Monthly Archives: May 2007

Bunnies

My heart upside down

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I’m afraid even to write it down, for fear that doing so will make it true, but there is nothing else in my head just now. Flowers and birdsong and all of the natural world is fairly shouting about the goodness of life. And again this year I’m turning my back on the Spring that I’ve so waited to enjoy in order to tend to a bunny who is turning away from life.

It all feels very cruel and like some awful joke. That is my luck with these bunnies that I love so dearly. I told my husband the other day that there will be no more – I can’t stand the heartbreak and the helplessness of it. Feeling so powerless to do anything besides wait for what seems inevitable.

That something as innocuous as a hurt ankle should become this just 4 days later is inconceivable to me, but that’s the case. I won’t leave Cricket at the vet because I lost faith in the vet’s power to heal long ago and I won’t take her away from Boomer, not now. I won’t let her die alone or afraid. I’ve made that mistake with too many dear bunnies to do it again. If there’s hope, it’s here at home where she has known only love.

I expect that I’ll be away for a bit, but hope that she won’t suffer for long. Be hopeful please, when I can’t.

Birds, In the neighborhood

Find me a warbler!

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If you’re looking for gorgeous spring warbler pics, you’ll have to go elsewhere. The best I can manage so far this season is mediocre photos of the trees I often find them feeding in. These are red oaks (I think) and there’s an overgrown arboretum near to my hometown that has lots of them. I like to position myself on this dirt path that’s lined on both sides by these trees and see what I can find feeding way up in the tippy-tops of the trees. The other day there were mostly black-throated greens and northern parulas, but I also saw a great-crested flycatcher and strangest of all a chipping sparrow! Isn’t he supposed to be feeding on the ground like a proper sparrow?

I’m curious if others north or south (or west) of NJ find a similar preference for red oaks when they’re in flower or if there’s some other type of tree you loiter under looking for warblers?

Snapshots, Wanderings

Same view, new season

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I took these nearly identical photos of an abandoned cranberry bog in the Pine Barrens of NJ about 4 months apart. I hadn’t intended to, but guess that some views hold equal appeal, regardless of the season. I think I prefer the photo from late December below; our trip last week was too early for the plants to be showing very much color or any blooms to help identify them. Bev from Burning Silo had suggested a variety of loosestrife when I first posted the photo at the end of last year, but I’ll need a closer look later in the season to convince myself they’re not just cranberry vines run amuck. The working bogs have been drained of the water that protects the vines from freezing during the winter months – those plants are now showing the reddish/purple color seen below and will begin to bloom in the next few weeks. I hope to get back and take some photos of cranberry flowers as they’re quite unique in form.

Pastimes, Pond, Whatever

While I was away…

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So I’ve not been around very much this past week, but I’ve been busy finishing up with school and out and about enjoying the bounty of spring. Plus, I didn’t have much of interest to say, still don’t in fact, but don’t want to make it a habit to just post a pic and be off.

Since I last had anything much to say here I’ve been to two wakes for coworkers of my husband and a memorial service for an old birding buddy who passed away back in January. I dragged my husband along on a day trip to the Pine Barrens and spent a lunch hour or two at the little park near to where I work watching the tree sparrows fight over the too few nest boxes. I had a successful evening looking at wildflowers in the woods and three unfruitful visits to various spots locally looking for migrants. The only new birds I’ve added this week are Baltimore Oriole, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Eastern Kingbird, Ovenbird, Oystercatcher, Willet, Common Tern, Laughing Gull and whichever Vireo it is that sings incessantly from the treetops. Other people are seeing great birds, but I haven’t managed to be in the right spot at the right time.

The pond is up and running and the fish are happy, my husband has cut the lawn twice and we got our hands on 5 little dwarf mountain laurels for the woodland border. I’m looking for ideas of what to plant as a groundcover in that area beneath the American Holly trees, so if anyone has any bright ideas I’d love to hear about them soon, while my husband is in the habit of digging planting holes. If I don’t come up with any other ideas, I’ll probably plant a few ferns just as soon as I figure out which ones might actually be able to survive in the dry shade.

Hope you all had a happy weekend; I’ll be around to visit with you before too long.