March 17th: I was buzzed by the bumble bee today. And we counted 14 Harbour seals clustered together, four of them circling about, and ten treading , or what goes for treading, vertically in the water, sharp little snouts looking skyward; all waiting for the spawning herring to appear. The Indian Plum is in full flower and the Alder catkins are a cloud of red-brown. The Bufflehead ducks are weaving in and out of the cluster of waiting seals and taking their share of the small minnows the seals ignore. The raspberries and the loganberries have just started to leaf and the rhubarb is poking up through the leaf mold. The gooseberries and black currents are leafing ahead of the red currents.The apple trees don't show any green buds yet but the pear trees flower buds are swelling with life but not yet bursting with colour.
The late storm surges over the last few days have thrown up an abundance of seaweed and have sucked out a lot of loose winter vegetation dropped from the shore shrubs. This detritus has mixed together and harbours all the tiny denizens of the shore that feed the gulls and crows. The ground of the seaside is like a wet sponge with all the rain and the moss is especially thick this spring giving a yellow-green luminosity to the canvas of Mother Nature lying supine before us in the sunlight. The little red squirrel scampered about today and he (or she) allowed me to approach to three or four feet which is pretty bold. They are quick but not quick enough and I always worry about the eagles which are starting to hunt in earnest, feeding bigger fledglings.
There is green,green,green every where on Lotus Island today and since St. Patrick was of the green it seems right. We haven't been diverted yet from the green by the vibrant colours that will come in abundance in another month. Even the daffodil blooms are still in the anteroom. However the greens are restful and as holy as Saint Patrick. A serene sort of vibrant. I think I'll toast the green with a glass of Black Bush right about now!
The late storm surges over the last few days have thrown up an abundance of seaweed and have sucked out a lot of loose winter vegetation dropped from the shore shrubs. This detritus has mixed together and harbours all the tiny denizens of the shore that feed the gulls and crows. The ground of the seaside is like a wet sponge with all the rain and the moss is especially thick this spring giving a yellow-green luminosity to the canvas of Mother Nature lying supine before us in the sunlight. The little red squirrel scampered about today and he (or she) allowed me to approach to three or four feet which is pretty bold. They are quick but not quick enough and I always worry about the eagles which are starting to hunt in earnest, feeding bigger fledglings.
There is green,green,green every where on Lotus Island today and since St. Patrick was of the green it seems right. We haven't been diverted yet from the green by the vibrant colours that will come in abundance in another month. Even the daffodil blooms are still in the anteroom. However the greens are restful and as holy as Saint Patrick. A serene sort of vibrant. I think I'll toast the green with a glass of Black Bush right about now!
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