Good friend shows no interest in my 6-year-old daughter
Dear Carolyn: My close friend of over 20 years lives next door. She is single, ...
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Nature
Nature: Late summer’s vibrant color pallet
Cotton grass, lavender and white asters decorate the edges of my driveway now. Late summer and fall flowers give us ...
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Nature: Tree surgeons and cleanup crews
Just seeing a pileated woodpecker is exciting. Usually I have seen them in their swooping flight or tapping away at a tree excavating for insects that they can hear. They do not do exploratory surgery for they have excellent hearing and know there are insects in the wood and they just drill in to get them. I have watched birds for many …
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Nature: Subtle changes of summer’s end
September is here once again, but it still feels like summer. There are so many wonderful happenings with wildlife and flowering plants on this island and in the sea around us still to enjoy. Shorebird migration is on, and any time you are out and about near the coast you should be watching for the passing birds headed southward. Greater yellowlegs were …
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Nature: Don’t squeeze the Charmin!
Two snowy egrets were seen at Thompson Island this past week. These lovely egrets come to visit MDI every year and are a nice sight to behold. They are regularly seen in Florida and other southern states, but here in Maine, they are special visitors. They are the white heron with golden slippers – bright yellow feet on their black legs. All egrets …
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Nature: Fisher family featured on Facebook
The ‘dog days of August’ is not an expression you hear too often these days, but they were words that came to my mind this past week as temperatures became uncomfortable. Birds sing less frequently in August. Dragonflies become very noticeable this month and they can be quite fascinating to see flying about. I have a small pond on my property and it’s great fun watching …
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Nature: Sighting possible, but not likely
The ever–changing landscape with flowers and trees is now quite magical! A few short weeks ago, a favorite walk of mine took me by white violets, sundew and wild strawberries. They gradually faded away and now cotton grass, goldenrods, pickerelweed and steeplebush dominate the scene. Asters will soon add their beauty to the mix and the many goldenrods will take us into fall. Yellow tansy and white Queen Anne’s Lace flower along many roadsides. Local ponds …
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Nature: Fulmars can drink that drop
Native Americans called this “the month when the berries are ripe” and so it is. Blueberries, blackberries, cranberries and raspberries are ready for the picking. Asters are in full bloom and so is steeple bush. This lovely flower has soft pink blossoms at the top of the stem branch. Garden heliotrope dominates the scene along the road with its large half rounded white to pale pink flowering heads. …
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Nature: The riddle of the sphinx
Young ravens call loudly in my woods these days. Their raucous voices are begging their parents for food even though they are no longer baby birds. Nesting ravens are noisy, but I like them a lot. They are smart birds. Their jet–black feathers are beautiful, and they have great personalities and love a little fun. Ravens are larger than …
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Nature: Who cooks for you all?
Pickerelweed is now blooming in my pond. This attractive plant grows right in the water and is very easy to identify. The colorful violet blue flowers are densely clustered, and blooming begins from the bottom up. Although each blossom lasts but a single day, the gradual succession of blossoms goes on uninterrupted for months and the production …
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Nature: Happy bees playing vetch
Wildflowers flourish in the summer and it is a treat to walk anywhere on this island if you stay aware of your surroundings. From June into August, I love to look for and find purple vetch. The purple flowers of this creeping vine–like plant will attract your attention from local fields where they are part of the wild …