Osprey Sighting at Zeek's Creek in Jamestown, RI

The Osprey is back! One of the first migratory birds has arrived and looking quite comfortable perched on the top of the nesting site near Zeek's Creek. A quick shot on my way to school. Next time I hope I am able to capture a better shot that is a little clearer. Nevertheless , a sure sign of spring!

Spring is Slowly Unfolding in The Northeast

Despite the cool temperatures here in the Northeast, I continue to find lovely surprises in my backyard. Each new day I explore my yard to uncover the latest signs and promises of springs arrival. It is so exciting! The chipmunks are stirring, running along the stonewalls and visiting our feeders. They continue to hoard and look so silly packing away their treasures. I laugh as I watch them. They are such a cute animal and so fun to watch. (Watching them is good medicine for the soul. They will have you smiling in no time, I promise) Well, we gladly welcome them back, TICKS and all. The Forsythia I cut and brought in to force, is blooming quite beautifully in my home and classroom. Their delicate yellow flowers are so bright and cheery. The Snowdrops and Crocus are happy swaying in the breeze as they offer the sweet taste of nectar to our honeybees. The pussywillows are full and ripe and the buds on the Lilac and Forsythia are swollen and bring more promise of the colorful and fragrant days to come. Spring invites a sense of wonder and hope. Mother Earth and her creatures have a built in rhythm unlike ours. Their rhythm has a simplicity I think we can all benefit from. Humans can become so tangled up in the demands of life. Well...when you need a break from all of that open up your back door and enjoy what nature has to offer. Bunnies nibbling and pairing up, flowers blooming, chipmunks scurrying about, bird singing lovely melodies and the world becoming greener and alive with color. Rejoice in its magic. That's my plan.

Surprise! Spring is On Her Way!!!!!

Snowdrops

More Snowdrops

Daffodils

More Daffodils

Bluebells

I went outside yesterday and walked all over my property. The first place I went was, of course, to check and see if any of our snowdrops were peeking out yet. Not only were they peeking out they were starting to BLOOM. The Daffodils and Bluebells were also visible. How exciting! We all know it is still cold and capable of snowing with two inches on the ground this morning. But as I said to my brother today, when he was returning from an amazing birdwatching trip (64 species) in Cape May, Old Man Winter is on his way out. Let these sweet little snowdrops bring us hope for the lovely days ahead when nature comes to life. The anticipation is wonderful.

Happy Valentine's Day

There are hearts everywhere in nature. You just have to look closely!

Look! It's a Stranger in the MY Woods

Look who is my first visitor! It's a Chickadee! She is taking a seed from the stranger's hat.

She found the bird seed in the pipe too! Not long after that, a Tufted-tit Mouse found it too!

I put bird seed in his cap and pipe to attract the birds.

This is my snowman before I decorated him.

Backyard Birds in the Winter

Yellow-bellied sapsucker

The sapsucker is drilling holes for sap.The icicle on the side of the branch is actually sap that has dripped and frozen.

In this picture you can see the sap dripping from the drill holes.

Creating a Nature Shelf

Before

After

My daugther adds her first treasure, a concrete chipmunk. She will add natural items as she finds them.

After viewing my blog while away at college, my daughter posted that she would love to have her own nature shelf in her dorm room. One day not long after her request, I was digging around an antique shop on the Eastside of Providence and I came across one buried under a heap of other treasures. It looked like something she would enjoy. So I purchased it that day and gave it to her for a Christmas gift. She decided to paint it to match her own summer porch.