Ahhh Springtime at the Pond. Not so peaceful really. The mating rituals seem to lead to a lot of grumpy behavior or maybe it’s the cold, rainy spring after the long winter.
Bring on the grumpiness!
The Canada Geese are especially temperamental.
They always seem to be rather grumpy anyway but this time of year the grumpiness goes up dramatically.
They don’t seem to get along whether on land or water.
Spring has been a long time coming this year. If it wasn’t snowing it was raining but finally on Monday, we had a brief respite.
As usual lately my days off are filled with errands. When did that happen? I needed to run to the grocery store, down to Walmat (which is the opposite side of town) and then in another direction to the pet store for filters for the pet fountain but I was determined to get some time with the camera. No cat picture today!
The sun was hiding behind a gray, overcast sky. Rain was predicted for the evening. My first stop was at Oliver Mills. It was crowded today. The herring have started running. You could stand by the fish ladder and see the little fish trying to make their way upstream. A few gulls braved the influx of humans but no Great Blue Herons. I watched from the car for a bit so when the gulls took flight, so did I.
I drove to Plymouth to check on a Osprey nest I found at the end of the season last year. When I got there I discovered that I couldn’t find my binoculars. The last time I had them (that I remember) was in Alaska. This nest is near a park and it was full today too so I didn’t linger there.
Getting to the Grist Mill Pond was a challenge. The main road was blocked for a funeral so I tackled the shore road down past the Mayflower.
That’s undergoing road work but passable. I skipped Brewster Gardens. Nothing appeared to be out and about, not even a duck or robin. But that wasn’t the case at the pond.
Here spring was in full swing with lots of courtship rituals going on…mallards, Canada geese, and Mr. Majestic, the mute swan.
After enjoying the antics here I made one more stop. I went searching for the “haul out” that I’d heard about for the seals. Usually I go to Chatham to view seals. Plymouth is closer but the seals aren’t necessarily any more accessible. I wasn’t sure I’d found them. Without binoculars I simple took pictures and crossed my fingers.
Once home I uploaded the images and sure enough…they were there. Next time I’m taking the BIG lens.
Birds tweeting comes to mind…but not in my neighborhood.
Today it was the revving of Harley engines on the side street by my window. At dawn…grrrr
That is my only complaint with motorcycles.. the noise…or maybe it’s not the bikes themselves but the inconsiderate riders who like revving the engines so early. When they actually pulled out the noise level wasn’t bad.
The other sound of spring also started today 🙁 Ach, ach, ach…the lovely sound of a cat barfing a hairball. Yup shedding season is upon us.
Somewhere it all that noise a bird has to be singing , right?
Monday, March 10 and I awoke to another snow storm. The snow was melting over the weekend and all but the snow piles were gone. Dirt and ground was snow free.
I sighed and went about my morning routine resigned to taking more pictures of snow but then it stopped and a weak sun tried to peak out. A little later I looked out and that new snow was gone! All melted away even if clouds had won out over the sun.
Determined to find something other than snow for my project 365 challenge I grabbed the camera and set off.
Everyone says how pretty spring is but not this early. It’s pretty depressing. the snow banks that are left are dirty. Trash lines the sides of the roads where it’s dropped out of the melting snow.
Trees aren’t green yet and with no sun everything is dull.
Eventually I found myself at the herring run at Oliver Mills in Middleboro. A gaggle of Canada Geese were browsing the hill above the river. Two pairs of ducks were swimming below the fish ladder.
Other than that it was quiet. I was struck by how different it looks when there are not trees to block the view.
I took a small road that runs above the site to try capturing the views that are normally blocked.
As I was snap-snapping away a movement caught my attention. It was a gray kitten and he was running like his life depended on it. Probably does most of the time but not from me.
Then I saw this little black spot. I looked closer and realized there was another kitten, a little black one, and he was staring at me as if to say I dare you to come closer. Of course I had to try. I inched my way a half step at a time. Slowly I got close enough to photograph him. He was still staring at me.
At that point a big delivery truck rumbled past and I looked away to step out of it’s path. After the truck went by I looked back and the kitten was gone.
I went back to the car and sat for a bit to see if either of them would come back. I didn’t see them again but my patience was rewarded by my first sighting of the year of a great blue heron. Spring must be on the way!
Or maybe I should say Old Man Winter is a tease. Tuesday was a beautiful day. We had blue skies and no wind. I went out dressed in layers expecting to be cold but it wasn’t too bad. According to the weather folks we never broke freezing but the lack of wind and the bright sun made it seem almost like a “day at the beach”.
I made sure to grab my camera as I headed out. I had a long list of errands and then had to go to our Foxboro Office for my annual review. Yes, it was my day off but the alternative was a drive to Somerville on Friday. After that I had to head to Stoughton (20+ miles away) to meet with my Tax Guy and get my taxes filed. Even so I was optimistic that I could squeeze in some quality time with the camera. My goal, some quality shots for the 365 challenge. So far the challenge has been to get any shots, forget about quality!
I hopped in the car and put it in reverse to back out of my parking space and it felt, well, weird. It felt like the emergency brake was on but it wasn’t. I finished backing out and tentatively tried going forward…same thing. Now I thought I knew the problem..must be a flat tire.
I pulled into the next slot over and got out to look. Sure enough, flat as a pancake! I grabbed my cell and called AAA then I called my auto repair shop and made arrangements to bring the tire in. Finally I texted my boss to let him know what happened. It was only 10:30 and my review wasn’t until 1 pm but who knows how long I’d have to wait for AAA and then at the shop for the tire repair. I felt like the Geico commercial.
Sometimes things just fall into place. AAA arrived pretty quickly and changed the tire for me. We couldn’t see any reason for the flat. Valve stem looked fine, no nails or visible punctures, guess it will be up to the repair shop to get to the bottom of it.
The shop I use is about 5 miles down the road from me so even with traffic I was there before noon. Since I’m a regular they know me and took my tire right in. The tires are fairly new so I expected a repair. But noooooo. Randy, the manager, called me in and showed me where the side wall was starting to leak. He said it looked like I may have scraped it on a pot hole or curb. Well I knew I hadn’t hit a curb but there are certainly enough pot holes this year. I hadn’t hit any straight on but maybe in trying to avoid one I might have clipped it just right on the side. There was no saving the tire. 🙁
I told him to put on a new one and get me on the road. He did it right away. Turned out I was only 10 minutes late for my review but after the review it was still back to Stoughton and then all the errands I didn’t get to do in the morning. Needless to say there was no quality photography time.
I got to see several hawks hunting by the highway and a possum waddling out of the woods toward the road but no chance for pictures.
I settled for another cat photo. You may have seen it.
It’s a play on the Dr. Seuss story of Green Eggs and Ham
“Would you eat them
in a box?
Would you eat them
with a fox?”
I offered ” Do you like it in a Box?”
One of these days I’ll get to the fields and sanctuaries where I love to take pictures. Until then, Would you like it with a fox? 🙂