Day 18.056: Scotland in one

E5N1 performed as one of the three witches in a one act version of Macbeth yesterday (for the community) and today (in competition). Tonight’s performance in particular went extremely well. Here he is taking a bow with the other witches yesterday and tonight being creepy after the show. 

It is quite an achievement to do justice to this play in less than 40 minutes, but not only did their version capture the story but seemed to include most of the text too (at least all the parts I remember from my O-level studies in 1987). 

Day 18.055: Birds in the mist

After a wild windy and rainy night, we ventured out into the remaining snow in a surprisingly warm morning. The warmth and snow-pack resulted in a fine mist which turned into thick fog later in the day. It was also the first day in months that we've seen any open water on the river.

Misty cemetery

Distant goldeneyes

Common mergansers

Mallards in flight

Hooded mergansers

Bald eagle fly-by

It's been a while since we last saw an eagle perched in the "eagle tree" 

Eastern bluebird

Downy woodpecker

Brown creeper

The song sparrows were new arrivals this week

Downy woodpecker (action shot)

We made some other nature discoveries too. More on that to come.

Day 18.054: Odiorne Point pt. 2

Our second stop was at the location of the Seacoast Science Center, but as Exile #2 mentioned, we merely walked around the building and headed along the coast. Here is some of what we saw.

Surf scoters

View along the coast. For once, the snow may have made it easier for walking than the rocks would have been without it. 

Common eider

Common goldeneye

Goldeneye peekaboo 

Whaleback Lighthouse (far enough across the estuary to be in Maine)

As we returned to the car, an American crow

…and an American robin

But most excitingly, we also got a lovely view of a snow bunting - which hopped out from the rocks of the beach and into the snow right in front of us. 

Day 18.053: Pause for pancakes

I have more to tell you about our visit to New Hampshire, but for today - I must inform you that we marked today by flipping pancakes.

Day 18.052: Odiorne Point pt. 1

Our first stop at Odiorne Point State Park in New Hampshire on Saturday was at the boat launch. We saw a few birds in the water on both sides of the road in the waters of the mouth of the Piscataqua River which forms the state line here between Maine and New Hampshire. 

Red-breasted mergansers

Common loon

Canada geese

Another common loon

Common eiders

We also took a small and rather icy walk along part of the trail system where these leaves caught my eye. They had absorbed enough heat from the sun to sink into the surrounding ice and were bathing in their own private pools precisely their shape and size.

Day 18.051: Exile #2's Sunday Column #515

Exile #2 writes...

Shockingly, it had been nearly 10 years since our last trip to Odiorne Point, New Hampshire, which is where Exile #1 and I went for a walk yesterday. Well, perhaps a slither is a more appropriate description than a walk, as the snow had had a chance to melt and refreeze, making it not just deep in places but also quite slick!

Last time we had visited it was to take the young Exiles to the Seacoast Science Center. This time it was just to walk the trails of the State Park. Although the wind was whipping up the ocean, the sun was shining and we were glad to be out.

We walked alongside this enormous ship for a way, and thought we were going to witness some exciting drama when the coastguard overtook them and stopped but the ship lumbered on and the Coastguard returned to port.

Day 18.050: St. David’s Day

The day was marked with a flag and some Welsh cakes. 

E5N1 spent the morning at school helping the other schools who will be visiting to compete in the regional one-act festival rehearse their tech. 

Exile #2 and I had an outing, but reports on that can wait for another day.