This morning I hiked a couple of trails on the island, though I’ve developed an annoying blister on one of my toes (of all places!) that’s making walking less fun than it could be. Here are a few of the thousands of lupins in bloom:
There are also lots of carnivorous plants, i.e., sundew and pitcher plants, on the island. I have yet to watch an insect being caught, though.
I didn’t actually expect to add any birds to my life list today, but I did: Bicknell’s Thrush. Like most thrushes, it’s a drab bird with a beautiful song. They’re hard to spot when not singing. Actually, they’re hard to find even when they are singing and even when they’re close to you. I just about missed this one. But it suddenly seemed to me that one of the tree stumps in the woods ended in a bird shape and so I looked at it through my binoculars and, wouldn’t you know, there was a thrush.
I also heard three Winter Wrens singing. These I’ve encountered before—there are quite a few of them in some spots around Ithaca—but I can never get enough of their amazingly complex, silvery songs. I had the good fortune of spending several mornings this year birding with Bob McGuire and he helped produce this beautiful video portrait of Winter Wren. The part where the song is slowed down by a third really helps reveal just how complex it is. And to think that all of this sound is produced by a tiny bird that weighs a mere third of an ounce!
Sydney
Alan Schmierer
I see you needed to accompany me on more of my regular walks, so that you’d be in good shape for your adventures!
Erin
…am enjoying your posts and particularly appreciate the photos. I love flora and the photo of the lupins in bloom is stunning – suitable for framing.
By the way, we are having much fun with the girls. K is sleeping well at night, but getting her to that point is still trial and error!
Please give our regards and hellos to your family.
Excuse me, but I think I’m in perfectly good shape for this hiking! The blister has something to do with an ill-informed judgement I made; namely, deciding to walk in sandals rather than shoes and then finding out that I would be walking on loose sand most of the way, i.e., miles and miles of loose sand where your foot slips back a little bit with each step.
Sydney