After my yucky week Tim made sure I got out for another walk soon, especially since we’re supposed to be having a few storms this week. I haven’t been finding many birds lately, and not even the gulls were cooperating at the beach, where we found ourselves on Sunday.
and driftwood
and seaweed
young man meditating on the rocks
But then I remembered a song sparrow I had seen back in July in a thicket near a chain link fence on top of a cement wall near the estuary. (timelessness and quiet ecstasy) I decided to see if some song sparrows were still there. Yes! They live here year round and are native to North America. Finding them made my day! 🙂
song sparrow on the lookout
in a thicket by the sea the song sparrows are still keeping a home ~ Barbara Rodgers (By the Sea)
the top of a chain link fence serves a useful purpose
Feeds heavily on seeds, especially in winter, mainly those of grasses and weeds. Birds in coastal marshes and on islands also feed on small crustaceans and mollusks, perhaps rarely on small fish. ~ National Audubon Society website, page on song sparrows
If you would have the song of the sparrow inspire you a thousand years hence, let your life be in harmony with its strain to-day. ~ Henry David Thoreau (Journal, May 12, 1857)
Canada goose papa watching over his family in Avery Pond
One morning, four days after the beach “opened” for the season on June 20, we got up early and headed down there before it opened for the day. What a difference! Now that people have to pay for a pass to enter between 8am and 8pm the freeloaders and all their litter, cigarette butts and dog crap have disappeared. Peace is restored and we had such a lovely walk!
killdeer parent and three tiny chicks near Avery Pond
killdeer on the run after the speedy little chicks
In contrast to the tranquil Canada goose family, the killdeer parents were beyond frantic, chasing after and chirping to their three chicks, who were darting all over the place and in every direction. It made getting their pictures next to impossible! They blended in well with the gravel.
the morning dew promised a humid day
Someone is tending some beautiful rose bushes near the entrance, along the chain link fence.
rose and chain link fence
I love the contrast between rusty old metal and fresh new flower.
rose and buds
The water was very calm on the river/estuary side of the point.
juvenile gull
female common eider
flying over the Thames River estuary
underwater and above-water seaweed
please, please, please
Another risk factor to worry about:
The two stretches of DNA implicated as harboring risks for severe COVID-19 are known to carry some intriguing genes, including one that determines blood type and others that play various roles in the immune system. In fact, the findings suggest that people with blood type A face a 50 percent greater risk of needing oxygen support or a ventilator should they become infected with the novel coronavirus. In contrast, people with blood type O appear to have about a 50 percent reduced risk of severe COVID-19. ~ Dr. Francis S. Collins (Genes, Blood Type Tied to Risk of Severe COVID-19, NIH Director’s Blog, June 18, 2020)
I have type A blood. Fortunately my husband, children, and grandchildren are all type O. Reading this article made me glad that we haven’t let our guard down and continue to remain firmly self-quarantined. And now our governor has ordered out-of-state travelers to quarantine for two weeks when entering Connecticut because of the way COVID-19 is spreading like wildfire in so many other states. I’m glad to know he is still looking out for us. The numbers are getting very alarming again.
It’s good to know my beach sanctuary is available to me again, at least for the summer. Looking forward to many early morning walks on the sand.
The salt of those ancient seas is in our blood, its lime is in our bones. Every time we walk along a beach some ancient urge disturbs us so that we find ourselves shedding shoes and garments, or scavenging among seaweed and whitened timbers like the homesick refugees of a long war. ~ Loren Eiseley (The Unexpected Universe)
gull tracks
I like this place, and willingly could Waste my time in it. ~ William Shakespeare (As You Like It)
? near Beach Pond
red-winged blackbird near Beach Pond
We are nature. We are nature seeing nature. The red-winged blackbird flies in us. ~ Susan Griffin (Made from this Earth: An Anthology of Writings)
While video chatting with our son and daughter-in-law they mentioned an open space property where they used to love hiking when they lived up here. (They live in Georgia now.) So we set about finding Avery Tract the next day. The highlight of our adventure was spotting this scarlet tanager!
5.12.20 ~ an unusual trailhead
If you squint you can see “NATURE SANCTUARY” written into the cement on the landing. Our only clue that we found the property.
5.12.20 ~ Tim spotted what little was left of this decaying tree
5.12.20 ~ an inviting path
The trail quickly started going downhill towards the Thames River and the New England Central Railroad tracks.
5.12.20 ~ looking north
5.12.20 ~ looking south towards the Gold Star Memorial Bridge
We turned around and headed back up the hill, trying to get some pictures of the scarlet tanager who was flying from treetop to treetop. He was very elusive! All taken with the telephoto lens.
The scarlet tanager sighting was definitely the most exciting part of my day!
5.12.20 ~ spring green in the woods
5.12.20 ~ pincushion moss?
5.12.20 ~ pincushion moss?
Since I am getting frustrated trying to identify mosses online I just ordered a field guide book to mosses, liverworts, and hornworts. And since I have no idea what liverworts and hornworts are it looks like I have a lot to learn.
5.12.20 ~ little sapling
Another hour long walk. Lots of huffing and puffing coming back up the hill but it was all worth the effort. Until next time…
The health of the eye seems to demand a horizon. We are never tired, so long as we can see far enough. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson (Nature)
Tim likes to point out that you can see four lighthouses from a certain place along this walk. It’s fun to look out at the horizon and try to identify different kinds of ships. We don’t see as many as we used to, but I think the ferries to Long Island are still running…
5.3.20 ~ Avery Point Light, the closest, on UConn campus
Avery Point Lighthouse is a lighthouse in Groton, Connecticut, on the Avery Point Campus of the University of Connecticut. Although construction was completed in March 1943, the lighthouse was not lit until May 1944 due to concerns of possible enemy invasion. ~ Wikipedia
5.3.20 ~ Race Rock Light, the most distant, eight miles away
Race Rock Lighthouse stands in Long Island Sound, 8 miles (13 km) from New London, Connecticut, at the mouth of the Race where the waters of the Sound rush both ways with great velocity and force. ~ Wikipedia
I’ve been told that Race Rock Light marks where Long Island Sound ends and the Atlantic Ocean begins. I got a good picture of it in 2012 when we took a ferry to Block Island. See picture here.
5.3.20 ~ New London Ledge Light, in Long Island Sound
New London Ledge Lighthouse is a lighthouse in Groton, Connecticut on the Thames River at the mouth of New London harbor. It is currently owned and maintained by the New London Maritime Society as part of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act program. ~ Wikipedia
5.3.20 ~ New London Harbor Light, across the Thames River
New London Harbor Light is a lighthouse in New London, Connecticut on the west side of the New London harbor entrance. It is the nation’s fifth oldest light station and the seventh oldest U.S. lighthouse. It is both the oldest and the tallest lighthouse in Connecticut and on Long Island Sound, with its tower reaching 90 feet. The light is visible for 15 miles and consists of three seconds of white light every six seconds. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. It is currently owned and maintained by the New London Maritime Society as part of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act program. ~ Wikipedia
5.3.20 ~ meteorological mast
The Meteorological Tower on the University of Connecticut Avery Point Campus measures wind speed and direction (anemometer), atmospheric pressure (barometer), relative humidity, rainfall (rain gauge), air temperature (thermometer), radiation from clouds and sky (pyrgeometer), and solar radiation (pyranometer). It also provides pictures of Long Island Sound. Anemometer height is approximately 37 feet above the water surface.
I cross till I am weary A Mountain — in my mind — More Mountains — then a Sea — More Seas — And then A Desert — find —
And my Horizon blocks With steady — drifting — Grains Of unconjectured quantity —
~ Emily Dickinson (The Poems of Emily Dickinson, #666)
5.3.20 ~ weather station
5.3.20 ~ I love the sound this buoy’s bell makes
Feeling is deep and still; and the word that floats on the surface Is as the tossing buoy, that betrays where the anchor is hidden. ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Evangeline)
5.3.20 ~ an amazing tree
That way I looked between and over the near green hills to some distant and higher ones in the horizon, tinged with blue. … There was pasture enough for my imagination. … ‘There are none happy in the world but beings who enjoy freely a vast horizon,’ said Damodara, when his herds required new and larger pastures. ~ Henry David Thoreau (Walden)
We were not permitted to drive down to the beach because it is still flooded, even at low tide. So we got as close as we could get, a bit north of the beach on the Thames River. No one playing golf today! Notice the white caps on the Thames River, from the tropical storm winds.
8.28.11 ~ Thames River
Other families had the same idea – gathering on a little strip of land between the golf course and the Thames River. The wind was still very strong, in fact I had trouble pushing my car door open!
8.28.11 ~ Thames River
It’s hard to comprehend that this is the low tide!
8.28.11 ~ Thames River
This gull was gliding in place, kind of floating in the wind…
8.28.11 ~ Thames River
In this picture you can see a line of seaweed on the lawn, marking where the storm surge reached at high tide, and this home is on the Thames River. I hope I can get to the beach tomorrow as I can only wonder how things are down there with the houses right on the ocean!
In all the excitement yesterday I forgot I had a prescription to pick up at the drug store. So… we decided to go get it this morning, even though it was already raining, but with no wind to speak of. Workers were boarding up the large expanse of windows at CVS. I wonder if they will stay open for 24 hours through the storm.
8.27.11 ~ Groton, Connecticut
Since we were already out and about we decided to have second breakfast (as Hobbits refer to it) at our favorite restaurant. And then we decided to go to the food co-op for Tim’s sliced almonds. And then we decided we may as well check out the beach before returning home.
On the way we spotted some die-hard golfers, out for one last round! That’s the Thames River behind them, shrouded in mist.
8.27.11 ~ Groton, Connecticut
I’m guessing these cormorants were getting a feel for the wind direction. They didn’t fly, they were just standing there with their wings open…
8.27.11 ~ Eastern Point
This little house is on a rock island in the Thames River and is the object of much curiosity and speculation. We have never seen people there before, but today these two kayaked out there! When I got home and uploaded my pictures to my laptop, I noticed that there seems to be a wind turbine just behind the bushes! I called Tim over and he had never noticed one there before either. It’s strange that I didn’t even see it while taking the picture.
8.27.11 ~ Eastern Point
We drove right up to this seagull. He was unimpressed with us and wasn’t about to leave his post.
8.27.11 ~ Eastern Point
This gull had a long and mournful cry…
8.27.11 ~ Eastern Point
As I moved closer to him I could see something wrong with his foot, perhaps it was injured and healed in an awkward position. He seemed to know I meant him no harm and allowed me to come very close to him and talk to him.
8.27.11 ~ Eastern Point
Later he was waiting patiently, hoping to get a crumb from a woman enjoying one last hot dog before the storm arrives.
8.27.11 ~ Eastern Point
On the way home we stopped at Baker Cove and found this tranquil scene…
Baker Cove ~ 8.27.11 ~ Groton, Connecticut
There have been a few evacuations near us, but so far we’re good to stay. The storm track is a little more to the west, so we’re out of the “red” zone. Now we’re more concerned about Larisa in New York than about us here. There is a high new moon tide coming along with a 6′ storm surge. (We’re 20′ high. If I see water, though, I’m out of here!) Tim has his webcam aimed out the window – wonder what we’ll see?
