Mid Spring Flowers

Tags

bleeding heart, judy zuk, magnolia, postaday, susan magnolia

A cold beginning for Spring 2022 has decimated our early magnolias and Asian pear flowers. Today, at the end of April, temperatures climbed above 50°F (10°C) but a strong wind makes it feel much colder. The “Judy Zuk” Magnolia tree that I planted five years ago is bearing vibrant yellow flowers. Judy Zuk was the president of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden from 1990 to 2005, and this magnolia is a hybrid developed there.

“Judy Zug” Magnolia.

“Judy Zug” Magnolia.

Another late bloomer that has escaped frost is the Susan Magnolia, a smaller tree than the Soulangeana Magnolia (Saucer Magnolia). We have two trees of the Soulangeana but both lost all of their flowers this year. Fortunately, we have three Susan Magnolias.

Susan Magnolia.

Last but not least are the dependable Bleeding Hearts which have started to come up.

Bleeding Heart.

Monochrome Monday +

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, postaday, snowy egret

Three Snowy Egrets.

Three Snowy Egrets.

Spring Colors

Tags

american robin, colonial lake, crabapple, european starling, postaday

The Crabapple is a most colorful spring blooming tree. There was one near the entrance of our public library and it easily drew everyone’s attention.

Crabapple spring blooms.

Crabapple spring blooms.

At nearby Colonial Lake ducks and birds were also welcoming the sun and a much needed increase in temperature.

Mallard couple, with she probably the result of a domestic duck and a wild Mallard.

American Robins were everywhere. I followed one as it walked on the shore of Colonial Lake.

American Robin at Colonial Lake.

American Robin looking for worm.

American Robin.

At one point there was a face off with an European Starling.

European Starling.

Although bigger than the Robin, the Starling flew away.

Double-Crested Cormorants

Tags

colonial lake, double-crested cormorant, postaday

In my previous post about a Cormorant, I should have mentioned that it was a Double-Crested Cormorant, the most common type found in North America. It sports a double crest of feathers on its head during breeding season. However, when it plunges into the water to look for fish, the double crest is flattened on its head and cannot be seen then.

A few days ago, I saw a couple of Cormorants sunning themselves in the middle of Colonial Lake, one with a visible double crest.

Double-crested Cormorants. The one on the left has a visible double crest on its head.

A closer look at a Double-crested Cormorant.

The crest color is white for Double-crested Cormorants in Alaska, but is black in other regions.

Cormorant

Tags

cormorant, double-crested cormorant, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, postaday

This time of the year, birds are very busy building their nests. A male Cormorant at the refuge emerged from the water with a stick.

Cormorant just found a stick in the water.

Cormorant getting ready to take stick back to the nest.

Cormorant taking off.

Cormorant flying back to nest.

In nest building, the male Cormorant only gathers building materials. The female Cormorant is the one that arranges such materials into a nest.

Purple Martins

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, postaday, purple martin

The EBF refuge’s Visitor Center puts up Purple Martin houses every spring. Those birds take them over and create a busy intersection as they fly into and out of their chosen condo. A photographer only has to stand below and aim a camera up to photograph the birds. However, they fly very fast and one has to be quick on the shutter!

Purple Martins in front of their condos.

Male Purple Martin checking out humans.

Male and female Purple Martins having a conversation.

Female and male Purple Martins in front of their condo.

Late Spring

Tags

eastern mud turtle, Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, mourning dove, osprey, postaday

Late Spring sounds like the name of a movie by Yasujirō Ozu, but it is very real for us this year. Almost a month after it was supposed to start, this year’s spring has been dragged kicking and screaming to make its entry, and it exacted extensive revenge on all sorts of plants and flowers. Our magnolia trees which normally bloom with thousands of vibrant flowers have had most of their buds killed by frost. I can count less than a dozen yellow flowers on our Butterfly Magnolia. It usually has several hundreds in April.

Butterfly Magnolia flower. The other flower in the background was killed by a late frost.

And here’s a view taken last week of the refuge.

Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, April 2022.

The Ospreys have arrived and became occupants of six platform nests along Wildlife Drive. Yesterday, I saw a male Osprey dining on the head of a fish.

Male Osprey eating head of a fish.

Meanwhile his mate seemed to be still sleeping.

Female Osprey in platform nest.

Further down the road, the Osprey couple that lost a fish to another Osprey a few days ago were waking up. He, on the right, did not appear to be in any hurry to go catch a fish.

Osprey couple on nest.

Rather than wait for them, I drove on to go see the night herons in Ocean City. On the way out, a very small turtle crossed my path.

Eastern Mud Turtle.

Finally a beautiful dove was standing by the side of the road.

Mourning Dove.

Mourning Dove.

Ospreys, Fish Crow

Tags

Fish Crow, osprey, postaday

As I arrived at my favorite Osprey nest site, I saw and heard the female Osprey whistling. Usually, a female Osprey whistles to clamor for food when she sees her mate come back with a fish that he has caught. Then as he lands somewhere within sight of the nest, he proceeds to eat the head of the fish and only brings what remains to her.

Female Osprey calling out loudly.

This time, the female was whistling loudly, almost belligerently. Then I saw not one but two male Ospreys fighting.

Male Ospreys fighting.

Male Osprey chasing away intruder.

Unfortunately, the one that fled had a fish in its talons. In the following photo, the fish is missing its head which was very likely eaten by the other male Osprey.

Osprey flying away with fish without head.

The Osprey that had its fish stolen flew after the thief. After a while I could not see either of them any longer. Meanwhile, at the nest, the female Osprey was facing a Fish Crow which came by to see whether it could steal anything from the nest.

Fish Crow approaching Osprey nest.

Fish Crow landing on nest.

Fish Crow flying away.

Fish Crow perched on nearby tree branch, waiting for an opportunity.

Female Osprey waiting for mate to return.

I also waited for the male Osprey to fly back to the nest with a new catch. But I had to leave after almost half an hour of waiting without seeing him. The female Osprey did not whistle once during that time.

Silent Sunday

Tags

Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, mute swan, postaday

Mute Swan.

Mute Swans.

Mute Swans.

Mute Swans.

Village Teacher, Absorbing Historical Fiction

T. W. Dittmer

I recently read “Village Teacher” by Nguyễn Trọng Hiền. I was fascinated by this book and decided to share my review.

Yes, I admit, my time in Vietnam has stayed with me and I’m drawn to stories of that country, but I liked this book so much that I couldn’t stay quiet about it. My review on Goodreads follows.

Village Teacher by neihtn (Nguyễn Trọng Hiền)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

To me, this story was engrossing. I’ve become a slow, undisciplined reader, but this tale carried me along throughout the entire book.

The story takes place during the early years of the French colonization of Vietnam. It is the story of the schoolteacher in a village in northern Vietnam who participates in the royal examinations in the imperial city of Hue. During his time there, he meets a woman of Vietnamese/French descent and the two are strongly attracted…

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