New Fields

People who've read my blog for a long time might remember the many posts I wrote about Great Meadows Wildlife Refuge on the border of Concord and Bedford in Massachusetts.  Mr. Magpie and I used to go for long walks there every week in search of birds and frogs and turtles and other beautiful beasties.

We had come to measure the change of seasons in the height of the cattails and wildflowers, and in the comings and goings of migratory birds.  In spring there were thousands of babies on the marshes, cygnets, ducklings, goslings, and countless others. Come autumn the whole basin was a rustling shudder of reeds and water edged by evergreens and vines whose berries ripened to bursting before the first snowfall.  And when it came, it was as if the frosted path before us were laced with tiny drops of blood pricked from the fingers of fairy tale queens. 

Now we are finding new fields to wander.  This one, Gilsland Farm in Falmouth, Maine, is fast becoming a favorite.  I took these photos there over the weekend as we walked through meadows overlooking the Presumpscot River estuary.  Run by Maine Audubon, it is just the place to watch for hawks on a cold November day.

And this is how we often walk, he just ahead with binoculars in hand, on the lookout for a bird in the reeds or a Cooper's hawk circling above, and then there's me lagging behind, stopping to examine the hips of wild roses or a stand of particularly lovely evergreens. Afterwards, there's talk and tea and amazement at all each of us saw and each of us missed, and the promise in a day or two to take another walk just like this.