THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS

 by WENDELL BERRY

"When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be.

I go and lie down where the wood drake

             rests in his beauty on the water, 

and the great heron feeds.

     I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water

 

 

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world and am free."

This verse, by Wendell Berry, describes the feeling that many experience when spending time in nature.

On a recent morning I was parked beside a small stream when this great horned owl silently glided to a perch in a nearby tree...

It is uncommon to see an owl during the day so I began looking for the reason that it was not sleeping after a night of hunting. I soon spotted the reason in another tree close by...

Locating a nest with owlets present is a rare occurrence. I quickly relocated to a better vantage point and began taking photos...

I returned several times over the next few days. Always hoping to find an adult present and feeding the owlets. It was not to be. Feeding must have taken place at night because I never saw an adult at the nest...

One morning I arrived to find the nest empty...

Apparently, the owlets had fledged since my last visit.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this is the mating season for wild turkeys. I have been lucky to spot several gobblers roaming about in search of hens...

We sometimes have hens and their poults pass through our neighborhood...

Thanks for visiting, be well, and come back soon.

 

Spring, a Time of New Life and Renewal

At times the changing seasons arrive subtly and without fanfare. Such was the case recently when I saw this yellow daffodil growing in a small clearing all alone...

 

Nearby, the banks of a small creek are "greening-up" nicely...

Some signs of the changing seasons are far more blatant...

One of the undeniable signs in out neck of the woods is when the snow geese begin migrating through, enroute to their breeding grounds in the North...

Farmers are not usually happy to see the snow geese arrive because of their destructive feeding habits in newly planted grain fields...

That, and there are just so darn many of them...

In contrast, the resident Canada geese are usually seen in family groups of two adults and their recently hatched young...

Spring is the mating season for wild turkeys...

The sound of a gobbler at sunrise is thrilling to most...

For a number of years there has been a great blue heron rookery not far from us...

 The rookery has not been active recently. I don't know if eagle predation on the chicks could be a factor. A little right of center in the following photo you can see the profile of an eagle in one of the nests...

Following are images of a black-crowned night heron, another species that nests in Frederick each spring...

I always look forward to the arrival of Baltimore orioles and their uniquely shaped nests...

This is an orchard oriole. Not as common as the Baltimore oriole in our area...

Groundhogs get busy clearing out their dens or digging new ones...

I have found groundhogs foraging in trees...

In the western part of the country lives the yellow-bellied marmot...

The marmot is a close relative to the woodchuck, and sometimes is called a rock chuck...

I often travel unpaved roads in search of subjects. Gravel seems to be a favorite nesting site for killdeer. This adult had a pair of chicks nearby...

Cottontail rabbits scamper about having families...

The rabbits have to keep a wary eye out for predators such as the red fox...

Foxes have families to feed also, you know...

It is a lucky photographer who finds a family of foxes to photograph...

One critter to stay away from is the venomous copperhead...

It is always good advice to avoid black bears with cubs at any time of year...

A fledging tree swallow impatiently waits to be fed...

We are blessed with occasional migrating sandhill cranes. This photo was taken one spring in the Green River Valley of Wyoming...

The courtship dance must have been successful...

A ride over the Beartooth Highway in Montana rewarded us with this sighting of mountain goats...

The mating season for mink is ongoing...

A great-horned owl located her nest overlooking the stream where the mink was hunting...

Eastern coyotes are becoming more common. This pup popped out of some weeds long enough for me to get a photo...

A western coyote tried to swallow its catch so quickly that it ended up gagging on it...

Some folks become so attuned to nature that they call their time in the outdoors a "forest bath" or "nature bath" or some other trendy name. I have even seen claims that trees and shrubs talk to them. I have discounted these claims until recently. 

I was quietly waiting for something of interest to appear when I thought I heard my name. I looked all around for the source of this voice when I realized that it was, in fact, coming from a nearby tree. I am so glad that I had my camera. I doubt that I would be believed otherwise...

Thanks for visiting, be well, and come back soon.