May 3: Fern heads

Tightly curled fern--

fuzzy fist punching the spring sky,

beating it blue.

May 2: In my herb garden

Tulip leaves push through
the center of a sage plant--
power of yearning.

May 1: May Day

May Day, or Beltane--the pagan holiday celebrating the fertility of the verdant earth. This morning a Red-bellied Woodpecker was chirring repeatedly in the yard while I ate breakfast. Now a flicker's staccato whinny, cardinal's sputtering, and always the titmouse's incessant, loud whistles. The lawn greens in this vernal sunlight, bulbs bloom, buds swell. So much going on out there right now, the "season for loving."

Woodpecker calling
with uplifting urgency:
May Day! I need you!

April 30: Osprey

This morning the shadow of a large bird moving through the trees manifested itself as a brown and white Osprey. It perched in a tree in the neighbor's yard, from which it could look down on the river. I think it was poised right over my husband's favorite fishing hole. The river's barely more than a stream where we live, but it serves as a wooded, watery pathway for Ospreys, eagles, and kingfishers. I never get too used to seeing them pass through my back yard.

Osprey watches the river.
It's all about positioning--
right place, right time.

April 29: Kingfisher

Didn't get outside all day until I left the office well after 6:00 pm, but was rewarded for a long day's work by a kingfisher rattling overhead. First one of the spring for me here, though I've seen some further south in Maine. He seemed to be traveling downriver. When I told my husband, he wondered aloud if the river had been stocked with fish this spring. I think he was also wondering silently if he could get outside and go fishing while there was still daylight.

Kingfisher sounds annoyed
to find the river so low.
Spring hopes realign.

April 28: Bright weekend

The most beautiful weekend of spring thus far and I spent almost the entirety of it indoors--ironically, at a land conservation conference and at a meeting of birders. The bird-y meeting took place at Colby College, and even on a sunny Sunday, a few students could be found in the halls of the science building where we met.

Tank top, shorts, sandals--
student's attire reminds me
I should be outside.

April 27: Early rising

Staying with friends who have Evening Grosbeaks coming to their bird feeders in the morning. I haven't seen Evening Grosbeaks in several years, so when I awoke early and heard them calling I got right up, even though I had planned to sleep longer. And by getting up early, I managed to catch a glimpse of the big fat golden egg of the moon setting behind the pines.

Fat moon setting

and calls of grosbeaks--

rewards for rising early.