Posts Tagged ‘spring’
robin in the rafters and in rain
If you are a bird, this is the time of year for nest building! An American robin has built a nest in the support beams of our deck. Years ago we had fun watching a robin build a nest and raise a brood in the rafters of our cabin.
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This year’s nest builder thinks the deck is his alone. Going in and out by way of the deck gets us a scolding. The robin puffs out its chest and tries to lure the marauders away. I am afraid to go near to get a photo since I might disturb eggs or chicks, so a photo of a robin’s nest in winter will have to do!
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Sudden Storm
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dusk
half darkness
the moon rises
a sliver from full
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spaces yawn
liquid robin song
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aspen, motionless
poplar tremble
a nuthatch rustles in the leaves
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wind chime plays a scale
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cloud stretched across the moon
a hand pressed to the treetops
leaves turn to the silver underside
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warm splashes
polka-dot the patio
puny dust storms on the step
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streamers stripe the glass
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curtains of rain
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
planting trees at our cabin
Last weekend, we planted about 30 Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) seedlings at our cabin property. There are lots of trees there already, but we are thinking ahead.
We bought our seedlings at the Irving Tree Nursery in Sussex, $.50 each. We planted them with the help of a metal dibble stick made especially for planting young trees.
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Here is a photo of our cabin, taken from far away, on the other side of the lake in early spring. Lots of tree there already, you say? You can never have too many trees!
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We still have more trees to plant, including some Red Pine and Eastern White Cedar. Great time spent outside where the black flies are never very bad!
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
morning birdcalls – Northern Parula
After a hot day, a cool night. This morning, our windows are wide open and a Northern Parula is busy in our grey woods.
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His distinctive call – ‘whirrrr-zip’ – has an upward lilt at the end. I can catch only a glimpse of him, certainly not long enough for a photograph.
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The Northern Parula is a small warbler with a bright orangy-yellow upper breast. He builds his nests of Old Man’s Beard lichen (Usnea spp.) – there is lots of this lichen hanging from the trees in our grey woods, so of course he is here! This is a watercolour I did of him last year.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
spring flowers – service berry bushes
At this time of year, many ditches and fields in New Brunswick are filled with Serviceberry bushes in bloom. Their delicate white flowers only last a short while but later, in summer, we will be able to pick sweet Serviceberries.
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the shad are running
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after hard rain
and thin wind
between cold front and warm
riverbanks overflow
and for dinner we have fiddleheads
potatoes and shad, served
with last summer’s Serviceberry jam
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Serviceberry bushes are torn fish nets
holes poked through with fingers
white petals scattered over mossy stones
on the river shore
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Published as ‘the shad are running’ in within easy reach, 2016, Chapel Street Editions
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
waking from winter …
Not everyone has been snoozing though the colder months …
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
colour of spring – a palette of twigs
The season is rushing on! Only a week ago the branches were bare of growth and today our red maples have blossomed.
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On a recent drive to our cabin, there was still snow in some ditches. But I was thrilled to see the diversity displayed by young woody shoots and saplings.
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Green of willow …
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Red of dogwood …
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And the silver of pussy willow …
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Happy spring at last!!!!!
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Copyright Jane Tims 2107
end of winter
Although I love winter, it is so heartening to see all of nature enjoying the melting snowpack and the return of warmer days …
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As bits of fields reveal themselves, the white-tailed deer are out and about, feeding on young sprouts and the left-overs of last year’s harvest …
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The deer are not timid at all, but if the camera makes that whirring sound (remember The Lost World: Jurassic Park?) they are off in a flash, white tails lifted …
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
