Day 17.106: Wren; will I see you again?

We've had a new user of our brush pile over the last few days - a Carolina wren.

In other news, we haven't seen the hawks in a couple of days. Are they lying low (or maybe even laying low or high for that matter)? Were they seen off by the crows? Did they decide to go in search of some more expansive woodland? Did the battle with the third hawk take a bad turn? We may never know, but we'll keep an eye out for them in case they've just been out of sight when we've been paying attention.

Day 17.105: Frisky hawks

The other night I was trying to work out if the two hawks we could see moving around from tree to tree were both broad-winged hawks:

when, while I was watching this one:

She called out to the other one and then this happened:

So I guess that answers that question. 

The following evening there were at least three - with two of them (presumably two males) doing an extravagant aerial battle through the trees. It’s all go around here. 

Day 17.104: Inside the Music Hall

The concert on Saturday was quite unlike any we'd been to before. The opener was a member of the non-profit committee that runs the two Music Hall venues and was delightfully enthusiastic about in - in a public-radio kind of way.

The venue was extraordinary too. Here are some photos of the inside before the music started. 

Day 17.103: The new neighbors

As Exile #2 mentioned yesterday, there has been some excitement about the new hawk arrival - both among Exiles and the local wildlife (crows and small mammals both taking a particular interest).

The broad-winged hawk has been relatively generous with perching in photograph friendly locations.

Its apparent nest-building activity (despite being rather early in the season according to Vickery) made us wonder if we were actually seeing two hawks and this evening we saw two at the same time, so indeed it seems likely we have new neighbors moving in and probably can expect more drama to come.

Day 17.102: Exile #2's Sunday Column #476

Exile #2 writes...

Springwatch: Maine edition has been getting exciting this week. We have heard the peepers beginning to sing, more summer birds have been arriving and perhaps most excitingly we have seen a hawk building a nest just a little way into the woods. As the leaves are not on the trees yet, we’ve been able to watch it gathering materials and spending time at the nest site. We also, unexpectedly, got to witness it attempting to catch its dinner this evening, when it swooped down on our resident red squirrel. Fortunately, (as we’ve grown quite fond of it) the squirrel managed to get away this time but you’d have to imagine the many local squirrels and chipmunks are feeling a little nervous about their new neighbor.

A few hours before the near-miss

Day 17.101: Madison Cunningham and Juana Molina

This evening, Exile #2 and I traveled (just) into New Hampshire to Portsmouth. We visited the wonderful Music Hall Historic Theater and saw the enchanting combination that of these two artists. Juana was unknown to us until this concert was announced and definitely brought out the weird and experimental in Madison as they did a mixture of solo songs and playing together.  It was a wonderful and unique night. 

Day 17.100: Most lamentable comedy

This was one of Exile #2’s birthday gifts. Only 500 pieces, but it turned out to be quite fiendish and had been on the go for several weeks until a recent final push resulted in a mixture of satisfaction and relief:

It’s the complete text of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (partly inspired by E5N1’s performance in it earlier in the school year.