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After so much poetry it was a relief to go to the plover warden picnic at Plum Island. Only a few of the plover wardens I had contact with attended but it was great just to be outside swapping stories. The big event of the afternoon was a praying mantis that took up residence on Jack's leg and wouldn't leave. It looked brown. People kept trying to feed it spiders. Finally, Jack stood up and the praying mantis moved to some long grass nearby and started turning green again. After the picnic, I went birding on the refuge. I ran into a couple of other plover wardens who'd had the same idea. One of them spotted a red eyed vireo eating wild grapes. The broad yellow grape leaves mingle with deeper reds and greens and of course the purple of the grapes. It's quite a show. |
After the past few cold days, it's a shock to feel the 80 degree heat and the humidity. I wished I'd worn shorts and a t-shirt. Oh well.
Everyone is out and about this afternoon.
People keep calling it Indian Summer, but I thought Indian Summer was only after the first hard frost. We haven't had a hard frost yet, though we've had some really cold nights in the mid 30's.
I meant to take pictures at Plum Island, but I only took the one of the red and yellow leaves. Everything looked worthy of a picture so it was hard for me to choose. I saw a gaggle of painters with their easels in plein air painting the salt marsh.
When I got home, I pruned the giant weed tree that blocks my back door. The house sparrows acted like it was a big inconvenience.
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