Wings on Wednesday

Just another cup of tea please...

Well today is a lazy day. Nice to have one of those for a change. I have to admit I haven't even gotten dressed yet. Guess I really needed a day of doing nothing. I've done some genealogy research and catching up on emails. What is really staring me in the face is the need to clean the house. Not exactly what I want to do on a week of vacation. Which leads me to the picture. I took this two summers ago soon after sunrise. I woke up early and the morning fog was on the lake and the dawning sun was painting the sky in muted shades of pink.

I guess what I'm saying is I'd rather pull out a good book and have a cup of tea sitting on the dock in the early morning watching the sunrise. Well, I may not be able to be there but I think I will have another cup of tea and then maybe clean the house...or not.

My close encounter with a loon

Every once in a while I experience a close encounter with nature. I feel these are privileges. I got my love for animals and nature from my maternal Grandfather Walter Brewer. When I was ten my Grandparents moved from Lawrence, MA to Deerfield New Hampshire. They lived in this rural town by a small river. I remember seeing a mink by the river one fall.

Grampa Brewer trained a family of chipmunks to feed out of his hand. If I sat very still they would come and eat out of my hand. In the winter he always had bird feeders by the window. We enjoyed seeing grosbeaks [both evening and rose breasted] and other assorted birds while we ate breakfast. Later he even got the chickadees and sparrows to eat out of his hand. If I put on his red jacket I could go out and stand very still with a few seeds in my hand. The birds would come and sit on my hand and take a seed and fly off. It was so cool.

My greatest joy happened a couple of summers ago. I was up at Songo Pond in mid July. I saw a lone loon in the water so I got my camera and stayed a respectable distance watching her [could have been a male for all I know as well] for signs when I seemed too close. She paddled around and it seemed to me she might be injured or something. Over time she let me get to within about 5 feet or so. I talked to her quietly and she even dozed while I stood by. Over the next week when I saw her near if I used their social call she would come nearer to me.

One day she was in the water and I was taking pictures. I ran out of film and my sister brought me a new one. As I was changing the film near the shore, she came over and gently put her beak around my ankle. I jumped a little in surprise. Guess she thought my ankle was a fish or something.

The neighbors said she stayed close to shore for a couple of days after I left, but then moved to the other end of the pond which is their usual habit. It will remain one of my favorite memories.

This was such a great blessing and experience to have this usually shy bird come so close.