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Picture Perfect Morning

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at Sandy Neck…

Ever since I was a little girl it has been one of my favorite beaches…

Even back in the day the snow/sand fences were there to keep the parking lot separate from the beach. You can walk along the beach into Sandwich toward the canal or you can walk back toward the tip of the neck to the point that protects Barnstable Harbor. In either direction you can walk for miles. The towns of Barnstable and Sandwich co-own this beach and I remember sitting up late at night waiting for my mother to come home to see if Barnstable had bought the land that extended out into the dunes and behind the great marsh. It was a long and hard battle and an expensive purchase and no one knew for sure which way the votes at town meeting would go.They had bought it! It was the largest piece of conservation land Barnstable had bought and managed at that time and today it is a true jewel in the Barnstable conservation and recreation system.

Even in winter the mystery and romance of the dunes lures walkers, horseback riders and hikers out to explore. The area is great for birding and other sighting of wildlife. Beware of hunters at certain times, however, for the area is also open to certain kinds of hunting. It is open as well to overland vehicles and campers, an agreement that irks some but has made huge supporters of the area in the larger community.

When I was in high school and college I spent untold hours roaming in the dunes, sitting in the sun with friends sharing bad poetry and hopeful dreams. We talked, we napped, we drew pictures, we rolled down the dunes in the warm sand. In winter we hid in the dunes to stay warm on sunny but cold days, days we should have been in a math classroom or history classroom but we were out in nature’s classroom instead. At least that’s what we told ourselves and in many ways it was true. The dunes are wonderful in the summer of course but they take on a very different quality in the winter, a quality that reminds young minds of quests and queries and questions about the meaning of life, survival and death.

Every time I walk on Sandy Neck there are layers and layers of memories of previous years, months and days spent walking here. And yet, as all good beach walkers know, no walk on the beach is quite the same as the one before, the one last year or 20 years ago….Like the birds flying above and the crabs buried below the beach is a living, breathing, ever changing thing….

Every visit is special but some days, like today, the morning is just picture perfect….

Looking back on my Cape Cod nature year….

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Yep, it’s that time of year when everyone is compiling lists and making promises and all that jazz and I have to admit I thought it might be fun to look back on some of my favorite pictures and nature experiences from the last year….

Every January I walk around Kalmus Beach in Hyannis whenever it is warm enough that the wind won’t rip my face off….Last January was ridiculously warm and we saw lots of snow buntings on our morning walks. My little friend, Arlo, got lots of sniffing done as well and here is a shot of his cute fluffy pantaloonies. I think they add to the overall landscape, don’t you?

In February the ocean often is shining and glittery on sunny days….this view is at Coast Guard Beach in Eastham…

In March I keep watch for the first sight of skunk cabbage….

In April I keep watch for mayflowers….

In May the first blossoms of red or swamp maple make me swoon…

In June it begins to feel like summer may actually arrive….

In July I can’t get enough sightings of butterflies…

In August it seems like whales are everywhere…

In September sunsets are often spectacular…

In October skies are often dramatic….

In November there are few people on the beaches….even on nice days….

and in December young hawks are easy to see in leafless trees…

Sot there’s a very quick and far from complete spin through my nature year….I will post more over the next few days…including more about the highlights that I put aside today for a more in depth look.

What was your favorite nature sighting or experience in 2011?

One Fat Squirrel

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Many people are telling me they are worried about the squirrels, that there aren’t enough acorns for them all and I just want to say….

This squirrel is not suffering….

All the squirrels in my neighborhood look like this right now–fat and happy.

This view looks across the street into my neighbor’s driveway but you can see several of my feeders here–and the NEW baffle I put up to keep the fat and happy squirrels off my feeders. The squirrels have all been looking in the window at me since I put it up…

I think they may be plotting against me….in the meantime I don’t think any of them are in danger of starvation, do you?

I think this one is the fattest one I’ve seen….

Giving a gift of nature….

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The following piece, written by me, Mary Richmond, was published in the Cape Codder on December 9, 2011.


This piece has had a lot of positive response and since it is not posted online by the Cape Codder I am posting it here.

        Every year we hear the same complaints about the over commercialization of our winter holidays and yet every year folks still head off to the mall and fill bags full of all sorts of things they hope will make their friends and loved ones happy, even if it is only for a minute or so. We all hope to find a gift that is meaningful and that will stand the test of time but it seems to get harder and harder to do so.
       Maybe we’re just looking in the wrong places. It really isn’t all that hard to find long lasting, meaningful gifts, especially if we just look outside our own back doors instead of in the advertising flyers.

       It’s true that technological gifts are tops on many people’s lists but these days most of the nature guides come in an “app” or application form that can be loaded up on a phone, tablet or laptop. Many birders carry all sorts of reference materials on their phones these days, including e-books that help them find great places to hike and look for birds. Young people love these sorts of things and since many of them are doing their learning on computers and tablets in school they are more likely to look for info there than in books. I know, I know, we old school-ers love our books and thumbing through pages but as a now aging man once said, “The times, they are a changing…”
        For those looking to give nature books as gifts there are many good ones to choose from, whether you are looking for a classic like Henry Beston’s “Outermost House” or Bob Finch’s wonderful new pocket sized book “A Cape Cod Notebook” there’s lots of good fireside reading out there.

        But what about a gift that actually includes getting out in nature instead of reading about it or watching a video about it? Family memberships to any of our nature related organizations and museums make great gifts and are often something young families put off because they can’t afford it. Don’t forget that many local land trusts also offer memberships and also offer free walks for families throughout the year.
        There are books filled with maps for bike riders and walkers, kayakers and hikers as well. Why not add a gift certificate for a walk or bike ride once a month? A friend of mine does something like this for her parents with home cooked meals and I thought, what a great excuse to get together once a month and have a great meal as well as a nice visit. Why not do the same sort of thing with a grandchild or other child? Imagine if they were taken on a different nature walk with a favorite adult throughout the year? That would be fun and enriching for everyone.

        Nature is filled with free gifts right outside our doors and windows. You can buy a family, child or older friend a bird feeder or bird house or better yet, make one with them to hang outside their window. Teach a child how to make prints from leaves, grasses and seeds or learn together to make pictures with seaweeds, using their natural glues to adhere them to paper. Make a calendar using photos of your favorite outdoor places, plants, butterflies or birds. This would be especially nice to do with photos of your year’s walks so maybe plan this sort of thing for next year.
        While you’re at it, why not make plans to take a special walk in a new place each month with your sweetie? Leave the phone at home and enjoy a special time together. Take your mom or dad, your grandma or your uncle. Explore a town conservation area you’ve never been to. Exploring nature together is truly a gift that keeps on giving. And, it’s free. Imagine that.

December begins….

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and the year winds down….but it is still fall for a few more weeks. There’s still time to take long walks on sunny mornings looking out over the marsh to the sea…

and to sit and enjoy the view without freezing half to death….

There are old nests to discover, left over from last summer. This one is most likely a catbird nest since they have a fondness for bushes surrounded by briers and they like a bit of shiny cellophane to liven things up a bit..

Oriental bittersweet is invasive but the bright orange berries against an azure sky are still quite lovely….

Winterberries are abundant and give the landscape a red hue where they are most plentiful…
There’s a familiar gray creeping into the landscape everywhere we turn….
And young red tailed hawks can be seen watching the ground below from their perches in nearby trees….
and at the end of the day….the sun sets with the intense colorful drama that only this time of year seems to bring…
By the end of the month winter will have set in….but until then, we can enjoy more days and evenings like these…
these photos were all taken on December 2 in various parts of the lower and mid Cape….

In search of a snowy owl….

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In the last few weeks there have been many reports of snowy owl sightings along the northeastern coast of the US including sightings in Massachusetts. Duxbury Beach was the closest area where a snowy owl had been reported from so a little over a week ago my sister and I headed off Cape to see what we could see.

I’m sort of embarrassed to admit that I’d never been to this beach before but I had not–and what a beauty it is! Snowy owls spend most of their time in the arctic tundra where they can watch for passing lemmings from atop low hills and grassy hummocks and our barrier beaches seem to offer a similar habitat.
Unlike many of their relatives, snowy owls are diurnal, meaning they hunt and hang out in the daylight, hence their light coloration. Well, there is that snow thing, of course, as well, but even without the snow they blend in extremely well.
We walked on the beach side and also along this dirt road that ran along the backside of the dunes and along the harbor. We knew the owl would most likely be way out and when we saw someone with a big scope and camera coming off the trail from up ahead we asked if they had seen the owl. Indeed they had. It was on the beach side and down about a mile or so. He said we’d see the people watching it.
We walked and we walked and we walked but we eventually saw the people standing in a group looking at something and we were pretty sure it was probably the owl so we picked up our pace and headed in that direction. By the time we got within a close distance the group dispersed and the owl seemed to have left. We headed up that way anyway, ever hopeful but alas, the owl was indeed gone. The view above is looking back from where it seemed the owl had been perching.
We were pretty discouraged…we had come a long way for….not much. Well, to be fair it was an absolutely beautiful day for beach walking and we saw a marsh hawk as well as many loons and other birds. We saw lots of people clamming, too.
Because we didn’t know where to park we ended up parking way, way, way far away from where we ended up….like about 3 miles away so we decided to walk back along the dirt road. I was trying very hard to be cheerful and upbeat but I was very disappointed….I have seen snowy owls before but this one had been so close!
In a move that will no doubt go down in family history as a true Mary bird nerd moment I stopped, stretched my arms out and spun around saying, Okay, owl, where are you?
And then I saw it…..it wasn’t in the dunes…it was on a tiny spit of rocky sandy mud sticking out into the harbor…this photo is with my full zoom so you can see it was quite far away. The shape was too hunched over and the head too wide and rounded to be a gull….

I got a bit closer to be sure it really was the owl….

and then it turned to look at me and there was no doubt! It flew a while later and landed in the dunes nearby.

I have to say….it was a long but joyful 3 mile walk back to the car….it was indeed a day well spent!

The snowy owl was still there as of yesterday so if you get a chance to go see it, please do!

Showing our thanks….

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The following is my most recent “Nature’s Ways” column for the Cape Codder and Register newspapers and since they don’t post it online I thought I’d post it here for Thanksgiving.

It’s easy to find things to be thankful for when out in nature. There’s all that air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat and all those trees, flowers and grasses. There are beautiful birds making beautiful music, deer posing like svelte models in sunlit meadows, squirrels flicking fat furry tails and whales leaping out of the waves to name a few. There is the salt air upon our skin, the first summer rain, the quiet night filled with stars in the sky and bats over the pond and the silky sand squishing up between our toes. There is the silence of the first winter snow, the mystery of an autumn fog and the drama of a thunderstorm full of lightning shows as well as whimsical rainbows following summer afternoon sun showers. With all this beauty and bounty around us, how could we not be overflowing with gratitude?

  And yet, sometimes we forget to show how grateful we are. We litter the landscape with trash, we clog the ocean with plastics and we poison the air, water and land with careless abandon. We forget to use what we are given so freely with reverence and respect and sometimes treat nature with disdain and disrespect instead. Most of us do not do this deliberately but more like absent minded and self-centered children that don’t mean to be wasteful and take advantage but who make a big mess anyway.
 As Thanksgiving approaches in what seems to be an onslaught of holiday commercialism by businesses that would probably like to just eliminate a holiday without gifts altogether I have been reminded more than ever this year that the real joys in life are not in cardboard or plastic packages but in the connections we make and have made with ourselves, each other and with nature. We all know this, we all talk about it and yet the mall parking lots are always full and trucks full of garbage barrel down the highway each day. Something like only 10% of us actually recycle anything and if that’s true here on the Cape where so many seem to be environmentally aware then over the bridge must be even scarier….The majority of people use some sort of fertilizer, weed killer or pesticide at least now and then and most homes have bug killers, bleach and other toxic cleaners or pest eliminators in their closets or basements. We use strong laundry detergents and take clothes to the dry cleaners and according to recent articles we flush a lot of left over medicines down the toilet. And let’s not forget what all the cars and trucks do, not only with their emissions but with the effects of tires and oils on the roads that eventually wash into our waterways and ground water. There are all sorts of toxins in TVs, computers, cameras and cell phones, especially in their batteries and that doesn’t even begin to count the possible effects of radiation emanating from all these things, all the time, all around us even if we don’t own a single one of these items.
 I know, it feels a bit overwhelming and discouraging but what if as we give thanks this year we also pledge to say thanks with an action or two. If you already do many things that help rather than hurt nature and the environment, perhaps volunteer in a capacity that will help teach others the advantages of living without toxins and poisons. Maybe as we give thanks for all that we have we could pledge to accept clothes that aren’t bright white, gardens that have a few weeds and food that is smaller and has a few spots. 
   It really doesn’t take much to make a difference. We can start small and it will still add up. Just as that famous journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, so can being truly thankful begin with our small individual actions.

          As our annual day of national ‘thanks giving’ approaches, wouldn’t it be great to make giving thanks a daily thing with our own conscious actions? Nature would be very grateful indeed. Happy Thanksgiving, 

Craft show at Green Briar Nature Center tomorrow!

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and I’ll be there–It was sort of a last minute invitation so I’ve been crazy busy getting ready and finishing holiday orders and meeting early holiday writing deadlines and phew! I’ll catch up here next week.

If you’re in the area please stop by and say hi tomorrow–I’ll have lots of cards, watercolors, my new pendants and some ornaments. A percentage of all sales goes to Green Briar’s educational programs and we will be in the Ed Building!

What’s up in my studio….

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for the holidays? All sorts of things….

I am now making pendants from some of my watercolor birds and bunnies

there are round ones and square ones

and even some oval ones

There are ornaments with bunnies, too

and ornaments with birds…

For those of you who are local I will have a table selling these and more at Green Briar Nature Center’s annual holiday sale on Saturday, November 19 from 10-4. They are also available in my Mary Richmond Design Etsy shop.