6.10.2009

Early Morning

In the damp of the early morning I prowl the yard, one eye on the tree line. I know I'll have to go in once the sun creeps up over the tulip poplars, but until then I have some freedom.

First I check the prothonotary nest box - all is well. Mama prothonotary is tucked away inside and Papa is making the rounds, singing for all he's worth. Next, the wren's nest under the porch. Her babies have hatched and it's driving my indoor cats crazy. Somewhere out in the wild fringe of the yard we also have nesting indigo buntings and blue grosbeaks. Just across the road I can see the summer tanagers. We haven't pinpointed their nest yet. Treebeard carefully checks on the bluebirds -- one egg so far in their second brood of the year. The wood thrush that wakes us each morning in just out of sight singing its song. Mama turkey has her babies out in the tall grass somewhere. All seems well with the avian crew that calls our property home.

On to the garden, quickly now the sun is getting higher. In the garden all the insects are drowsy. A pollen covered bumblebee slowly stirs after spending the night in a squash blossom. And a yellow bear (Spilosoma virginica) is suffering from bed head following its most recent molt.

 
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Sun's all the way up now and I have to leave for work. Sigh. I'm already looking forward to sunset. Seems I have become crepuscular ;)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Swampy- I see that you're not bound for 20 days, just interior bound due to those nasty antibiotics. But it appears that you are also figuring out ways to satisfy your starving public! I've actually seen two people recently who were extremely sun sensitive. They were covered by ski-mask type hoods and cotton gloves under long sleeves. Hang in there and eat lots of yogurt to replenishment your natural flora.
Maineiac

swamp4me said...

Maineiac,
Yes, I am managing to avoid the sun and still get out a little bit -- sort of makes me feel like a cockroach though as I scurry from the sun :D

nina at Nature Remains. said...

Mornings and evenngs are best anyway, as I'm sure you've found--for photos of the shy types, anyway.
Hope you're feeling better every day and that that nasty tick serves as a reminder to us all to check ourselves well.
"Tis the season...

swamp4me said...

nina,
Early morning and evening are best for some things -- but I do miss the butterflies! Oh well, only 10 more days to go on the antibiotics...