follow that qar!

To maine-birds: Misty morning at the Wells Reserve gradually turned to drizzle over an hour-long walk. Sparrows seemed less skittish than usual, with dozens of white-throats, nearly as many songs, a few white-crowns, and a swamp. Yellow-rumped warblers were everywhere, often mixing with the sparrows in foraging flocks. Single redstart, black-throated blue warbler, blue-headed vireo, and creeper. Red-breasted nuthatches easily outnumbered white-breasted. Pair of rusty blackbirds beside the dike at the bottom of the beach trail. Osprey – I think it was only one – over the beach and marsh. Maybe a pintail, but by then the binoculars were just about useless. Both kinglets wrapped it up.

It was wishful thinking, after all. Beautiful morning held promise, but meeting eat meeting put an end to thoughts of bog photography. Better luck next time.

Almost no sun for three days and cool, damp air left the farmhouse office a bit chilly this morning. 60 to start and only 65 by lunchtime. Around the noon hour, the sun began making an appearance and clouds began to separate, but a strong breeze suggested it would still be too cool to sit on the porch with a sandwich. After downing the ham and cheese in the dining room, I decided to get blood pumping and set out for a short walk. It was warmer outside than in. The wind was from the southwest, making it feel relatively balmy. I marched to the Muskie Trail, entered the trees, and stopped to enjoy the warmth. I had spotted a monarch and a sulfur while crossing the field and here I picked up a red admiral. Birds were very quiet, though, with just an occasional call from a towhee, a jay, and a couple of catbirds. A small mammal crossed the trail ahead of me. Mink? It was a bit over a foot long, with a tail maybe a third the length of its dark brown body. It crept quickly out of sight. ...