First Goslings

Since it’s supposed to rain the rest of the week, I decided to take my weekly trip to Nisqually today. Though it was overcast most of the day, it was still a nice walk especially since I was accompanied by one of the volunteers who mans the visitor’s center.

After a walker told us he’d seen an otter just cross the trail, the volunteer spotted the otter hiding behind a log. He actually blended in much better than this photo would suggest, because I lightened it considerably in Photoshop.

Photo or not, it was quite a thrill just to see the otter again.

Overall, though, there were very few birds to be seen today. The volunteer explained that many of the winter residents had headed out to their summer breeding area and the song birds are still a few weeks away.

Another reason for so few sightings became obvious a while later when I captured this shot:

Most of the birds are too busy nesting and parenting to be spending time showing off their fine feathers. Canadian Geese may be considered pests in many areas today, but there’s always room in my heart for another gosling or two.

2 thoughts on “First Goslings”

  1. Odd place for announcements, Loren, but I wanted to remind you that this weekend is the Procession of the Species in Olympia. Art Walk Friday and Saturday, procession Saturday. k

  2. “Tug on anything at all and you’ll find it connected to everything else in the universe” — John Muir

    Funny how things connect. This morning the following poem by David Wagoner was emailed to me by our local bookstore which is emailing a poem a day during April because it is designated as Poetry Month.

    They hold their hand over their mouths
    And stare at the stretch of water.
    What can be said has been said before:
    Strokes of light like herons’ legs in the cattails,
    Mud underneath, frogs lying even deeper.
    Therefore, the poets may keep quiet.
    But the corners of their mouths grin past their hands.
    They stick their elbows out into the evening,
    Stoop, and begin the ancient croaking.

    In order find out a little more about that poem which made me smile for the first time today, I went to Google. There was an entry from one of your blogs from October 2001 about another David Wagoner poem. Then I noticed that your next blog entry was “Shine Perishing Republic,” by Robinson Jeffers who along with Denise Levertov is probably my favorite of poets.

    . . . Check email at 6:30 a.m., local bookstore, Poetry Month, David Wagoner poem, laugh, Google, In a Dark Time, another David Wagoner poem, Shine Perishing Republic, remembering Denise Levertov, gratitude for Loren Webster and his web log, living next to a cattail marsh, hearing the birds singing in the early morning light, remembering John Muir quote, feeling connected once again, the corners of everyone’s mouths grinning past our hands! . . .

    I love the geese, goslings and otter.

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