NEWFAZE

Approximating equilibrium

Posted on January 29, 2017 by Jay McLaughlin

29 January, 2017 Approximating equilibrium

My family experienced a significant upset at the beginning of the year and my blogging equilibrium (to the extent I have any) was brushed aside. I’m not quite back to baseline, but I’m getting there. More at the bottom of this post if you’re interested and haven’t been here recently.

Mackey and Turner and I made it to Bryan Park on Thursday (January 26), our first visit in some time. We were rewarded with (among other things) the first pair of Hooded Mergansers I’ve seen this winter. The picture is not lovely but they’re nice-looking ducks:

Pair of Hooded mergansers in muddy water at Bryan Park

The sun was bright on the edge of the soccer fields and the trees were full of bluebirds. I don’t recall seeing as many bluebirds as I’m seeing this year:

Bluebird at Bryan Park Thursday. Look at that glow.

Yesterday Evelyn and I went to Sub Rosa Bakery for lunch. It’s one of our favorite places in town – it comes with our highest recommendation. The food is divine, the coffee is spectacular, the warm, bright ambience is second to none. Eat there or get food to go – you will never regret it. I didn’t take a picture! Next time.

We walked almost literally next door and visited DEAR NEIGHBOR, a brand new gift shop in Churchill. Drop in when you’re down there; you’ll be happy you did.

Our original mission was to visit Caravati’s Architectural Salvage just across the river in Manchester. It was my first visit; Evelyn’s been there before. I loved it and can hardly wait to go back – it’s one of a kind. We walked out of Caravati’s and we were next door – we learned for the first time – to the Richmond Railway Museum. Which is a.k.a the Richmond Railroad Museum; I think they’ll answer to either one. Of course I took pictures there. They had an enormous HO scale layout inside:

Small segment of the train layout inside the Richmond Railroad Museum

I took three short videos of a train going around the layout. If you like model trains – or trains at all – these videos are fun. Here’s the first one, about nine seconds long, a small model freight train going past bookshelves:

Rail museum video #1

The second one is about the same length, but the train is coming straight toward the camera, it’s closer and with a much different perspective:

Rail museum video #2

The third and final video is around twenty-five seconds long, and it shows the same train passing some Norfolk and Western (N&W) coal hoppers. At our cabin in the Shenandoah Valley in the 1970’s and 1980’s, coal trains ran up and down the N&W main line several times every day. In those years I saw more N&W coal cars than any other kind of train car. The only sound better for going to sleep at night was whippoorwills:

Rail museum video #3

So to continue our whirlwind tour of downtown Richmond we went from the railroad museum to the new Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge, a.k.a. the “T-pot.” What a treasure that was. The only thing missing was Mackey and Turner! There were tons of other dogs though. I was able to get a dog-fix at will. Then we got across the bridge to the other side of the river and – more train tracks! This was a fun picture I took from the bridge:

Norfolk Southern railroad tracks gleam in the evening sun at the south end of the Tyler Potterfield Bridge

I know next to nothing about seagulls, except that at Pony Pasture we get about 95% Ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis). Because the T-pot bridge is closer to tidal water, there was a wide variety of gulls. I don’t know what kind these are (I’m sure someone will inform me; I’ll pass it on), but they were lovely:

Gleaming gulls

Back a bit:

Graceful, gliding, gleaming gulls

I’ll close with a picture of my canine posse at Pony Pasture this morning, but when we got back to the house there was a hawk screaming in the backyard. It was facing away from us and I took a picture or two of its back but, if you’ve ever seen a picture of any bird’s back, they are not fascinating. Raptors are so visually oriented, they always know when they’re being watched. As I was pointing the camera at its back, it turned around and jumped off the branch facing my direction:

Flying leap

Last picture of the day – my boys at Pony Pasture this morning:

Yuki (white), Turner (brown), Mackey (not white or brown) at the Wetlands at Pony Pasture this morning

Have a great week,

Jay

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So I’ve been blogging the past few weeks just to help myself stay grounded. Three weeks ago, on January 8, was my first blog post after our family was jolted. Evelyn wisely counseled me to hold off for a while, so I just put up this brief, inconsequential blog post: 8 January, 2017 Yellow and blue

It’s possible you’ve seen this blog post if you’re a regular. Eleven days had passed and I had regained enough equilibrium (and distance) to write this slightly more revealing blog post: 15 January, 2017 Jet boat in Hells Canyon

With these major and unexpected life changes, especially when they’re unanticipated, closure comes in fits and starts. Last week I’d processed enough to write 22 January, 2017 Downstream

Which leads to today, and here we all are. Many blog readers have known me for a long time, some for decades. Others haven’t been around as long. Our family experienced a similarly shattering event just over four years ago. Here’s a blog post I did then: 24 November, 2012 Good man

Next week, more than likely, I’ll be approximating equilibrium even more closely than this week.

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Posted in Birds, Bryan Park, Dogs, Fun, James River, Pony Pasture, raptors, Red-tailed hawks, Rivers, Trains | Tagged bluebird, bryan park, Dogs, Fun, james river, nature, outdoors, Pony Pasture, Red-tailed hawks, Rivers, Smiles - human AND dog smiles! | 1 Comment

Downstream

Posted on January 22, 2017 by Jay McLaughlin

22 January, 2017 Downstream

Me, my brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews. And one dog! Thanks for the photograph Bill.

Me, my brothers, sisters, nieces, nephew. And one dog! Thanks for the photograph Bill.

Thank you to our former neighbor and lifelong friend Bill for taking this picture at mom’s memorial service on Thursday (January 19) at the Bridgewater Volunteer Rescue Squad, where mom and dad were both life members. We all wore yellow and smiled that way at mom’s eightieth birthday party less than three months ago. I’m certain mom never thought about this, but it’s easy to imagine her thinking “I hope they all wear yellow and smile that way at my memorial service.” That’s me with my two brothers and two sisters and six nieces and one nephew. Only one of our dogs is in that picture. If all of the dogs owned by all of the people in that picture were there, we were gonna’ need a bigger rescue squad.

Bill and his wife Liz moved in next door to our house in Maryland in the Fall of 1969 when I was eight years old and Shane was around seventeen months. The boy Shane is holding in this picture is around seventeen months. That only occurred to me as I was typing the second draft of this blog post. I will never stop being flabbergasted by what happens in life. That’s forty-seven years ago, close to half a century, and our families have stayed in intermittent regular contact the entire time. Liz was one of many people who shared her memories with the crowd at mom’s memorial service. I was so moved by both her manner and the content I asked Liz for a transcript of her talk. This caption is excerpted from that transcript:

“I never heard her say anything bad about anyone; I never saw her cranky or cross.” – Liz A., 19 January, 2017

Mom had flaws, possibly almost as many as I do. But if you spend half a century with a person and at your memorial service that person can say “I never heard her say anything bad about anyone; I never saw her cranky or cross” – you were a good human being, and that’s all there is to it. You can fake it a lot, but nobody can fake it for fifty years.

The river of time doesn’t stop flowing, not even when your mother dies, a fact that continues to simultaneously startle and reassure me. The word “maudlin” was not part of my mother’s extensive vocabulary. Mom’s was a life in motion, but “sulk” was a verb you would never use when thinking about mom. Everything that’s occurred downstream of mom’s death has been, I believe, as she would approve. She would have loved that memorial service.

I’ve gotten a few more pictures this week; the usual stuff. I’ll put them up and sign off. I haven’t felt maudlin or sulked, but I’ve been out of my routine and uncharacteristically distractible. I can feel myself feeling better, then I slide back, then I begin feeling better again. Slide back again. It’s a process. A Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) came to eat earlier this week:

Flicker on the feeder, propping himself up with his tail

I love taking pictures of chickadees – they’re my favorite songbird. But watch a chickadee sometime and imagine what it’s like to photograph that and see how relaxed you feel. I’ll save you the effort of imagining: it’s not relaxing at all. Raptors, on the other hand, give the impression of being more “peaceful.” It’s an illusion, really – they kill to eat. But they sit still for long stretches of time, and they’re easy to locate once you get a sense of how they operate. Photographing them the way I do is relaxing. I drove over Friday to see if there were any eagles on the powerline by the river. It’s a long shot and the pictures don’t come out great but I took one anyway just to increase my understanding. This one was perched alone at 3:02 PM:

Eagle on the tower, north bank of the river

I started driving back down Riverside Drive and saw a familiar shape in a sycamore tree dangling over the water. I took this picture on the south bank of the river about ¾ of a mile downstream from the preceding picture. You could walk to this tree in less than ten minutes from the gate at Huguenot Flatwater:

Bald eagle in a Sycamore, south bank of the river, just upstream from Huguenot Flatwater

I’ve had a million birds on my feeders this week – it continues to astound me. Most of the pictures I take out the window are junk; I just like sitting here picking up my camera from time to time. It’s been raining all day (today) and this Northern Flicker (male, yellow shafted) stopped outside my office window to grab a bite:

The wet head is not dead

This is where they get the name (it’s a subspecies) “yellow-shafted” (as opposed to “red-shafted):

I’ll write more next week and with any luck get a decent photo or two. All best,

Jay

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It’s deeply ingrained in me to anticipate mom’s response to these posts. That anticipation will fade; that’s “part of the process” too. After I’ve gone over the post and Evelyn’s finished her thorough editing I click a button on the right side of the browser that says “Publish.” I knew mom would like it just because she had unconditional positive regard for me, but I also knew which parts she’d enjoy most. If I was putting the post up at a reasonable hour, I always looked forward to hearing back from her. I know she would have enjoyed this one.

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Posted in Bald eagles, Birds, Fun, James River, Northern flicker, raptors, Rivers, Smiles (including "dog smiles"!) | Tagged Dogs, Endurance, Fun, james river, nature, outdoors, People, Rivers, Smiles - human AND dog smiles! | 7 Comments

Jet boat in Hells Canyon

Posted on January 15, 2017 by Jay McLaughlin

15 January, 2017 Jet boat in Hells Canyon

Trip my mom took to celebrate her 80th birthday.

My mom was uninterested in material goods but cherished experiences. She turned eighty last October. My siblings and I treated her to an elegant catered dinner with her entire family. She loved every minute. Mom treated herself to a different celebration a week earlier. I got this voicemail from her the week before her birthday:

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“Hi Jay, no need to call back, we just got back from a fabulous all day trip on a jet boat in Hells Canyon on the Snake River, it was absolutely fabulous, so anyway talk to you later, love you, bye.”

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Mom unexpectedly died in her sleep last week in her own house in her own bed. Two months and two weeks after her jet boat jaunt. You can read her obituary here: Jude B. McLaughlin

I don’t know if that is the actual boat mom rode in, but it’s a jet boat in Hells Canyon on the Snake River and I have no doubt her ride looked just like that. My mom was a competent cook (she fed her hungry family well) and loved to sew, but she was happiest when she was moving. Mom did not let any grass grow under her.

When I was growing up during the 1970’s, my dad’s mother, Elizabeth, had a white 1965 Dodge Dart. When she stopped driving she gave it to my mom. Mom told dad “I love it – what a generous gift – please get it painted the color of the front door of our house.” That was the color of this sweatshirt, only brighter:

Mom’s favorite color

You can tell mom was never shy. Front door that color, car that color, the more clothes that color (preferably from Goodwill, her favorite clothing store) the better. Last week Ev brought home these fragrant yellow primroses. It’s been comforting to have them on our dining room table:

From last week’s post:

Before mom went to sleep Tuesday evening I stood next to her while we looked at pictures from the belated family Christmas celebration held only four days earlier. Mom talked about each of her five adult children and her six grandchildren. She never played favorites, but she couldn’t stop talking about – and looking at pictures of – her seventeen month old grandson Wesson. I’m sad he never got to know her better, but I am overjoyed she had the opportunity to hold him and love him and snuggle with him and kiss him. Nothing made her happier than Wesson did. Mom was petting Mackey and Turner with one hand and clicking the right-arrow key on the computer while she cycled through the pictures. She was under treatment for mild heart problems but her death was 100% unanticipated. I went to sleep in the guest room. Mom’s an early riser so I was surprised she wasn’t up the next morning when Mackey and Turner and I were. Suddenly the phone began to ring at an ear-splitting volume and didn’t stop. I walked into her room and she was lying peacefully in bed under the covers next to the phone. Not moving an inch. I let it ring while I called 911 on my phone. At that literal instant – while I’m holding the phone with the 911 call to my ear – an EMT friend of hers pulled up in front of the house to see if she was ok. I rushed out and told the woman what had happened and she rushed in with her medical bag. They figured she’d been dead for a few hours.

My first blog post was in March of 2011. This is my 270th blog post since then. Every time I posted – every single time – I’d get an email a few minutes later saying “loved the blog!” or “Great blog Jay” or “love it!” or “beautiful!” or some brief, encouraging sentence. This will be the first time I ever don’t get a response from her. You cannot imagine what it feels like to type that sentence.

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Mom and Dad retired and moved to Bridgewater, VA in 1990. This was only a couple of years after my accident and both quickly became EMTs on the Bridgewater Volunteer Rescue Squad. The whole reason they loved it up there was the small town values. From what I saw last week, those values have not eroded a whit in the quarter century they lived there. One of her EMT friends came to check in on her – just to check in on her – and that’s the one who arrived when I was there. Since mom’s was an “unattended death,” the EMTs are required by law to call a law enforcement officer. The sheriff walked in and walked up to me and shook my hand and said “Good afternoon Mr. McLaughlin, I’m sorry for your loss. See my car out there? I’ll be sitting in it filling out the paperwork. Please let me know if there’s any way I can assist you with this. I’ll be happy to make any calls for you.” I was moved again and again and again by the warmth and kindness and compassion of every person I met. Many of them knew mom quite well, and they grieved with me and felt the shock of our sudden loss.

I don’t know if you ever met my mom, but you’ve scarcely known a person as alive as she was, right up until the moment she said goodnight to me on her final evening. Mom had written her will years ago and kept it up to date; there was no confusion there. But even at eighty years old, neither she nor anyone else seriously considered life without her. I knew she wasn’t eternal but I always just had the sense that she’d outlive… everybody.

There is nothing – there is zero – that is better than having great parents. I have been fortunate to have the greatest ones ever. They’ll help me get through this with the values they instilled in me.

Mom’s funeral is being handled by Johnson’s Funeral Service in Bridgewater. Their web site has mom’s obituary on it. Here is a link to the obit on their site: Mom’s obituary at Johnson’s. This is the guest book on their site; people have already said far more kind and moving things about mom than I could ever write. Please read a few of them; they are lovely: Guestbook at Johnson’s. They also have a “Life Stories” section on the site. Only one person has submitted something so far; it is heartwarming. Please read it here: Life Story.

Mom wasn’t a birder, but she always enjoyed the way I enjoy birds. I “got” another pair of Bald Eagles near the Willey Bridge yesterday. It’s not a great picture but it was a lucky find and mom knew that and loved it. It’s hard not to love a picture of Bald Eagles, even when the quality is sub-optimal:

Eagles yesterday. It’s a privilege and a treat each time I see them.

And here’s a little known fact about mom – when we were growing up, she didn’t like dogs! It was cats only until we met a dog named Cassie at the cabin in about 1978 and she loved dogs for the rest of her life. She always enjoyed every dog I had. Here’s a picture of Mackey and Turner and Yuki at Pony Pasture this morning:

My personal therapy dog team.

Have a great week. All best,

Jay

Posted in Rivers | 19 Comments

Yellow and blue

Posted on January 8, 2017 by Jay McLaughlin

8 January, 2017 Yellow and blue

Yellow primroses:

Fragrant yellow primrose

Dogs by the river:

Therapy dogs at the river

Moonrise, Wednesday, January 4, 2017, Bridgewater, VA:

Moonrise, 4 January, 2017, Bridgewater, VA

More next week!

All best,

Jay

Posted in Dogs, Flowers, James River, moon, Pony Pasture, Rivers, roses, Shenandoah Valey, Smiles (including "dog smiles"!) | 1 Comment

Happy New Year!

Posted on January 1, 2017 by Jay McLaughlin

1 January, 2017 Happy New Year!

This is the last photograph I took in 2016. I was on Cherokee Road in the western part of the City of Richmond, VA when I took this picture. I was under a power line, facing north across the river, about five hundred yards away. This tower is about three hundred yards upstream of the Willey Bridge:

A nesting pair of Bald Eagles, right here in Richmond – astonishing.

As I wrote to a photographer friend after I took that picture, “My interest in nature is deep and abiding; my interest in photography is only as a means to be more fully involved with nature.”

So I go to the river with Mackey and Turner and Yuki earlier; we had a wonderful first hike of 2017. Here they are on the boardwalk:

My Neapolitan dogs – Turner on the left, Mackey in the middle, Yuki on the right.

I’ve referred to them in the past as “My Neapolitan dogs.” If you’re unacquainted with the term, read it here: Neapolitan

We get home this afternoon, I sit down and start typing, look up from my keyboard as this Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) swoops down and lands on top of my bird feeder. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology says that Cooper’s hawks “are sometimes unwanted guests at bird feeders, looking for an easy meal (but not one of sunflower seeds).” Here’s the hawk:

Cooper’s hawk perched on top of my bird feeders. She’s a bird, and she’s about to feed.

Of course my “real” camera was in the other room; all I had available was my phone. I took three brief, grainy videos. In the first one (4 seconds), the hawk jumps off the feeder and goes down to the ground: Hawk jumps from feeder to ground

In the second video (12 seconds) the hawk wanders around on the ground for a moment then leaps up into the boxwood: Hawk wanders on ground then jumps to bush

In the third and final video (11 seconds) the hawk jumps out of the bush and finishes off its “kill” – but you can’t tell what it is: Hawk jumps back out of the bush

They are unlovely, low quality videos, but I always feel privileged to witness this stuff. I repeat the second sentence of the second paragraph of this post: “My interest in nature is deep and abiding; my interest in photography is only as a means to be more fully involved with nature.” Whatever little bird just got killed and eaten doesn’t feel the same way. But life lives on life.

I’ve never recommended books on this blog, but Evelyn gave me a real winner for Christmas and it’s worth your time. It’s called When Breath Becomes Air by the late Paul Kalanithi. The link above (and this link) are to the New York Times review of the book: NY Times on When Breath Becomes Air. Elle magazine had a review that was equally credible: Elle magazine on When Breath Becomes Air. Elle refers to it as “a profoundly moving, exquisitely observed memoir by a young neurosurgeon faced with a terminal cancer diagnosis who attempts to answer the question What makes a life worth living?” It is a brilliant, brilliant piece of writing. If you too are attempting to answer the question “What makes life worth living?” – even if you’re not – the time you spend with this book will not go to waste.

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A couple more pictures – I’m totally satisfied with the eagles at the top plus the Cooper’s Hawk from today. But I’m always happy to have a Red-tail:

Crosses are favorite perches for Red-tails.

And I can never let a week go by without a bluebird:

Bluebird on my feeder earlier in the week. I would not be overjoyed if a hawk got one. But hawks have to eat too.

A red-bellied woodpecker banged into my office window earlier this week. He got his bell rung. He clung to the boxwood for a few minutes and gazed reproachfully at me – as if it was my fault – before he flew off. Another bird who was fortunate the hawk was not around:

Stunned Red-bellied woodpecker

Yesterday (New Year’s Eve) was when I got the two Bald Eagles on the nest. Earlier that day the dogs and I had been to our favorite place:

Freshest air in Richmond

The preceding picture was taken facing west, up the river. I stood in the same spot and faced north, across the river to photograph these gulls:

I always like to catch one coming in for a landing. Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much.

Our friend Ariel gave us this lovely amaryllis for Christmas. When we first got it – I wish I’d taken a picture – it was just a closed up bud. You would never have imagined what it would look like seven short days later. Ariel’s gracious gift and Evelyn’s careful attention produced this vision when we got up this morning:

Amaryllis from Ariel, encouraged by Evelyn to bloom this morning to begin 2017 with a flourish:

Happy New Year!

Have a great 2017,

Jay

Posted in Bald eagles, Birds, Cooper's Hawk, Dogs, James River, Pony Pasture, raptors, Red-bellied woodpeckers, Red-tailed hawks, Rivers, Smiles (including "dog smiles"!) | Tagged Dogs, Fun, hiking, nature, outdoors | 2 Comments

Merry Christmas!

Posted on December 25, 2016 by Jay McLaughlin

25 December 2016 Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Isn’t this just stunning? Thanks Evie!

Merry Christmas! Evelyn put that together with roses from the store and magnolias from our driveway. Lovely!

The James River in many ways never looks better than it does in winter. Inevitably when I see it I think of the 2009 song Blue Lips by Regina Spektor. She says “Blue, the color of our planet from far, far away.” I inevitably think of that line when I see this:

Stops me in my tracks

My friend and fellow birder Gilpin told me he’d been seeing Bald Eagles just west of the Willey Bridge when he’d been driving across (south to north) recently. Wednesday (12/20) I finally saw what he was talking about and began looking at Google Earth to find a place I could get a good look at them. I found it – but it was across the river. At least one eagle was perched on the tower nearly every day this week. You can often see this bird or its mate from the Willey Bridge if you know where you’re looking:

James River resident Bald Eagle:

I drove about 2.5 miles west from Huguenot Flatwater to take that picture.

My friend Pat and I paddled his canoe this afternoon (Christmas!) from Huguenot Flatwater to a small beach just below the Bosher Dam to see if we could get a better picture. There was an eagle on the tower while we were paddling up but by the time we arrived it had flown off. And when I drove home, it was back again. So it goes. Wonderful day for a paddle though. It takes around forty-five minutes to paddle there from Huguenot Flatwater. Here’s a picture from the north bank of the river looking back across Bosher’s Dam:

Looking south across Bosher’s Dam on the James River

Since there were no eagles on the tower I walked directly under their nest and took this picture pointing straight up:

Underneath the nest, looking straight up

Never fear – our hiking and canoeing and photography didn’t disturb the eagles in the least. I crossed the river on the way home and looked back and there was another eagle perched comfortably on top of the tower we’d just photographed and paddled away from.

There are dozens and dozens – maybe seventy-five or more – buffleheads in a constantly moving flock at Pony Pasture now. The whole flock flies up the river then they drift down in unison, picking up little clams off the bottom. Then fly back up. I am rarely able to catch them still and close and in good light. Here’s a handful I photographed Thursday:

Bobbing buffleheads, always a long shot

The river is full of Ring-billed gulls now too – I like the one flying across this picture. All of these are from Pony Pasture:

Flying gulls, swimming gulls, standing gulls

There are lots of bluebirds in Pony Pasture this week – almost the most I’ve ever seen – but I struggled – and failed – to catch any in good light. Here’s my least-worst attempt, taken Tuesday (12/20) a bit after 11:00:

Bluebird at Pony Pasture in sun and shade:

Here’s one I got on my home feeder two days later:

Bluebird at home in no sun!

Evelyn and our friend Ariel and I went out for dinner Friday (12/23) evening at a Halal Afghan Kabob house in Chesterfield called The Box. Service is slow so order ahead but the cooking is out of this world and the service beyond compare. We can hardly wait to go back! “Halal” and “Kosher” are not identical concepts but neither are they dissimilar. I’ve eaten both and love them equally!

After dinner the three of us went to the Metro Richmond Zoo to watch their remarkable Miracle of Christmas production with living animals. I’d long been skeptical of it and never gone. Now I want to go every year! Here’s a picture Evelyn took of an actual Bactrian Camel from the production:

Photo of Bactrian Camel taken by Evelyn at Richmond Zoo on Friday!

That’s it for this week – I hope your Christmas has been spectacular and your New Year’s is even better. Have an excellent week,

Jay

Posted in Bald eagles, Birds, buffleheads, Fun, James River, Pony Pasture, raptors, Rivers, roses, Smiles (including "dog smiles"!) | Tagged Bald eagles, buffleheads, Flowers, Fun, james river, nature, outdoors, People, Pony Pasture, Rivers, Roses, Smiles - human AND dog smiles! | Leave a comment

My earlier, squirrellier years

Posted on December 18, 2016 by Jay McLaughlin

18 December, 2016 My earlier, squirrellier years

I saw lots of hawks hunting squirrels this week, which made me think of the squirrel hunting I did when I was younger, and that made me think of my dad – a lot.

If you get bored with hawks (this post is overloaded), skip down to the bottom – you can see our Christmas tree!

The first mammal I ever killed and ate was a squirrel. I was hunting with my dad near our cabin in Page County, Virginia in the Blue Ridge Mountains in 1974, just after my thirteenth birthday. Whatever your opinion of guns or hunting or me or eating meat, much of the “me” that you know (if you know me) is formed by those experiences. I took this picture at Deep Run Park in western Henrico County, Virginia on Friday:

One squirrel on the left, one center, one on the right. I could count seven from where I took this picture.

A squirrel on the left, one in the center, one on the right. I counted seven from where I took this picture.

The squirrels in our part of Page County in the 1970’s never saw a trash can or a bird feeder or a picnic table. The squirrel meat I ate was more organic and free-range and antibiotic free than the priciest cut of anything you’ll ever get from Whole Foods. This Red-tailed hawk was perched above the parking lot, calmly watching those young squirrels chase each other around the trees. I believe it had just consumed fresh squirrel:

This hawk is about to continue its own life by ending a squirrel's.

This Red-tailed hawk at Deep Run is about to continue its own life by ending a squirrel’s.

It is unlikely that Pony Pasture will run short of squirrels in our lifetime. But squirrels are tough and mean, and they’re difficult quarry for a young Red-tail. The dogs and I were hiking at Pony Pasture Tuesday and when we returned to the parking lot, friends pointed out this young Red-tail perched on the information kiosk between the parking lot and the boat ramp. Sorry for the low quality; it flew to the ground an instant later:

Recognize that spot? If you’ve been in the parking lot at Pony Pasture you can’t miss it.

I didn’t understand what was happening while I watched, but realized later it was catching small subterranean mammals – much easier quarry than squirrels. It dug one out of the ground – while I was standing there – and carried it off to a tree to eat. Of course I had my lens cap on. According to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) Wildlife Information page, Virginia has a whopping twenty-five different varieties of small subterranean mammals! That number includes four different moles, eight different voles and a startling thirteen different shrews. I know next to zero about subterranean mammals in Virginia or anywhere else. Possibly only one of those twenty-five lives in Pony Pasture; I’m entirely ignorant. But that Red-tail was catching some sort of small subterranean mammal. My friend Kim is a wildlife rehabilitator and suggested a vole is the most likely candidate. What type of vole she didn’t say, though perhaps one variety is particularly common.

Here is a picture of that Red-tail on the ground – in pursuit of subterranean mammals. This is probably six feet from the pavement in the parking lot. I haven’t taken many pictures of Red-tails on the ground:

When you’re hungry, you go where the food is.

I took a few more pictures of it when it hopped up on a low branch. Here is a nice picture of its head:

Not playing games

Viewed from the front, to my knowledge, there is no way to distinguish between an adult red-tail and an almost mature juvenile red-tail. Maybe by eye color. But if you can see the back (the top) of their tails, the difference is obvious. This bird was cooperative. I walked behind it and took a picture of its tail feathers. This is the tail of a juvenile Red-tail (the one at Pony Pasture Tuesday):

Tail feathers of a young red-tailed hawk.

Tail feathers of a juvenile red-tailed hawk.

The next morning – less than twenty-four hours later – I was near Discovery United Methodist Church at the intersection of Gayton Road and Lauderdale Drive in Richmond’s West End. The cross on top of that church may be the most predictable Red-tail perch in this area, and Wednesday morning was no exception. I parked behind the bird so I could take this picture for comparison. This is why they’re called “Red-tails”:

Tail feathers of an adult Red-tailed hawk.

I hunted with my Dad a few times, but mostly alone. Dad shot rifles and pistols and shotguns his entire life and he was a superb marksman, but I don’t recall him ever shooting an animal. He would have if the opportunity presented itself; dad was unconflicted about killing and eating wild animals. But I don’t think he ever did. He liked the precision and concentration and single-minded focus of target shooting. I was in the Junior NRA when I was growing up. We had target practice once each week on the rifle range in the basement of Montgomery Blair High School, a few miles from where I grew up.

Whatever your opinion of guns, it’s worth it to try target shooting for an hour or two if you ever have the opportunity. When you’re concentrating on the bullseye, every single other thing in the world just goes away. The mental control – and the breath control – involved in precise target shooting surpasses any other endeavor I’m aware of. This is the first sentence of the Urban Dictionary definition of zen: “One way to think of zen is this: a total state of focus that incorporates a total togetherness of body and mind.” That’s exactly what’s demanded by precise target shooting. Dad would have been open to calling it “zen”, because he was an open-minded man, but he would have chosen other words. Because he chose his words carefully.

The skill sets for good target shooting and good photography have a great deal of overlap. Likewise the skill set for good hunting and good outdoor photography. It’s also fun to sit here at my computer and see what birds appear on the feeders just outside my window. This tiny bird has been revealing itself slowly. I saw it for a couple of weeks but no camera. Finally I got this picture. It’s awful but my next one will be better. I’m excited because my friend Kim positively identified it as a Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula). They’re great birds. Soon I’ll get a better image:

Upside down Ruby-crowned kinglet on suet in front of my office window

This post has been short on color and long on raptors. I took a rare (for me) picture of three bluebirds on my feeder at one time:

Three bluebirds at once – bright and cheerful.

Evelyn and I put up our Christmas tree yesterday. We bought it on a lot my old friend Ethan introduced me to, over on Laburnum at the Linwood Holton Elementary School. I used to buy my trees from Home Depot (not that there’s anything wrong with that) but Ethan was always much more environmentally and socially aware than I was. He suggested that rather than putting more money in the already overloaded pockets of yet another big box retailer, I keep it in our local economy. Here is the tree after we decorated it and put it up:

Our Christmas tree. We put candy canes on after I took this picture.

Evelyn found a couple of Dad’s old Christmas decorations; these two are on the tree:

Dad knew that even in the most difficult times, America is the best place to be. If he was still alive, he’d know it’s still the best place to be.

A week from today is Christmas! I’d better get started shopping!

Have a great week, hope you’ll check back next Sunday.

All best,

Jay

Posted in Birds, Fun, James River, Pony Pasture, raptors, Red-tailed hawks, Rivers, Smiles (including "dog smiles"!), squirrels | Tagged bluebird, Fun, james river, nature, outdoors, Pony Pasture, Red-tailed hawks, Rivers, Smiles - human AND dog smiles! | Leave a comment

I’ll be brief

Posted on December 11, 2016 by Jay McLaughlin

11 December, 2016 I’ll be brief

Because I don’t have much to say! Perhaps I’ll be more talkative next week. Meanwhile, if a picture is worth a thousand words, then here are around ten thousand words worth of the usual birds and a pretty waxing December moon. Some moss growing on a retaining wall on Monday:

Nice to see healthy bright green in December

Waxing crescent moon Monday evening

Wednesday I was driving north on Parham Road just before Patterson Avenue and I looked up at the cross on top of the Grove Avenue Baptist Church and saw this pair of Red-tails. It is remarkable – very statistically improbable – how often I photograph a pair of Red-tails perched on crosses on top of churches:

Convenient perch for Red-tails

These pigeons were on a retaining wall just below them; I liked the light and the pose:

Pleasing to the eye:

Red-tail picture, pigeon picture and this moon picture all taken from the same parking lot at the same time:

Waxing Wednesday moon

On Friday, December 9, the Shenandoah National Park posted this on their Facebook page: “With the leaves of summer now mostly on the ground, bird watchers enjoy clearer views of our feathered friends. Those who maintain feeders will notice increased activity—especially in the mornings and evenings—with the colder temps and shorter days of winter. Shorter feeding times mean busier birds! Take a moment to observe a bird doing what a bird does. Nature offers us an opportunity to stimulate our senses while soothing our souls.”

Twenty-four hours earlier I’d been working at my desk and looking at my feeders and I counted fifteen varieties of birds coming and going on my feeders. It was unprecedented. I saw many male/female pairs too. Starlings and house sparrows count toward that total, which is unexciting. I did see a male Red-bellied Woodpecker intimidate some starlings, which you don’t see every day. These Red-bellies are big dudes:

Stout male Red-bellied woodpecker – starlings don’t bother him

I was overrun by Tufted Titmice in the past but they disappeared for a while. It was gratifying to see them return on that day:

Tufted titmouse. It’s those black eyes. They’re so cute.

My friend Kendall and I took a long (3+ mile) hike at Deep Run Park Friday. We stopped under a tree to look at a bluebird a couple of trees away. While we were standing there, this big female Red-tail swooped over the trees and planted herself in a branch directly above us and peered down. I’ve never seen a Red-tail do that. Maybe these park Red-tails are more relaxed around humans:

Do you ever feel like you’re being watched? We were totally being watched.

I hadn’t visited my old haunts at Bryan Park recently so Mackey and Turner and I had a nice hike yesterday. We surprised goats and goats surprised us:

Goats staring at us staring at them

Mackey and Turner and Yuki and I made it to Pony Pasture this morning; we saw a cute bluebird near the parking lot:

Last bird we saw before we got back in the car!

This afternoon I drove to an open house at a friend’s a couple of miles from here. I was a block and a half from my house – on the way – when I looked up and saw this Red-tail perched on a power line. I’ve photographed more red-tails here than anywhere else. There’s nothing out of the ordinary about this picture. The open house was from 2:00 to 4:00. I took this picture at 2:26 while I was on the way over there:

Red-tail on a tower today at 2:26 PM:

So I ate and visited with my friends. Had a nice time. Drove home the way I’d come to the party. I’m passing the same spot at 4:38 PM – two hours and twelve minutes after I took that picture – and I looked up and took this picture:

Same bird, same spot, two plus hours later

I hope that, like me, this bird got a snack during that two hours.

I hope you did too! Have a great week,

Jay

Posted in Birds, Bryan Park, Fun, James River, moon, Pony Pasture, raptors, Red-bellied woodpeckers, Red-tailed hawks, Rivers | Tagged bluebird, bryan park, Fun, james river, nature, outdoors, pictures of the moon, Pony Pasture, Red-tailed hawks | Leave a comment

AKA “Butterfly McPeace”

Posted on December 4, 2016 by Jay McLaughlin

4 December, 2016 AKA “Butterfly McPeace”

My friend and mentor for many years was the late, great Butterfly McPeace. She passed away a couple of years ago. I keep a roll of these stickers to remind me of her role in my life today. More at the bottom of this post.

Butterfly McPeace

I apologize for missing last week’s post. Next time I’m going to miss a week I’ll post a picture and a note – I always have at least one picture.

Meanwhile, the usual drivel and a few pictures of our local fauna and a few other outdoorsy items. Our recent national news was tumultuous to me – more than I care for. I don’t even own a television because it’s too overwhelming. But you can’t live in the world and avoid the news and it was loud and incessant. I read an interview with a conservative NYT columnist (conservative by NYT standards) and he said, in the aftermath of the presidential election, “My dog will still chase squirrels.” And the river will still flow:

Apolitical

Speaking of the river flowing, here’s a quick and pretty video I took on Thursday:

Pretty December river

The river doesn’t do “shrill.”

Also reassuring, on the same day, and in the spirit of “my dog will still chase squirrels,” the deer at Pony Pasture have begun wandering into their winter browsing/feeding/bedding grounds. It’s predictable. They occupy different areas of the park at different times of year. In the winter they reliably appear around mid-day in a protected area (old fence in the woods) just south of Charlie’s Bridge. I think there were only two on Thursday. When they sit still they’re practically invisible. Perhaps there were more. I believe this is a mother (longer ears) and a youngster:

Mother deer (I believe)

Her offspring – I suspect:

Young deer (not ten feet from that other deer)

I nearly forgot – I took an eight second video of the mother deer chewing her cud. It came out pretty well. I will always be intrigued by this sort of thing. By actually being able to stand there and watch this happen. No matter what is on the news. You should check this out – it’s fascinating:

Deer chewing her cud

The same day – rapids, deer, all that fun stuff – a Bald Eagle circled over our heads as we were hiking back to the car. We were in sight of the parking lot when I looked up and saw this. It’s not a brilliant image but I’ve never photographed a flying Bald Eagle before. My dog will still chase squirrels:

What a great time to be alive

“My dog will still chase squirrels” is shorthand for the fact that that most of what happens is unaffected by who is in the White House. Or even by the fact that there is a White House. I took this seven second video this morning at Pony Pasture; it’s a wren in full song. If you’re not smiling right now – even if you are – watch this video:

Wren, singing in winter

Of course it wouldn’t be a Jay McLaughlin blog post if it didn’t have a picture (or more) of a Red-tailed hawk. On Wednesday I photographed an unprecedented (for me) three separate Red-tails on the same day. Some images were okay but none were beautiful. Part of the reason I “got” three – forgive me for getting into my geek persona – was the cloud cover was very low all day. They couldn’t go up and soar (couldn’t see the ground) so they all perched. That low cloud cover can also make drab, gray pictures. Yesterday, however, there was a lot of Red-tail activity here in the Freeman HS vicinity. I saw this male warming up in the morning sun. When I came back half an hour later he was just leaving:

Red-tail about to leap

I headed across town and pulled into the parking lot at Pleasant’s so I could photograph this sky:

For some skies you should pull over and stop.

When I went home half an hour later the hawk hadn’t moved! But that’s how Red-tails hunt. That evening I was in my front yard and looked across the street and one was perched above my neighbor’s bird feeder. Red-tails don’t normally get birds, and that’s not what this one was there for. Lots of seed falls on the ground, and squirrels and chipmunks (and probably mice and possibly rats) pick it up. That’s what this Red-tail was waiting for:

Waiting for dinner

I had the great good fortune to take the big version of “my” pack to Pony Pasture this morning. It’s never easy to get them all in the viewfinder at once, but I squeezed them all together for an instant:

That is one fun group to hike with

I hope you took a moment to watch that video of the wren singing – it is in every way cheerful. Moments after I took the picture of the dogs together, we rounded a bend and this wren was singing at the top of its lungs:

How could that not be cheerful?

Here’s the video again if you missed it – it will brighten your day even if it’s already bright:

Wren singing in December

As an aside, the 2017 Highland County Maple Festival is just over three months away. March 11 – 12 and March 18 – 19. If you are able to visit, I cannot recommend it highly enough. Some contingent of my nieces and I have visited every year since 2007 and we’re headed back up again in 2017. This blog has only been around since 2011; here is our post from that year: Highland Maple Festival – March 12, 2011. If you look at the picture on that post of me sitting on the couch with my nieces – two of them drive now! And that was our fourth Maple Festival! I’m looking forward to the 2017 version.

I put real Virginia maple syrup in my oatmeal every morning, and now I order it online straight from Highland County, Virginia! So I can have a year-round supply. I alternate orders between Sugar Tree Country Store in McDowell, VA and Back Creek Farms west of Monterey, VA, almost in West Virginia. They are both delicious beyond my poor ability to describe; I would be forced to flip a coin rather than declare one more delicious than the other. Try them both yourself and see if you like one better! Better yet, go to the Maple Festival and visit my favorite – Fair Lawn Farm (look them up on Facebook) a few miles southwest of Monterey. They’re a small, old-fashioned, hands on operation, and my favorite part of the Maple Festival.

I’ll be back next week! Have a great week,

Jay

= = = = = = = = = = =

AKA “Butterfly McPeace

Butterfly, laughing and smiling

My friend and mentor Butterfly McPeace (Barbara) died peacefully but much too early two years ago. She was an important mentor to me, and always reminded me to be nice even if I didn’t want to be. See that picture at the top of this post? They were giving those stickers out – they were also giving out red clown noses – at her memorial service in 2014. I remembered during my internship if I’d make a bad choice or tell her something that showed questionable judgment she’d say “Jay… ” and just let me think about it for a minute. She never told me what to say or think. She knew I had good judgment. She’d just help me put on the brakes. So I’m at her memorial service and I’m looking around that somber gathering of bereaved mourners wearing butterfly stickers and red clown noses and I knew I couldn’t let that lesson go away.

So after I got home I went on Amazon and bought a roll of butterfly stickers. And I put them on stuff to remind me of Barbara saying, “Jay… .” She just wanted me to think before I spoke. Speaking before I think is what gets me in trouble even today, but it happens less frequently, in large part due to Barbara’s a.k.a Butterfly’s steadying influence.

Those two pictures are from her obit in the November 26th, 2014 Richmond Times Dispatch. She wrote her own obit, and I’m going to put a link to it here – it’s worth your time and attention. Here’s a great line from the obit: “…Barbara’s final contribution to society was ‘going to medical school’ through the donation of her body to the Commonwealth of Virginia, State Anatomical Program.” Here’s her obituary:

“MANN, Barbara Fay “Butterfly McPeace.” What a wonderful life! What a glorious adventure!”

I also found a 2009 article about her in the Richmond Times Dispatch. You can read it here (and see a color picture of her) at Clowns plan to shine during their special week. Here’s a clip from that article “Barbara Mann has been a clown for less than five years. Her alter ego, ‘Butterfly McPeace,’ was born when Mann finished her clown class in 2006. By day, she is a licensed social worker who specializes in working with people who have suffered brain injuries.”

“‘I’m dealing with very serious issues with my clients, and I find that clowning is a wonderful balance for me in my life,’ Mann said.”

Barbara helped me learn to connect. Although she loved to be in costume, she would engage you on a personal level from the moment you came in contact with her. Barbara was one of those 100% brilliant/100% unassuming people that are hiding, I have reason to believe, in plain sight.

Nothing reminded me of Barbara this week. But I left my iPad at a place where I now work – with people with Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs). My iPad has that Butterfly McPeace sticker on it and I had to call someone and ask if they’d hold it for me. Haven’t stopped thinking about Barbara ever since. Hopefully I’ll continue to recall her wise influence! Have a great week.

===========

Addendum – Evelyn and I ordered Chinese last night from Yum Yum Good here in Richmond. Outstanding Chinese food from the nicest people you will meet in any setting. This was in my fortune cookie:

Be curious always! For knowledge will not acquire you: you must acquire it.

===========

Posted in Birds, Carolina wren, Dogs, highland maple festival, James River, Pony Pasture, raptors, Red-tailed hawks, Rivers, Smiles (including "dog smiles"!), whitetail deer | Tagged clouds, Dogs, Fun, highland maple festival, james river, nature, outdoors, People, Pony Pasture, Red-tailed hawks, Rivers, Smiles - human AND dog smiles!, tbi, traumatic brain injury, whitetail deer | 4 Comments

Warning – disturbing images – hawk kills starling

Posted on November 20, 2016 by Jay McLaughlin

20 November, 2016 Warning – disturbing images – hawk kills starling

The hawk/starling picture comes a bit below. There’s no blood, but it’s an intense image. In my mind. I’ll open with a decidedly undisturbing image – our cat Dash, mesmerized:

Early humans worshipped the sun. Present-day cats worship fire.

The disturbing picture – disturbing for some of us – comes a few pictures down. There is no blood. Just a Cooper’s hawk (Accipiter cooperii) hunched over the lifeless and staring body of a European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) it had just killed. Don’t be thrown off by the word “European” before “Starling” – every starling you ever see, and you see a lot, is a European Starling. They are everywhere, all the time. One of the most common birds in Virginia. A couple of other pictures first. Also, there’s a picture of a snake at the bottom of this post, believe it or not.

I took a moderate quality picture of a Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) earlier this week. The hawk in this picture has a conspicuous bulge in its chest – that means it has a full “crop,” and had just eaten. Probably a mouse or a rat or a chipmunk. This was the parking lot next to The Westbury Apothecary and the Kroger on East Ridge Road:

Well-fed Red-tail

Also this week I photographed a slightly less common Red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus). I was driving east on Patterson Avenue around 9:15 AM. I saw this bird in a tree and pulled into the parking lot of St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, 10627 Patterson Avenue. I walked down the driveway and took this picture across Patterson Avenue:

Patterson Avenue, 9:30 AM:

Notice the first word in their binomial or scientific or Latin name of both the Red-tailed and the Red-shouldered hawk is “Buteo.” Buteos are all big and stocky and have short tails. They are generally “sit and wait” hunters. Their main prey in central Virginia is small mammals, e.g. mice, rats, chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, etc. The hawk that killed the starling this week was not a buteo but an accipiter – specifically, a Cooper’s hawk (Accipiter cooperii). Accipiters mostly hunt birds, and they have long tails for maneuvering through trees and underbrush. In this area, since I know where they all hunt, I could photograph a Red-tail 365 days a year. I have never photographed an accipiter – until Friday. I took this picture (it’s not disturbing) just as I arrived:

Cooper’s hawk “mantling” in foreground over a dead starling. Bluejay in the background.

The hawk had just killed the starling (when I took the picture I didn’t know that). The bluejay in the background (I also didn’t surmise until later) was waiting around for leftovers. The way the hawk is holding its wings is called “mantling,” and all hawks cover up their prey that way when they’ve made a kill in the open. It’s a signature hawk behavior; Red-tails do it too.

This next picture is the one I find a bit disturbing. That hawk’s open eye staring down at the open eye of that recently deceased starling, every time I look at that it startles me. Wild animals don’t often die in their sleep, and I’ve done a lot of hunting, but this still catches me off guard:

A link in the food chain right there. A very alive hawk and a very dead starling.

That was the first time in my life I’d ever seen a Cooper’s Hawk – remarkable. And that life and death scene occurred around 9:15 on a weekday morning about six houses away from a busy road, in a bustling neighborhood. That stuff goes on constantly – it’s hard to believe.

This Christmas Cactus is hard to believe too – and Ev has it blooming enthusiastically in our kitchen. This is just one of probably twenty blooms currently opened up:

Christmas cactus blooming in our kitchen

Another thing that’s hard to believe even though I’ve seen it thousands of times is how beautiful our James River is – in downtown Richmond! If you’ve seen one picture of the James you’ve seen ‘em all, but there’s no such thing as a bad one:

My vote for the most refreshing spot in Richmond. Or anywhere else.

Last week the first Buffleheads appeared at Pony Pasture – the most obvious sign of oncoming winter. Today I saw the first two seagulls of the season. In another month there will be dozens or scores. They come up here every winter. I’m not entirely certain why. Maybe because the river doesn’t freeze solid up here. These are Ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis) though the quality of the picture is poor. Better pictures soon:

Pair of ring-billed gulls on the water in the wind

There were more buffleheads this week than last – more will continue to appear over the coming weeks:

Buffleheads bobbing mid-stream

Mackey and Turner and Yuki and I got a surprise this frigid November morning – a snake was blocking our path! My friend Kim said yesterday (high temperature 73º) that probably seemed like a good idea to a snake. Today I don’t think the thermometer got out of the forties and the wind was wild. Not prime reptile weather:

Garter snake sticking its tongue out, smelling the dogs

Have a great week! All best,

Jay

Posted in Birds, Blue Jays, buffleheads, cats, Cooper's Hawk, Dogs, firewood, Fun, garter snake, James River, Pony Pasture, raptors, red-shouldered hawks, Red-tailed hawks, Rivers, Smiles (including "dog smiles"!), Snakes | Tagged buffleheads, cats, Cooper's Hawk, Dogs, Flowers, Fun, james river, nature, outdoors, Pony Pasture, red-shouldered hawks, Rivers, Smiles - human AND dog smiles! | 2 Comments

NEWFAZE

Approximating equilibrium

Downstream

Jet boat in Hells Canyon

Yellow and blue

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

My earlier, squirrellier years

I’ll be brief

AKA “Butterfly McPeace”

Warning – disturbing images – hawk kills starling

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