snake

Posted on May 17, 2012 by jen

While following the bird nest situation on Tuesday, I spotted this snake under the little hemlock tree where the nest is…well, nestled. One of the finch eggs was missing and after seeing the snake I started wondering if maybe the snake ate it.

Of course we had to figure out what kind of snake it was. Maybe I should just start saying “Welcome to the Lost Forest Nature Center.” 🙂

Not a big fan of snakes, I promptly alerted Steve as soon as he got in the door from work to go check it out. He scooped it up with a stick and put it in a bucket. In transit, it was exhibiting some threatening behavior: hissing, flattening it’s head cobra style, and spraying out a milky substance. My job on the other hand: safely search the internet to figure out what this thing is. Turns out to be an Eastern Hognose, which is not harmful to humans, just likes to act tough. It primarily eats toads. It did look like it had something in it’s belly, but it may have just been puffed up which is part of the whole defensive act. So after some observation and relief on our parts (because it looks somewhat similar to the Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake, Michigan’s only venomous snake, and at first when it was coiled up we couldn’t see the tail), it was released back out in the woods.

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green

Posted on May 15, 2012 by jen

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a perfect problem

Posted on May 15, 2012 by jen

I can’t stop looking at this nest.

I am in awe of the perfectly built, small cup-shaped nest. I wonder how a bird does this, how it knows how to do it. The eggs are beautiful, and all would be just fine if it weren’t for that larger grey speckled egg in there. I’m quite certain from what I’ve read in the last day that the nest and blue eggs belong to some house finches. I have seen at least one pair at our feeder quite often. The other egg is from a cowbird, one that only lays her eggs in other nests and does not raise her own young.

Sometimes the cowbird will come back to check on her egg(s) and if her own egg has been removed, she may retaliate by removing the finch eggs from the nest. If all the eggs remain in the nest, the cowbirds hatch first and are much larger than the finches. The baby cowbird often wins out over the finches. At the same time, finches eat seeds and fruit while the cowbirds prefer insects, so while the finches are attempting to be good adoptive parents to the orphan, often to the neglect of their own babies, they are unknowingly feeding it the wrong food. It seems to be a no win situation.

I suppose the best thing to do is to let nature take its course and see what happens. I’ve read it’s illegal to remove the cowbird egg anyway, which strikes me as ridiculous since I can’t imagine how it could be enforced. We may have to set up the trail camera near the nest to see how this potential drama unfolds. I can’t stop pondering how something so perfect, something that represents new life, could possibly present such a problem.

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details

Posted on May 10, 2012 by jen

It has somehow been nearly a month since I took these photos. Words had even come to me then, but of course I failed to write them down at the time.

While out wandering one day (April 16th to be exact) I was looking closely at all the ferns, which the sun and rain have since transformed into a sight I can only describe as lush. And very green. (Note to self: take some “after” photos.)

   

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I was amazed at what these unfurled fern fronds (say that 5 times fast!) looked like. It’s the spiral pattern seen so often in nature. I believe it is truly a case for the Creator.

Another thought that came to me that day was related to noticing details. Sometimes the details are all I see and I can miss the big picture. I will spot the typo and get so hung up on it that I fail to read the rest of the words. Or be so quick to point out a flaw, in someone or something, that I tear down instead of build up. I realize that seeing details can be a good thing too, and is often important, I just want to try to see things in a more positive light.

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compassion

Posted on May 8, 2012 by jen

Sunday night I had yet another chance to volunteer with Compassion International.

48 children were sponsored!

I couldn’t help but think of Hindia, who officially graduated recently so we have completed her sponsorship. A video was shown at the concert during the Compassion presentation where now grown children just like Hindia gave so much credit to their sponsors, sometimes to the point of saying that this one person not only changed their life, but saved their life.

Hindia is almost 21 years old. We were told that she is healthy and that she will be working in IT (information technology) now that she is done with school. I remember her writing that she bought a cell phone with one of our last gifts of money. It boggles my mind that those things would even be possible for someone growing up in a very poor part of Ethiopia.

I have also been tagging along with some Compassion bloggers this week on their trip to Tanzania. A couple of my favorite posts so far can be found here.

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trees of the forest: flowering dogwood

Posted on April 26, 2012 by jen

Seeing these trees makes me happy. I noticed a few last year, but now I see that they are everywhere around here. I even like the scientific name of the Flowering Dogwood, Cornus florida. Luckily we are just within their growing region, right at the northwestern edge (according to the map at the wiki link above).

I learned that the white petals are actually called bracts and that the flowers are actually the cluster in the center (not open yet in these photos). For comparison, you can see what they looked like a month ago here.

I’ve taken lots of pictures of them since they are so photogenic, but I can’t quite seem to capture the elegance I see. Our field guide calls them “one of the most beautiful eastern North American trees” and I definitely agree.

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baby trees

Posted on April 24, 2012 by jen

In case you ever wondered what a baby walnut tree looks like…

It pained me to pull several of these from the garden, where presumably a squirrel had buried his treasures. I replanted a couple of the more intact ones in containers to see if they would live.

Baby oaks, too. We have several types of oaks, so I am not sure what kind these are. The darker acorn shells look different than the one below, which may be a Northern Red Oak.

The root broke off of this one, but I still thought it was neat. I remembered noticing in the fall how huge some of the acorns had been. I had a collection of maybe ten little trees. I felt like I was doing a science experiment.

They reminded me of this great book:

 Just don’t read it to your kids without having read it first or they may wonder what’s wrong with your eyes! 😉

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tower of babble

Posted on April 18, 2012 by jen

Here it is.

Brand spanking new. And shiny. One day overcast and gray. The next clear and blue.

I was quite surprised to see it. Almost pleasantly, in a lesser of two evils sort of way. It is not what I was expecting based on other towers I’d seen. The thought of climbing all those little bar steps crossed my mind (rather promptly, I might add, for someone who is not a daredevil in any way, shape, or form.) The very first glimpse as I walked down the driveway was that of seeing something glaringly out of place and time, like something from the future meeting the past, or something out of a Bill Peet or Dr. Seuss book. I can sort of relate to the Lorax, the one who speaks for the trees.

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add to the beauty*

Posted on April 17, 2012 by jen

We come with beautiful secrets
We come with purposes written on our hearts, written on our souls
We come to every new morning
With possibilities only we can hold, that only we can holdRedemption comes in strange places, small spaces
Calling out the best of who we areAnd I want to add to the beauty
To tell a better story
I want to shine with the light
That’s burning up insideIt comes in small inspirations
It brings redemption to life and work
To our lives and our workIt comes in loving community
It comes in helping a soul find its worthThis is grace, an invitation to be beautiful
This is grace, an invitationAnd I want to add to the beauty
To tell a better story
I want to shine with the light
That’s burning up inside*song lyrics by sara groves

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pick up sticks

Posted on April 17, 2012 by jen

Yesterday morning, Sadie and I went, as we usually do, to “let the plants out of the barn,” as we say.

She decided to be helpful and pick up sticks (and small logs). She must know that I’ve been bad mouthing her for eating my shoe (as seen on facebook).

Now to train her to take them to one of many brush piles…

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