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Sun and Moon

The mellow critters of the Hideaway have been blessed this season with the most beautiful weather they’ve seen in years. Scattered white clouds on a blue canvas has been the order of the day, Quiet skies have occasionally coaxed in some gray clouds and light rain. Sunsets have turned them into a medley of pink and gold.

Mother Nature has descended into a dark mood only once. A tantrum of very heavy rain, driven by swirling winds briefly invaded the peace. The verdant walls of our small cocoon turned into a writhing mass of dark green anger. Wind whipped trees rained colored leaves which quickly gusted away in the wind. Thankfully, Mother Nature gradually regained her composure and a cautious sun returned. Thus another paroxysm of feminine rage is subdued. Scary.

It’s been a busy time around the pond. Our little enclave has become a roadside rest for numerous flocks of water birds traveling the avian highway south. Wood ducks have begun to arrive in larger numbers. Two pairs splashed down yesterday afternoon and took to the air as darkness fell.

Many other birds of a migration persuasion have left the area and are on the way to warmer climes. The hummingbirds are long gone, as are the phoebes, blue birds and wrens. Though we heard the last trills of a Carolina wren well back in the woods a day or so ago. It’s farewell song for the winter. Monarch butterflies, flaunting their regal garb of gold and black, have been using the Hideaway as a route to the far south.

Surprisingly, the robins have stayed to watch the trees change color and a banded kingfisher made a raid on the pond as it passed on south. Greedy winged reprobate.


Several massive murmurations of starlings have passed through the area, some settling in the trees en route. We came out to the porch for breakfast yesterday morning and the trees on the island exploded into black smithereens. A surprised gulp of very hot coffee alerts the senses.

The fish will soon begin to settle into their long winter sleep at the bottom of the pond. Torpor. So called by ichthyologists. A type of hibernation brought on by change in temperature. Thirty five degrees Fahrenheit. Frigid by any name. What a great life.

Some of the land based Hideaway critters will be looking for winter quarters. One is the mink that Shari saw skulking in high grass near the pond yesterday. We later saw a smaller one–probably this year’s offspring–swimming to the island. However, they’ll venture forth during winter to make life exciting for field mice, moles and other assorted small prey,

Turtles have stopped sunning on land and opted for winter refuge in the pond. Four months in cold mud. How good can it get?

A magnificent six point buck ran through the front yard last evening. Velvetless and ready for antlered conflict. He passed a few feet from the porch and stopped further along the pond to graze. He then waded back to the porch, grazing on pond side vegetation and low hanging tree branches. He grazed near the porch until he became invisible in the falling darkness and faded into the woods.

We arose yesterday morning at sunrise, alerted by the familiar cluck cluck of a flock of wild turkeys. They were pecking their way across the back yard, approaching to within a few feet of the house. One feathered narcissus apparently fell in love with its reflection in a sliding door window. It flared its tail in a display that would be the envy of the most amorous of avian Romeos. Our having been taken by surprise, we have no evidence of their rude intrusion. In the way of compensation, I’ve attached a video of a family of turkeys behaving in ways that would shame the most bawdy band or revelers at Roman bath.

Now would be a good time to escort small children from the room.

Spring Frolic

Night has fallen as I finish writing this. Two barred owls argue in the nearby woods. And a new moon sails somewhere high in the dark Catskill Mountain sky. Black starry silence. The Hideaway sleeps.

46 thoughts on “Sun and Moon

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