What with planting pear trees and all the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, we were outdoors a lot. On one short jaunt up what we call “the logging road”, a swath of brambles and other scrub that has grown up where the trucks went when the former owners had the property logged over (there aren’t any big trees left on the property. Darn.) (now how do I punctuate that? It needs a comma, but where?), I heard a rustle in the leaves off to the left. That always means some kind of wildlife to look for. Usually it’s a squirrel or chipmunk, but you never know. This time I saw a grouse walking along, foraging. That’s the first time I’ve seen one in the woods here!
The place looked really nice on Memorial Day weekend. The lilacs were still blooming, and the crabapple tree was about at its peak. The other apples were a little past full bloom. There were plenty of bulbs still blooming, though you can’t see in the picture.
The seeds I had planted two weeks before were up in the raised bed. Just the radishes really show, but with a little imagination you can see three more rows of little plants. Arlene put in some more cucumber, basil, pirella, and marigold plants after this picture was taken.
We’ve been hearing a lot of great crested flycatchers squawking from the treetops. There were dragonflies in the air all over, so I was hoping to see one of the flycatchers swoop out and pick off a dragonfly; but it didn’t happen while I was looking. Arlene did spot something bright red high in a tree, though. On a closer look, it turned out to be a scarlet tanager. Need I tell you, that’s one of the most spectacular birds we have around New England, and one we only see a couple of times a year and only if we’re lucky.