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April Observations

4/26/2018

Here are a few notes on April observations.
April 9
I visited Amnicola Marsh and spent a pleasant morning there. I had seen a report of ten Great Egrets were hanging out there and decided to see if they were still present. Not only were they still present, but their numbers had grown to 15. Most stood still, waiting for a fishy meal while one flew across the marsh to roost nearer the highway.

As I watched the egrets, I saw a bird take off from a nearby snag. It plunged into the water and returned to the snag. The morning light clearly revealed it as a male Kingfisher. I am not sure why kingfishers delight me so, but it is always a pleasure to see them, particularly in hunting mode. This one dove again and again, possibly harvesting small prey, or missing altogether. He soon flew off with a chortle.

A flock of small ducks took to the air from nearby water weeds and revealed the blue of their upper wings. I suspected these Blue-winged Teal would soon be off to nesting grounds, but I later saw a pair swimming in stately grandeur. The white crescent on the male’s face was clearly visible.

I was also delighted to see that the Red-winged Blackbirds had returned. Males sang their three-syllable proclamation from every prominent branch. Energetic swallows flew past them swooping down to collect meals of insects.

As I worked my way around the pond, the usual suspects appeared. Cardinals, chickadees, titmice, and robins sang from many branches as Mourning Doves lifted from the ground to take refuge in thickets.

At the far side of the pond, a pair of Canada Geese shepherded a clutch of five young away at my approach. Another goose flew a bit close and one of the parents gave a loud hiss with outstretched neck and open beak. One of the Egrets suspiciously eyed the goslings.

A few coots swam out beyond the Canada Geese, and I returned to my car without further sightings.

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Some March Observations

4/18/2018

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March 11
Here in Tennessee the redbuds are in bloom. I saw some toothwort and trillium. I need to walk in the woods, for I am certain the the bloodroot and trout lily have flowered. The dogwoods see about to pop.

March 22
Epiphany of Angel Wings
Two days after the Equinox I walked the circuit at Coolidge Park and saw the mundane transformed. I stopped to look out over the Tennessee River and hear the waves lap the shore.

As a flock of pigeons flew from the bridge to the trees above, I noticed another bird moving fast behind them. The thought of hawk surfaced in my mind. Then I thought of how many people mistake doves for hawks, I have witnessed them do so, and the bird seemed too small for a hawk, both Red-tailed Hawk and Red -shouldered Hawks would be larger.

My usually present binoculars were in the car, and so I thought I would wait to
make a definite call. The bird flew straight at me, always a difficult angle to judge shape and size for identification.

The creature lifted toward the trees. Viewed from below, it revealed the short wings, long tail, and light underparts of a young cooper’s hawk. It alighted in a tree and sat for several minutes, surveying the land below.

Unlike the Red-tailed Hawk, the Coopers is not designed for soaring over field and farm in search of mice, or even working the water lowlands like a Red-shouldered Hawk. These two belong to the family of hawks known as Buteos. (For details on hawk identification, see the web page of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary http://www.hawkmountain.org/raptorpedia/how-to-identify-hawks/page.aspx?id=353)

The Coopers Hawk is an Accipiter, related to the Sharp-shined Hawk and that magnificent bird of prey, the Goshawk, recently brought to public attention by Helen McDonald’ book H is for Hawk .

The Coopers Hawk is designed for short bursts of flight through forests and between tree branches in pursuit of other birds. Its presence explains the hurried flight of the doves.

Soon the bird was off, flying parallel to the shore before a change in course took it back over the water. The change in course left the bird indelibly imprinted in my mind.

First, the wings beat faster and it seemed to hover in place. I have heard hawks call when undertaking such a maneuver, but this one remained silent. Then the wings, backlit by the sun became translucent.

March has turned cool and blustery here in Chattanooga. The Redbuds bloomed early and now the petals seem to shiver on the branches. The toothwort and trillium cover the ground and likewise seem to shiver. These blossoms respond more to day length than to temperature, hence the noted cold snaps with plants in bloom known respectively as Dogwood Winter and Blackberry Winter. Cold enough and the blossoms fade without seed or fruit, but usually they hang on through cold and wind. Now the dogwoods are opening.

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Macchu Picchu a New Translation

4/14/2018

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The Heights of Macchu Picchu
I read this slim volume in one sitting and will want to read it again and again. Tomas Q. Morin has added a bright new voice to the translations of Pablo Neruda’s poetry. After reading his translation of the twelve-part poem “The Heights of Macchu Picchu,” I immediately retrieved my copy of the voluminous The Poetry of Pablo Neruda, edited by Ilan Stavans and read the included sections of that same poem, as translated by Nathaniel Tarn. There are nuanced differences in the two translations, but both are lovely.

“The Heights of Macchu Picchu” initially appeared as Canto Two of the Canto General, Neruda’s tenth book of poetry, published by Talleris Grficos de la Nacion (Mexico, 1950). The poem depicts the perspective of the laborers who built the city rather than the aristocrats who ruled there. It will hold a place of honor on my book shelf, beside Forrest Gander’s translation of Then Come Back: The Lost Neruda Poems.

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Nature Literature Close to Home

4/9/2018

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What about the South?
            Living in Chattanooga, I can just hear my friends say, “What about the South?” You have described the works of one northern writer after another. Don’t we have nature writers here too? What about nature close to home?
            So now the authors David George Haskell, Bradford Torey, and Robert Sparks Walker enter the scene. Haskell is alive and writing today, and the other two are from relatively recent history.
            Haskell was born in England and educated at Cambridge. He came to America early on and has served as a professor at the University of the South in Sewanee. His most recent title, The Songs of Trees spans world wide travel and has received the 2018 John Burroughs Medal for Nature Writing (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Burroughs_Medal). In his earlier, Pulitzer Prize nominated book, The Forest Unseen, he describes the events of the natural world throughout the calendar year as they unfold on a square meter of land in a forested area owned by the University of the South.
            From snails to lichen to horsehair worms, Haskell investigated the small world in an area he called the Mandala. He compared his work to the sand paintings of Tibetan monks in an introduction which promises much from a book which delivers even more. With the meticulous mind of a scientist and the eye of a poet, Haskell is the perfect nature writer for the twenty-first century.

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April Observations

Some March Observations

Macchu Picchu a New Translation

Nature Literature Close to Home

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