The end of the year fast approaches which usually involves celebrations, but I can’t remember a time when it has felt less appropriate.
Nothing changes for us in any case. Those days are dates on a calendar.
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Zigzagging cross country the other day took us across the Batten Kill.
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Grant paused on the bridge and spotting a naked sycamore I chanced a couple of shots.
This time of year one develops a whole new admiration of trees.
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Birds appreciate this old dead one, perching there while waiting on a replenishment of seed.
Which is why we call it the Waiting Room.
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My mother objected to mourning doves which were numerous in her Barbados garden. In those days she still had her hearing and their constant cooing irritated her.
Until I visited my parents there, I don’t think I’d ever consciously seen a dove. I am very fond of them and chuckle when I hear their gentle call.
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Pigeons visit us intermittently, but they are far more nervous than their dove cousins, flapping off noisily at the slightest thing. I don’t remember pigeons in the past being easily startled and we certainly do not give them cause. It makes us wonder how they feed, since they never stay put long enough.
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Those are surely not the same creatures that came to feed from my hand when I was a child!
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No matter the time of day or season, this cluster of trees on the far hill is lit up.
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Beautiful mornings call for excursions, be they ever so short.
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Through denuded woods.
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Where you can see red, much of it is the carpeting of leaves on the ground.
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How the white bark stands out!
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And how nice those pine trees look against the backdrop of silver/grey.
They always catch my sight.
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The following day promised to be equally fine, so we made preparations.
Which I’ll tell you about tomorrow.
Thank you so much, Carolyn, for the beautiful photos of the pathways, the trees, and the birds. I love all your images, but the group of pine trees in particular!
Joanna
Wood Pigeons are very different to the smaller urban ‘Feral’ pigeons, and they are incredibly nervous. But with good reason, as they are predated upon by all kinds of raptor birds, cats, foxes, and anything that can surprise them. They are also shot in huge numbers here, both as a game bird for food, or to stop them eating crops and seeds in fields. Pigeons in towns and cities have less to fear, and an abundant supply of fast food scraps and other rubbish left on the streets.
Best wishes, Pete.
Beautiful photos of the naked sycamore. I love hearing pigeons outside our bedroom window early in the morning before the day begins. What a lovely memory of you as a young girl feeding the pigeons.