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Take it Outside!

Walk Diary: Sunshine Returns

Tuesday morning, 6/1.

The day is gray and the ground is wet. I heard it raining in the wee hours as I lay in bed. I am so tired from my late night return from sunny, warm, lush Florida that I can’t get myself out the door. I’ll live with the guilt.

Wednesday morning, 6/2 – Cloudy – Damp- Cool.

Left at about 7:20 a.m. It’s the same, slightly depressing weather, but I slept well and was anxious to see what was new in the park. Happily, right as I came in, the goose family paddled by so I could see four, much-grown goslings. They all look good and healthy. I saw other water fowl further out in the water. A mallard drake swam on his own in the small pond.

The other birds are subdued, no doubt missing the sunshine, too, but the sparrows cheep away. The park teems with robins, I practically trip over them as they search the pavement and the ground for things to eat. The opportunity to pick waterlogged worms from the soft ground could not be better. – And speaking of soft ground, I looked over the turtle nest site and it appears as I left it. I failed to discover evidence of new egg-laying attempts.

The mountain laurel is booming and the greenery is getting more dense. Squirrels scamper along the ground. A chipmunk, holding its tail strait out, ran cross the walk in front of me.

Thursday morning, 6/3 – Cloudy – Damp - Warmer.

At 5:30 A.M. it’s quiet. I get the sense that many o the park denizens are still dozing, but not all. The frogs call, as do the birds: red-winged blackbirds, grackles, woodpeckers, crows, catbirds, robins and the little birds whose distinct voices all meld together for me. I sight four adult geese gliding peacefully on the water.

Today, I moved off the asphalt, up the hill toward the playground, to scan for evidence of turtle digging. Deb and Dave both told me that the snappers came up here to lay their eggs, a sad choice for a nesting ground, considering the numbers of children that trample the ground here. All I see are the small, round excavations of squirrels, just like those in my yard and flowers (argh).

I return to the pavement and as I make my way out, raindrops fall through the trees; a few hit my head. Then, in the pine needles I see bare dirt in the shape of a round depression about five feet away from the walk. It is accompanied by what looks like a slide mark, six-to-eight inches wide running from the ‘hole’ to the asphalt. I want this to be a turtle nest, but it doesn’t look as if real digging took place, the earth seems not disturbed enough. Perhaps, it was a test spot. I will not probe it and risk possible harm to the young. I’ll wait for early September and watch for signs of something digging out.

Friday morning, 6/4 and Saturday morning, 6/5 Sun – Cool.

Oddly, I did not encounter the great rejoicing of nature that I thought I would on the first sunny days for weeks. The birds are subdued, though I hear the blackbirds’ metallic crank, the harsh squabbling of starlings and the intermittent churr of a woodpecker. Robins are numerous. The squirrels are omnipresent, but I surprised no chipmunks. I wasn’t out as early as Thursday, but it seemed things had not gotten started yet.

On Friday I counted nine, adult Canada geese, being fed by a couple from the Armory Street bridge. The babies must have been left safe somewhere while the parents braved the humans for some easy food. I didn’t see a single duck that day either, but Saturday I spied a mallard pair in the small pond and a single male on the big water.

Incidentally, I have neglected to mention the water, which, due to all the pollen falling and floating in the air, looks ugly and distinctly unappetizing. The surface coating gloms together to thicken at the pond’s edges, which looks worse than the general surface coating. This state of affairs doesn’t seem to bother the frogs, who call loudly. But wait, maybe they are complaining in frog-speak!

I see tracks from motor bikes or scooters. A big log which was moved to block a trail (by park-abutting neighbors, I think) had been removed. These noisy, smelly and otherwise irritating vehicles are illegal on public lands, but there is no enforcement that I have seen. With the city nearly in receivership, the issue has a low priority with public officials.

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