saturation with water is the dominating factor determining the nature of soil development and the types of plant and animal communities living in the soil and on its surface".*

According to the Army Corps of Engineers, a wetland has to have three things:  hydrophytic vegetation, hydric soils, and a wetland hydrology.**

According to Hyperion, there is one other crucial element:

Yep.

Yep.

Yep.

Must be a wetland.



* http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/guidance/wetlands/definitions.cfm

** http://www.wetlands.com/regs/tlpge03d.htm

Occupied

When walking recently, I came across some holes in the ground - the dens of little animals.

I can never tell which animals are living in the holes for sure.  Maybe someday I'll be that good.  And of course I can never tell if there is an animal currently in the den, listening to me walk by.

This time the ground was free of snow, but the backwaters were almost completely frozen.  It was cold out.  I passed several little dens, all plain and unremarkable.  Then I saw this one.

This den was different than all the rest.  It was lined with frost - proof that it had been occupied recently, and maybe right at that moment.  If it was a smart critter, it was probably still curled up below, avoiding the bitter temperatures above.  The moisture evaporating off the animal's body and the moisture from its own exhalations had risen to the entrance of the den and frozen there.  I've had the same experience camping in tents in the winter, and have woken up with frost on the inside of my tent roof and walls.

Smith's Island Fall Showcase

Photos of Smith's Island, by Lock & Dam 14.

Looking at the Moon

One evening in late January, Hyperion and I went down to Lock & Dam 14 to see if we could catch a few shots of bald eagles before the daylight failed completely.

We saw one adult and one juvenile, but they quickly left.  There were a pair of mallards, and the ever present seagulls, who were fishing.

Not much else was going on, but riding low in the sky was the moon, clear and bright.

I had fun looking at the photo at home, where I could zoom in on it and see actual craters.  I checked a map of the moon online and was able to identify several points in my photo.  Below are the four biggest dark spots, or mares.  (The term "mare" is from the Latin for "sea".)

Point #1:  Mare Serenitatis - the Sea of Serenity

Point #2:  Mare Tranquillitatis - the Sea of Tranquility.
This is where the first manned moon landing took place on July 20, 1969.

Point #3:  Mare Crisium - the Sea of Crises

Point #4:  Mare Fecunditatis - the Sea of Fecundity.  Fecundity is a synonym for fertility.

Geese Eating Fish

That's geese, eating fish, and not geese-eating fish.  Big difference there.

The first time I saw a Canada goose with a fish in its toothy bill, I thought to myself that it was just a fluke.  The goose had probably gotten the fish by mistake, when reaching for a bite of nutritious plant material.  He dropped it very quickly.

When I got home, I researched geese and what they eat.  Plant materials.  I googled the goose eating fish phenomena.  Nada.  No one else seemed to have information on what I had observed.  I stuck the picture and the idea on the back shelf.

Until a few weeks later.  At another location, I saw another goose with a fish.  What alerted me to this odd behavior was the way a seagull kept trailing this Canada goose, sticking very close to its side.  Why would a gull do that?  I noticed something dangling from the goose's bill.  It must be food that drew the seagull's attention, but why would a gull want plant material?  I zoomed in on the pair and there it was - a fish firmly clenched in the goose's mouth.  Hmmm.

I watch the odd pair for a couple of minutes, as the goose tried to eat the fish and the seagull kept hovering nearby, hoping he would drop it.  It was a bitterly cold day, and I was left to surmise that in such harsh conditions, maybe the goose was forced to unusual measures to survive.  Or maybe I just don't know much about geese.

Kamikaze Crow

BANZAI!  

Crow Creek Park Showcase

Photos from Crow Creek Park.  Great walking trails and lots to see!