Today I met up with Kathie of Sycamore Canyon. What fun to meet her! She is absolutely a bird genius.It is so pleasurable to spend time with someone who is willing to share their interest and knowledge. Hopefully, Kathie will post some of the pictures that she took today when she gets back to her home computer.
We had lunch at the Boiler Room in Wilton and joked about how our friends and family worried about us meeting a friend from our blogs.
Kathie remembered from living in this area a few years ago that there were some trails on the far side of Wilson Lake, so we jumped in her rental car and headed around the lake. We found the trails on land owned and managed by the Foothills Land Conservancy
The first bird that we saw was an Eastern Kingbird. It was proudly sitting on a fence rail, then it snagged a bug and flew up to a telephone wire to gobble it up. That first bird was followed by so many more. There were cedar waxw
ings, common yellow-throated warblers, downy woodpeckers (oh they are so cute), and others including one really special one that I will let Kathie describe when she gets back home and starts posting again.Last week I made a vanity vs. comfort decision and after 30 years in contact lenses, decided that I was switching to glasses. I discovered today that the binoculars work much better with contacts, so I may switch back. So many decisions, so little time.
The land where we found the birds was a beautiful wild area at the headwaters of Wilson Lake.
The trail was mown through grassy meadows it was a perfect habitat for birds, wildflowers and mosquitoes
It was a great day or as we say in western Maine, it was "wicked". Kathie is a lovely, classy lady with a brain full of bird knowledge and hopefully not an immune system coping with some mosquito born illness (I couldn't help but google to see the potential--malaria, west nile virus......)
Thanks for the great day, Kathie!
8 comments:
What a great day! There are those in my family who feel that internet users are not to be trusted, but I would love to meet some blogging friends. I figure the risks of getting a mosquito borne illness are slight. They announced the 2nd case of West Nile in a person this summer in Toronto today. I am more likely to get dinged in my car.
How fun! There is just nothing like meeting bloggers you feel you already "know" in so many ways. Sounds like you all had a wonderful day. :c)
I thought you two might hit it off nicely. Glad you had so much fun. We will be looking for more pics from Kathie when she gets back home. Pappy
Beth, I'm thinking the state of Maine needs to link you on some "the way life should be" web site. What great promo day after day for the Maine lifestyle-- birds, flowers, mountains, hiking, kayaking, great scenery, and especially nice people. You must be single-handedly helping to attract visitors and boost the state economy (which needs it, goodness knows)!
Ruth, you are right about the risk of a ding to your car over a mosquito born illness--it was nice to meet someone whose posts bring me such pleasure.
Jayne, new friends! It's such fun.
Texican, Kathie said that she calmed her husbands concerns about me by telling her that my cousin was in law enforcement--how nice that your reputation could vouch for me!
Elizabeth, thank you--maybe the state of Maine would hire me to write all day--I could live with that--are you listening Governor Baldacci?
So much fun to meet other bloggers. Sounds like you two had quite a time!
Beth, you are so cute! I had a great day with you too and had to smile about the genius part. I still have so much to learn! I think the sparrows we saw were mostly Savanah sparrows with a couple of song sparrows thrown in for good measure. I was amazed by how you tuned in to all the lovely flowers while my brain had gone to the birds! I hope we can do this again next year but I really hope you can make it to AZ someday! I already felt like you were my friend and now I know it!
Oh, and so far as I know I don't have any mosquito born illnesses though I did itch quite a bit for a few days.
I always enjoy reading about birds....
Thanks for this interesting post.
Post a Comment