Hi, Folks, Here, to go with the photograph today, are the first three stanzas of Mary Oliver’s poem, “Heron Rises from The Dark, Summer Pond”: So heavy is the long-necked, long-bodied heron, always it is a surprise when her smoke-colored wings open and she turns from the thick water, from the black sticks of the summer
Hi, Folks, These deer companions in a spot of early morning sunlight on the Parkway are excellent practitioners of social distancing. One more stroke of my kayak paddle toward them would have revealed, not only how wary, but just how fleet of foot they are. Below the deer photograph, you’ll see the results of a
Hi, Folks, Sometime Soon? Two mergansers and an egret shared a gravel bar one day. “I’m going left as you go right!” I’m sure I heard one say. The lady duck and egret started downstream in high cheer; while the gentleman merganser, chose upstream without fear. They sensed a newfound freedom on that un-sequestered day,
Hi, Folks, This delicate looking Greater Yellowlegs is tougher than it appears. I wouldn’t expect a bird, seemingly so fragile here on the Parkway, to be about to fly itself thousands of miles north to breed in the buggy bogs of northern Canada. Perhaps its French name, “Grand Chevalier” or “Great Knight”, better reflects its
Hi, Folks, You’re in for an exciting moment along the American River Parkway if you’re able to watch an osprey spot a fish from high in the air, pause, dive, catch and carry it away. Such a feat, magnificently choreographed into the osprey’s genetic behavior, may be repeated several times a day by this
Hi, Folks, On seeing yesterday’s photograph of the snowy egret, Rich Howard asked if I’d tell the story of the driftwood on which the egret was standing. Thank you, Rich, for causing me to think about that. So, I’ll ask for your indulgence to have another look at the photograph and consider whether the story
