Nature – Page 11 – Valerie's Voice

Dove Drama

This morning, after starting the coffee pot, I took my usual trip to the back deck and said good morning to “Miss Dove”, the mourning dove whose nest is in the honeysuckle vine. Her two babies (squabs) were there, although I could only see one clearly, but I’m pretty sure both mama and baby smiled back at me.

I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down looking out my window when all of a sudden I saw a flurry of activity by the nest. I thought maybe the babes were learning to fly…and then I saw a squirrel, attacking the birds.

I immediately rushed out to scare the squirrel but by the time I got there the squirrel was gone, and so were all three birds.

Feathers were floating everywhere in the aftermath of the attack. I was dumbstruck. I couldn’t believe what just happened. First, my special friends were gone…were they dead? I was so sad. And secondly, I didn’t know squirrels went after birds.

All morning I kept checking the nest, hoping the birds would fly back but they didn’t. However, later I recognized one of the baby doves sitting on top of our lattice wall. I was so happy to see it. It was looking at me, and I suppose, wondering where his mama was. I didn’t know what to do so I called a friend familiar with birds and he said I could try to pick up the baby and put it back in the nest, but we decided to leave it alone since it was already capable of flying.

I recognized this baby dove on top of our lattice wall.

Eventually the baby dove flew into the tree and I can only hope it was reunited with its mother. I have no idea about the second baby dove. I hope it too survived somehow.

Ah, nature… it’s beautiful, but can be harsh. I will miss my brood.

Miss Dove and her two little ones

A mourning dove, I affectionately named Miss Dove, has a nest with two eggs in the honeysuckle vine growing on the trellis on our back deck. I step outside daily to say good morning to her and she has grown accustomed to me tending my flowers and changing the nectar in the hummingbird feeder that hangs right below her. She has hatched her two eggs. Now there are three crowded into their little nest and it’s a precious sight to see.

A good look at Miss Dove and her baby behind her. Her other baby is behind her and in front of the other youngin’.

Although she let’s me come close it’s still hard to capture a good photo with the branches in the way.

Look for the three eyes: Mama, and two babies.

Welcome little ones.

Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park

I’ve always preferred a picnic rather than going out to eat on Mother’s day…I don’t like the crowds. This year Mother’s Day was colder than usual so we ate at home but went to Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park to hike and look at the wildflowers, which I always love to do in the spring.

We were surprised when we arrived mid-afternoon at Nerstrand. The cars were packed in, and overflow parking meant cars were parked outside the park! This is good…I love seeing families getting out to enjoy the outdoors and discover Minnesota’s beautiful state parks.

We walked a familiar trail and did find the spot where the unique-to-the-Nerstrand-area dwarf trout lily blooms, but they were not blooming yet. There were lots of other wild flowers in bloom though: bellworts, Dutchman’s breeches, spring beauty, anemones, trout lilies everywhere and marsh marigold, to name a few I recognized. It was beautiful, and the trees were budding out in spring greens.

Additional bonuses: I saw my first hummingbird at our feeder on our deck today.

Maybe I should name the mourning dove. I say good morning to her every day.

Our mourning dove continues to sit in her nest on her eggs, and near Pond #2 in our neighborhood are several Canadian Geese and their goslings.

I do love nature.

Memorable Hikes – Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia 2013

Continuing my series on memorable hikes…

Gary and I flew to Nova Scotia in 2013 and rented a car to tour the provinces of Nova Scotia (including the Bay of Fundy) and Prince Edward Island.

We were hiking around the Bay of Fundy during low tide. It was amazing to hike far out from shore on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, knowing in a couple hours water would rise to cover the entire area once again. And it would be deep waters. The record tide recorded is 53’…it was 43’ the day we were hiking around the sea floor in the Bay of Fundy. A park interpreter making a presentation on Alma Beach, at low tide.

According to Wikipedia: “The Bay of Fundy is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the state of Maine. It has the highest tidal range in the world.”

I don’t really understand how tides work – I do know they’re connected to the moon’s cycle. I remember when we took a trip to Maine in the 80’s I learned there were two tide cycles each day: two high and two low. I was so surprised. Growing up in the Midwest and not living near the ocean I didn’t know such things. I guess I wasn’t listening in school either. HA

I remember while hiking in the Bay of Fundy, I once again was in awe of God’s amazing creation. When the massive tides recede, the endless mudflats are home to many sea creatures and people love to search for them when the tide is out.

We just enjoyed walking out on the sea floor.

(photo taken from travel brochure)

The Color Green

Green…spring greens…such beauty…everywhere you look. It’s dazzling.

And there is not just one color green but many shades of green.

Just think if everything green was the same color, tint or shade of green.

Of course the same can be said for the color blue and red and purple and other colors – they all have different shades, but shades of green surround us and are so pronounced, especially in spring time.

Shades of green are on display for us all to see just by going outside.

My camera didn’t capture the shimmer in the tree tops.

Green is an amazing color.

When my boys were little and coloring with crayons I explained that God created all the colors before Crayola made crayons. What fun to look inside a fresh box of crayons.

I love color…our brains like color…but right now I’m partial to green.

Springtime

Spring is finally here and so begins the yard work. For the most part, working in the yard and digging in the dirt is fun for me…but spring clean up is a lot of work. We decided to do some trimming over the weekend.

We started with a tree in our front yard. Gary climbed the ladder to cut off a branch and noticed, there in the crook of the tree, my “missing” fairy. We surmised a squirrel grabbed the fairy from it’s secret place in my garden two years ago. The squirrel must have decided it wasn’t food after all, so he left it sitting up properly in the crook of a tree, watching over us all that time. It was a fun surprise to find this fairy-angel in the tree after two winters.

Although this is not the exact spot Gary found the fairy, it was sitting upright and up high in a crook of this tree.

Next, in our back yard there is a honeysuckle vine climbing a trellis on the deck and it was getting out of control, as honeysuckle vines tend to do. So this year we decided to trim it way back. We revved up the electric trimmers and started cutting back the vine when Gary spotted a bird’s nest with eggs in it. Hmmm…we had already started trimming so we decided to quickly finish and then get out of there with hopes that the mama bird would come back to the nest and tend to her eggs.

The mama mourning dove returned to her nest to protect her eggs.

Fortunately the mourning dove is back and sitting on her eggs in the nest. It will be fun to watch them hatch right outside our window.

I noticed the lone daffodil blooming on the side of our house. There are several daffodil bulbs planted there but they didn’t seem to make it through that last winter blizzard. Even so, the one bright, yellow flower is perky and brings joy.

April showers bring May flowers, but not April snow blizzards.

It is always a delight to discover fun surprises in nature. Some are so obvious and some so hidden. I am reminded to keep my eyes open for there is so much to see.

A Rookery

Last fall a new trail in town opened and is getting a lot of use. I guess the idea “you build it and they will come” works. This is good.

Our friends were walking on this trail a few days ago when they saw folks stopped along the trail looking up…which usually means there’s something “up there” to see (much like cars pulled over in a national park…you know there is some kind of wild animal in sight!)

8-10 nests in the tree tops, a Great Blue Heron rookery.

They discovered high up in one tree there were several nests, called a rookery, and Great Blue Heron’s were occupying those nests.

When they told us about this we grabbed our binoculars and went to check it out, and there they were. I didn’t know the big, beautiful Great Blue Heron I often see standing so tall and majestic in water near shore, built their nests in the tops of trees…it was interesting to learn and fun to see.

Notice the Great Blue Heron in tree top…zoomed with my camera iPhone. This is when a good camera lens would be nice.

We counted eight nests in one tree and over all we saw five herons. We stayed there to watch a while as a couple herons flew away and then a couple flew back.

It was entertaining – and as we stood there along side the trail looking up – others stopped to find out why.

Matthew 6: 26-27 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^?

Signs of Spring

I saw my first robin on Sunday afternoon, along Jefferson Road. This is my first sighting this spring, and then I saw two more.

This photo was taken early spring, 2017, on Carleton Campus.

After an evening walk, not in the dark because of daylight savings time (another sign of spring), I saw two robins in our neighbor’s tree. I looked through our binoculars to confirm. They were a pair.

Other signs of spring on my walk: the snow is melting (and a lot more snow will melt this week when the sun comes out and the temperatures rise into 50*’s) and there was no ice on the paths. However, there were lots of puddles.

I heard many birds chirping, and I heard water gurgling… both wonderful sounds… and I saw a few ducks already enjoying the thawed portions of the pond.

Spring brings hope once again.

*I’m not sure foxes are a sign of spring but Saturday evening while it was dark, before daylight savings time began, we watched a fox walk down a city sidewalk and cross the street in front of us…I think he was lost.*

This was not the fox we saw in Northfield. This picture was taken summer 2017 in northern Minnesota. We didn’t think this fox looked too healthy, but it’s the only picture I have of a fox.

Memorable Hikes – Tucson, Arizona 2003

Continuing my Friday series on memorable hikes…

In 2003 we went to visit friends who spend their winters in Arizona, away from the Minnesota cold, snow and ice. They bought a lovely town home in Tucson and we enjoy visiting them, over a long weekends, in February, when it works.

There is a lot to do and see in the area where they live: Tuscan Botanical Garden, Saguaro National Park, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, DeGrazia Gallery, Old Tuscon Studios, Mt. Lemon and the Santa Catalina mountains, good restaurants and several places for hiking. Sabino Canyon is one of those places.

Sabino Canyon is a desert oasis in the Coronado National Forest. When you arrive at the park you can take a tram up the canyon and walk back down if you desire. That’s a great way to hike! But there are several trail options available to hike back down. We have hiked in this canyon on several different trips. On this day in Sabino Canyon we were casually hiking down along the canyon in the beautiful, warm, sunshine. There was water in the canyon; water pools in the canyon during winter months and being near water while hiking is a always a treat. As we were walking we caught up with a couple in front of us that had stopped on the trail. They pointed to a rattlesnake coiled up in the sun on a rock along side the trial. We tiptoed past it and kept on going. That’s the first time, and hopefully the last time, I see one of those snakes!

Other than the snakes, the desert landscapes in this park are beautiful and it’s especially nice when one can enjoy warmth and sunshine knowing it’s cold and icy back in Minnesota.

A Week in Winter Wonderland

Last week it snowed one day, and then another, and then another and for some reason the snow mostly stayed on the tree branches making the world around us a winter wonderland. For me it was breath-taking. Everywhere you looked the trees were frosted. I tried to capture a few photos.