Day 19.188: Turkey update

The family of turkeys wandered through our backyard on Wednesday before I left for work. The young ones are getting bigger. 

Day 19.172: Ordway Grove

After lunch in Norway, we walked up the street to Ordway Grove - a small area of old growth forest with some huge pine and hemlock trees. Exile #2 was hoping we would see a Blackburnian warbler there but although we heard at least two, they were likely out of sight in the very high treetops. 

I’m glad we were forewarned that the entrance isn’t especially obvious. 

Red squirrel

Red squirrel

Downy woodpecker

Downy woodpecker 

American robin

Yellow-bellied sapsucker

Yellow-bellied sapsucker

Common self heal

Day 19.164: More beach babies

The eiders also had their babies at (or technically just off) the beach:

Day 19.163: Beach babies

Exile #2 and I were not the only parents with our babies at the beach yesterday evening. Here - for example - are the piping plovers:

 

Day 19.151: Turkey surprise

When I arrived at work the other day, I saw a wild turkey sitting close to where I parked. I tried not to disturb it, but failed. As it stood up to walk slowly away, I saw there was a tiny chick as well. 

Cell phone pictures only sadly. 

Day 19.132: Peeper

Spring peepers are small tree frogs that are rarely seen but make their presence felt with their loud calls at this time of year. We had.a close encounter with one this week when Exile #2 found one while gardening. At first she thought it might be dead, but it turned out to be very much alive and capable of some impressive bounds. 

Only cellphone photos, but we were quite close:

Day 19.015: Exile #2’s Sunday Column #540

Exile #2 writes...

Well, the expected snow has begun. We probably have about 5 inches now but it’s going to be snowing heavily until the wee small hours and even after that continue on into Tuesday morning. Thankfully Exile #1 made it home from Florida before it all kicked off as airport chaos is ensuing.

In other news, this box caused a little excitement when it arrived earlier in the week. It was not, as it would seem to be, an enormous Toblerone but the expensive stick that we ordered for E5N1. Although I had witnessed him measuring his arm and choosing the appropriate size, I was still surprised that all that packaging was for this little guy!

Day 18.312: How much cheese is too much?

Yesterday, as I was getting home from work there was a report on the radio from the world cheese championships in Switzerland. The report described a hall the size of a football field full of cheeses to be judged. 

In a different lots-of-cheese event today, Exile #2 noticed this block of pecorino. The wedge shapes in the foreground are sensible portions. The large block is ten pounds of cheese. 

I believe it’s still available for now. 

Day 18.303: Brick Brick Store

The three of us went Kennebunk on Saturday morning to visit the Brick Store Museum. One of their current exhibits is of Lego art by a local artist. He has made a model of the outside of the museum which is a row of historic buildings and also loaned them various other pieces. 

We also took a close look at some historic doll houses. 

Note the tiny ship in a bottle

It was a great visit - as usual. It’s a fantastic little museum. 

Day 18.269: Elevated baking (turkey)

I think Exile #3 took these, although it could have been Exile #2.

A short stroll on the shed roof

A sunny spot for a little sit down

Wild turkeys generally roam around on foot during the day. We rarely see them fly even enough to get onto a shed roof, but they are capable of strong and sustained flight. Once while I was out running early in the morning, a small group flew over my head which was quite an impressive sight. 

Day 18.259: Whale watching

Today, I joined several members of our nature group on a whale-watching trip from Kennebunk. We were scheduled to go last week but the sailing was canceled due to waves. Today it was delightfully calm. There are other sightings to mention, but I thought the whales might be a good place to start.

Nick's Chance was our vessel today

We saw two fin whales (also known as finback whales). They are baleen whales (filter feeders) and second in size to only the blue whale. It is an adult and a young whale clearly hunting together. They would come up for four or five breaths then dive to hunt for several minutes before returning to the surface. We stayed close to them for an hour or so and had plenty of opportunities to see them.