Solitude Late at Night in the Woods

The body is like a November birch facing the full moon
And reaching into the cold heavens.
In these trees there is no ambition, no sodden body, no leaves,
Nothing but bare trunks climbing like cold fire!

My last walk in the trees has come. At dawn
I must return to the trapped fields,
To the obedient earth.
The trees shall be reaching all the winter.

It is a joy to walk in the bare woods.
The moonlight is not broken by the heavy leaves.
The leaves are down, and touching the soaked earth,
Giving off the odors that partridges love.
- Robert Bly

Winter Reflections

Afternoon at Stokes Forest

Evening at Rio Dam

Self portrait

A quiet winter morning at Bashakill Marsh

Reflections - "The world is a looking-glass,

and gives back to every man

the reflection of his own face.

Frown at it, and it in turn

will look sourly upon you;

laugh at it

and with it,

and it is a jolly kind companion."

---William Makepeace Thackery

November

So dull and dark are the November days.
The lazy mist high up the evening curled,
And now the morn quite hides in smoke and haze;
The place we occupy seems all the world.
- John Clare

For Kerrdelune

Congratultions on the anniversary
of your entry into the "Realm of Blog"
May your light long shine
and illuminate the Realm.

Happy Anniversary Beyond The Fields We Know

Poetry Snapshot - Illustrating a Poem

Poetry Thursday suggests today to post a poetry snapshot...

What is Poetry?
This is the question I asked myself when I thought about capturing a poem with my camera.
After contemplating the question for some time, I resorted to an internet search and came away even less certain that I can define poetry :)

These words from Robert Frost help a bit:
"A poem begins with a lump in the throat, a home-sickness or a love-sickness. It is a reaching-out toward expression; an effort to find fulfillment. A complete poem is one where the emotion has found its thought and the thought has found the words."

What is it
That provides the inspiration
For a poem?

The solitude
the light of breaking dawn
or eventide?

Is it the silence of the night
the sound of wind
rustling through each tree?

A golden autumn leaf on its
circuitous journey
to the ground?

A lovers kiss
A canopy of stars
or contemplation of the moon?

In thinking on these things
I find
I do not know
Do you?
© November 9, 2006

Drifting

A cold and rainy day
and I am just drifting.

"The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Rainy Day

Fog in November

Fog in November, trees have no heads,
Streams only sound, walls suddenly stop
Half-way up hills, the ghost of a man spreads
Dung on dead fields for next year's crop.
I cannot see my hand before my face,
My body does not seem to be my own,
The world becomes a far-off, foreign place,
People are strangers, houses silent, unknown.
- Leonard Clark

Birder Survey - Photos

Photos to go with Birder Survey - had to post them separately

Immature Black Guillemot picture taken off the coast of Acadia, Maine a couple of weeks ago.
Yellow-rumped Warbler posing on the deck on Sunday

Birder Survey

Have some photos but Blogger won't let me post them today - Sorry

What state (or country) do you live in? NY, USA
How long have you been birding? 45+ years but I have only been keeping a life list since the early 1990’s
Are you a "lister"? I didn’t think so but discovered that we regularly make lists on birding trips
ABA Life List: 430
Overall Life List: ?
3 Favorite Birding Spots: Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, NY; Bentsen Rio Grande State Park, Texas; Desoto or LaSalle Wildlife Refuge, Iowa/Nebraska
Favorite birding spot outside your home country: Point Pelee, Ontario, Canada
Farthest you've traveled to chase a rare bird: There are so many left to see that I really haven’t gone bird chasing.
Nemesis bird: Probably a Northern Saw-whet Owl – we hear them but I have never seen one.
"Best" bird sighting: Blue Bunting at trailer loop camp #9 Bentsen Rio Grande State Park, Texas
Most wanted trip: Back to Waterton Lakes or a pelagic trip
Most wanted bird: For the moment- an Atlantic Puffin
What model and brand of bins do you use?: Whichever ones are handy but most frequently Bausch & Lomb because they are light weight
What model and brand of scope do you use?: Haven’t chosen one yet.
What was the last lifer you added to your list?: Black Guillemot
Where did you see your last lifer?: Acadia Park, Maine
What's the last bird you saw today?: Yellow-Rumped Warbler
Best bird song you've heard ever: Wood Thrush or California Thrasher
Favorite birding moment: First trip to South Texas - Sitting at a picnic table in Bentsen Rio Grande State Park and adding twenty birds to my life list in only a couple of hours.
Least favorite thing about birding: Bugs and those birders who blow smoke at me --- oh yes – poison ivy.
Favorite thing about birding: Seeing a new bird
Favorite field guide for the US: This is difficult – there are things I like about several but would love to combine them into one book ( I guess Petersons and National Geographic)
Favorite non-field guide bird book: Possibly a guide to birding sites but my bookshelves are so full I can’t pick.
Who is your birder icon: Can’t think of one unless it is John Muir
Do you have a bird feeder(s)? Yes
Favorite feeder bird? I really don’t think I have a favorite but the chickadees and nuthatches do entertain me greatly.


I invite you to also participate in this survey ---Please copy and paste your responses in the comments or post this on your blog.
Got this from Laura over at Somewhere in New Jersey