All the Beautiful Creatures

Floating around North Bend, taking in the sights. Imagine having been born and raised on a chunk of basalt in the middle of the Atlantic. What you know is the sea, the forest in the highlands; how to pick up and carry a lost shearwater back to the ocean--these are just some of the things Oscar knows. And here he is, plunked down in the middle of a large freshwater lake in Ohio, with all the wildlife that goes with that--turtles and dragonflies and deer and woodpeckers (what are those?!) and herons and hawks. Oscar got very excited when he spotted a juvenile redtail, keening for its parents.

Aguila! Well, not quite. But pretty impressive, if a bit whiney.

A northern water snake made its leisurely way along the shore. There's a glint in the eye of those snakes that tells you not to mess with them. You do, they'll come after ya. Got a vengeful streak.

A green heron, looking like a Balinesian god, teed up on a stump.

 

I thought back to the July day in 2014 I had an audience with a little family at North Bend. Oh, what a day that was. Here's a freshly fledged babe peeking out at me, all toes and curiosity.

Today would be more for people shots.

The eastern pondhawk posed nicely.

As did the eastern amberwing. Halloween pennants are common here as well, but I didn't catch one on this trip.

 There isn't much that's fast enough to grab a dragonfly, but flycatchers like the eastern kingbird specialize in it.

 

I was thrilled to see this kingbird return with one for her orange-mawed babies.

 Kind of a scratchy crackly mouthful, I'd wager, but the nestling was up for it. Mmmrf!

After lunch, she settled down to shade her panting children from the midday sun. Thanks, Mama.

 Eastern kingbirds are so tuff they sometimes build their nests right out in the open, as here, relying on their watchful ferocity to protect their young from any aerial predator that might try something. Tyrannus tyrannus is well named. A kingbird will ride a crow or hawk, punching holes in it, for just crossing the airspace near their nest.

A tangle of monofilament provided inspiration and perhaps a base for these kingbirds to place their low-hanging nest. It was at eye level for me in a kayak!

 Like it or not, he's there, and he's going to make it work. (You can tell he's a male by the white, not grayish, chest. Both male and female incubate).

Go ahead. Take my picture. 

 

 

We drifted past whitetails just resting and feeding. The deer at North Bend have an understanding with boaters, and can be freely observed from cars, as well. It's really nice to be able to see them unconcerned and behaving as they would were you not watching.

I hate to use a tired word like "magical" on this, one of my spirit places, but it is. There's always something special going on on its waters, in the skyspace, or in the surrounding forest. North Bend heals me. 

And the little town of Harrisville is such a treat. Here's a tiny cottage with a Gothic touch. I so wished I could go inside and see if the kitchen was as unchanged as the exterior!

We looked for the post office, a nice early 60's box of metal, brick and glass (probably mint green inside, too)

and found the courthouse, quite a fancy one. We were tourists in this quiet little town.

We got noseprints all over the glass at Berdine's Five and Dime. It's chock-full of little stuff you can't find anywhere else. How we wished we'd come by when it was open.

But the greater treasure was up in the porch eave as Shila indicates in this photo. Musta been Sadie Hawkins day, because here's a male mourning dove tending a nest.  I suspect this to be a robin nest that the doves took over, to which they added some flimsy plant material. Wise move, doves. It's not a typical mourning dove location, but they're flexible birds.

Pretty sweet, to see him there with us just below, and the old sign and some forgotten Christmas lights hanging.  

It had been a beautiful day. We'd shown Oscar some of the best of West Virginia, thanks to North Bend Outfitters and lovely little Harrisville. It had been a stress-free getaway into quiet waters.

 Dinner in Marietta (House of Wines, outdoors, of course!) capped a perfect day. Here's to good days, and love, and breathtaking beauty in the ordinary. You just have to watch for those moments.

Wild Places: Best When Shared

Just back this afternoon from a wild and wooly Fri-Sat-Sun, entertaining 34 hearty and kind Bird Watcher's Digest subscribers at our fifth, and perhaps most successful, BWD Reader Rendezvous. 

They were wonderful people, appreciative and soulful, and North Bend showed her best side. 

We worked our buns off making sure everybody got what they'd come for. Bill, Wendy, Dawn, Kyle,  Mollee, Keith and I never once rested, except when we fell into bed for the too-short nights before the 5:30 wakeups. But it was worth every bit of effort. There were a bunch of people there for whom this was the first birding event of any kind they'd ever attended.

We felt the responsibility of making sure it would be the best, too.

It was magic. We were humbled that 34 BWD subscribers would travel--some from as far as Washington State, Florida, Michigan and Georgia--to be with us at this heavenly place Bill and I discovered in 2009, that has become so important to me as a place I can go to soak up some of my favorite birds on its still waters. 

 Ann drove from Florida by herself just to be with us. Keith came from Fayetteville WV, where he helps run the New River Birding and Nature Festival each year, just to help us pull off this event. And he took Ann for a dreamy ride amongst the snags and nesting birds. Friends. What would we do without them?

A female eastern bluebird at her natural house

soon followed by her gorgeous mate.

This was my earliest visit in June since 2009, and hordes of tree swallows are finishing off their broods.

This satiny tree swallow embellished its nest with a great blue heron feather. Its young were well-feathered and soon to boot out of their low snaggy cradle.

Everywhere were eastern kingbirds, nesting out in the open, conspicuous and fearless.

A kingbird hauls a fecal sac from its three babies in their open snag cradle. 

A summer tanager sings his lazy, halting song, back to us. He don't care.

Common bluets dip and couple on the quiet waters, the males clasping their mates behind the head in an oddly beautiful ballet. 

And everywhere around, the stars of the show brought gasps of delight from our rendezvousing readers.

 Taken this morning--a red-headed woodpecker feeds a soon-to-fledge youngster, as a tree swallow buzzes by in this precious watery nursery for cavity-nesting birds.

I floated right up to this bird, busy processing a large insect in one of its many larders.

I think every one of us realized how lucky we were to be here, seeing these things. Tracking down a black-and-white warbler at the hemlock-sheltered picnic area. 

It was an honor to share one of my favorite places with so many good souls.