Thursday, July 2, 2015

one morning in maine...


Maine. Sunny or foggy, it is so beautiful, so different from land-locked Ohio, such a wonderful place to visit.  Our friends are there for two reasons: one is attending a year-long program for photography, and the other works on wooden boats.  It was our fortune to see Maine through their eyes, visiting the boatyards and seeing so much natural beauty.

Tokarz in action

Our first day there was Eliza's birthday. It was sunny and warm and we took full advantage of the gorgeous weather to run around all day long.  Beech Hill offered a hike up through old blueberry barrens to a vista of the harbor and surrounding islands.  We lucked out; as we hit the trail, we met a birder who immediately started pointing out a pair of yellow-bellied sapsuckers, an american redstart, and a black and white warbler!!  Our friend Freeman is my birding companion this year, so we were a bit thrilled to add these to our list.  

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Brian, the birder, has really great photos of birds on his website Bird Report, and an ongoing list of the species he sees and hears up at Beech Hill.

American Redstart



there she is again!
Savannah Sparrow

We grabbed food for a picnic at Clarke Island and then wandered through meadows and fern-filled forest to reach the stones at water's edge.



bunchberry - Cornus canadensis


osprey







Whispering snails.  I lay down on a rock to watch these creatures move slowly through the water - hundreds of them! - and fell asleep on the warm stone. Hypnotized.






a treasure: pink ladyslipper, Cypripedium acaule.


It was just the first day, and it was perfect.

1 comment:

merry said...

This reminds me of how much I loved Maine the one time I was there as a teenager, and how much I want to go again! We're E and E ever separated from each other?!!! Beautiful!