May 31: Trail run

The two startled deer

move through the trees

with so much more grace than I.

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May 30: Maple leaves like fat green hands

Warbler sings unseen
from behind the screen of leaves.
I've waited for this.

May 29: Nest

I was wrong in my May 26 post. The Blue Jays really did build a nest over our front door while we were away, and now she's up there brooding on eggs! I think of the classic haiku poet Issa, his compassion toward the spiders and other creatures that lived with him...

Please use the back door.

Mother jay is sitting tight

on three eggs out front.

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May 28: Pedicure

Three weeks till summer--
bare feet in wet grass,
freshly polished toe nails.

May 27: Rain again

In this greener world

it's easier to bear

more rain. 

May 26: Home again

Relieved that the jays

abandoned their nest-building

over our front door.

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May 25: Rare bird

This morning a Brewer's Sparrow flew in to the island. This bird breeds in the west, nowhere near here, and has never been recorded in Maine--it's only been seen seven times in the entire Northeast. We got good long looks at it down by the Ice Pond, along with many other birders securing photographic evidence.

 

Errant sparrow

calmly eats dandelion seeds

as the cameras whirr.

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May 24: Day's end

Lace curtain blowing.

Robins compete with

someone practicing French horn.

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May 23: Monhegan twilight

Woodcock's sky dance--
lighthouse beam sweeping over
the two of us, the bird.

Monhegan Island, view from the lighthouse

Monhegan Island Light

May 22: Lawnmower, Early evening

Lawnmower's drone--

I could fall asleep right now

dreaming of summer.

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May 21: Trillium

Led a bird walk this morning for Coastal Mountains Land Trust at the Ducktrap River Preserve: drumming grouse, gobbling turkeys, warblers, and spring's early wildflowers--which are as much a joy to see again as the birds.

While birds sing above,

faces of old friends

shine on the forest floor.

Painted Trillium

Red Trillium

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May 20: Violets

When I was a child, my grandmother, whom I called Nana Ruth or Nan, would send me out in spring to pick a bouquet of white violets from the lawn. That was my thing. A fistful fit perfectly in a special little vase she had.

 

I can't mow the lawn--

the masses of white violets

remind me of Nan.

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May 19: Warbler wave

This morning as I was leaving for work, I stopped to look at a bird in the backyard and realized that dozens of warblers were flitting through the new leaves, a wave of beauty and song.

The best part:
the way they moved,
singing, through the trees.

May 18: Overgrown

Only away three days
but dandelions
already fill the lawn.

May 17: Cathedral Woods

Deep in the woods

where the rain can't reach:

kinglets' songs.

 

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May 16: On island

Robin's song, cries of gulls,

cold wind and crashing waves--

island twilight.

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May 15: Yellow Warbler

From inside the office

I hear it singing

down by the river.

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May 14: Leafing out

Backyard maple leaves unfurl,
hands opening
to offer spring's blessings.

May 13: Kale popcorn

Can't get enough kale popcorn--

guess I'm still starved

for spring greenery.

 

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May 12: Early morning

Natural alarm clock:

open bedroom window,

dawn patrol of geese.

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May 11: Ospreys

Ah, life on the coast of Maine...

 

No longer on an island

but an osprey

still cries overhead.

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May 10: Owlets

Took the boat shuttle across the harbor to Vinalhaven this foggy afternoon to meet up with our friend Kirk, who took us deep into the mossy woods on private property to see a Great Horned Owl nest with two fuzzy owlets in it. We also glimpsed both adults keeping a close eye on us, making sure we didn't get too close.

As if covered with lichen--

fuzzy owl nestlings

waiting in the fog.

 

 

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May 9: North Haven

My husband and I are spending the weekend on the island of North Haven in Penobscot Bay.

 

We walked in the rain

after I woke from a nap.

Everything felt new.

 

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May 8: Blackflies

Even the blackflies
(not yet biting)
are a welcome sign of spring.

May 7: Mortality

A friend recently lost her father. While a death is almost always hard to take, it seems especially difficult to deal with when the whole world around you is so blatantly coming back to life.

So hard--
planning a funeral
while tulips are budding.

May 6: Lucky day

Seen out my office window:
bluebird,
crow playing with a feather.

May 5: Before sunset

After work, after my run,

I head to the river--

Paul's there fishing.

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May 4: I hear my first Black-throated Green Warbler of spring

While gardening

between thunderstorms--

warbler's spring song.

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May 3: Fox kits at Schoodic Point

I've lost my heart--

a litter of fox kits

has run away with it.

 

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May 2: Sweeping away the cobwebs

Chickadee perches

on the open window,

plucks off a cobweb.

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May 1: May begins with rain

I want to shelter it
in my cupped hands--
rain-bedraggled chickadee.