winter – Page 3 – Rae Spencer

Mergansers, Ducks, and More

January 5, 2014Rae Spencer5 Comments

A few days ago I noticed a group of Hooded Mergansers on a pond near our house. I didn’t have time to stop that day, but today’s mild weather convinced me to spend a few hours with my camera.

Hooded Merganser Jan 5

I counted eight mergansers on the pond today (four males and four females), as well as a pair of Mallards and a pair of Northern Shovelers.

Shoveler Jan 5

On the banks, a Great Egret watched from one side and a Great Blue Heron from the other.

Egret January 5

Heron Jan 5

This was the day’s smallest pond, and it had the most birds. A much larger pond (more lake than pond) a few miles away was mostly deserted. Three seagulls rested in the middle, and two Pied-billed Grebes fished near the shore.

Pied Billed Grebe Jan 5

Finally, we drove through a growing neighborhood that was landscaped with several mid-sized ponds, each populated with sleepy mallards.

Mallards Jan 5

All afternoon clouds gathered and thickened in the sky, and by the time we returned home wind was beginning to blow the day’s warmth out to sea. Now rain is on the horizon, followed by icy cold. I’m sure many of the smaller ponds will freeze over, and again I find myself wondering about the birds. Do they know what is coming? Do they already know where they will go, when ice drives them out? I know where I’ll be–curled up with my blankets and books and cats, grateful as always for the luxuries of home.

December Again

December 7, 2013Rae Spencer5 Comments

(I posted this poem in December of last year, but I can’t resist posting it again…)

December 1

Whoa, December, wait one minute
I’m hardly roused from my feasted slumber
When you start to number my days

Set clocks and worry flocks of shoppers
Lost in evergreen lots and sticker-shock
Tick tock, sweet silver bells ringing the hour

As if to hurry my step into line
My dour minuet with Father Time
Stumbling on to the end

The bitter end of another year
Another calendar page, scrawled
With duty and a glitter of waste

With things I never desired
The blouse gift-receipt, creased
In haste and taped over the size

I couldn’t accept, a final refrain
After the glaze is scraped
From cold and golden morns

And oh, December, wait please wait
For the lights to change, for fire
To blaze through our litter of wrappings

Pause tonight among muttering beasts
In their scatter of straw, their dusty ease
From lust’s numb ache, from labor’s strain

Rest among these flight-tired geese
Mid-route, heads tucked under folded
Wings, murmuring psalms to themselves

Clouds and Sun at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge

November 14, 2013Rae Spencer12 Comments

As mentioned in a previous post, I recently spent two afternoons in a row at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Both days the refuge was fully in the grip of fall, but the first day felt a few steps closer to winter than the second. (Doesn’t winter always feel closer on cloudy days?)

As I tried to organize my photos into pairs, I found the last set of images impossible to manage. On November 4th I took only one photo of the approaching sunset, but on November 5th I snapped frame after frame, hurrying from one vantage point to the next…

Why do I see beauty in such sunsets? Why do I stop and stare? Why does my breath slow and the noise of necessity fade to a distant murmur?

It is as if the sky stirs something in my memory, something nameless and ageless. Then the sky’s glimmer dies to darkness, and my lungs grow hungry again as the ancient spark inside me dwindles. It’s all so fleeting that, as soon as it’s over, I begin to doubt. Perhaps it was an illusion, or a delusion. Perhaps it was just another sunset, just the end of another November day…

A Slow Start to Spring

March 30, 2013Rae Spencer9 Comments

Pear Tree March 30

Today was finally warm enough to feel like spring. Add in an entire afternoon of bright sunshine, and it was a beautiful day in the yard.

Iris March 30

Speedwell March 30

Osprey March 30

Robins March 30

Rabbit March 30

As much as I enjoyed my afternoon in the yard, I couldn’t help comparing it to last year’s spring, which was both warmer and earlier than this year’s season. By the end of March last year, the pear tree was fully in bloom and the yard was full of bees. This year, the pear tree is only beginning to bloom and I haven’t seen a single bee.

Pear Tree March 30

Last year, all threats of frost were past. In fact, there were days that felt like summer. The tulips were blooming and spiderlings were hatching. This year I’m afraid to uncover the ginger lilies, because it seems likely we will see more frost, and the tulips are just getting started.

Tulip March 30

I wonder if our delayed spring will spill over into a delayed summer, or if summer will simply storm in right on the heels of winter.

A Windy Walk in the Park

January 31, 2013Rae Spencer1 Comment

Warbler Jan 30

Yesterday started sunny and mild. A brisk, warm wind raced ahead of a stormy cold front, and it was impossible to stay inside.

First Landing Jan 30

Mallards Jan 30

Egret Jan 30

Low tide had drained the marsh into a muddy network of puddles, many of them marked with fresh tracks.

Fish Jan 30

Print Jan 30

I would have stayed longer, but the sharpening wind made trails increasingly unfriendly. Cones clattered down from the canopy. Branches creaked and scraped. Trees swayed so hypnotically that I gave up on watching the trail and staggered along with my attention focused overhead, stumbling over roots and ruts.

First Landing Jan 30