Uplands

View at Sunset

A beautiful winter poem by Archibald Lampman, a 19th-century Canadian poet.  Born on November 17, 1861 in Morpeth, Ontario.  Died on February 10, 1899 in Ottawa.

Winter Uplands

The frost that stings like fire upon my cheek,
The loneliness of this forsaken ground,
The long white drift upon whose powdered peak
I sit in the great silence as one bound;
The rippled sheet of snow where the wind blew
Across the open fields for miles ahead;
The far-off city towered and roofed in blue
A tender line upon the western red;
The stars that singly, then in flocks appear,
Like jets of silver from the violet dome,
So wonderful, so many and so near,
And then the golden moon to light me home--
The crunching snowshoes and the stinging air,
And silence, frost, and beauty everywhere.

~ Archibald Lampman (1861-1899)

Lucky Sighting

Yesterday...

I was about to go for a walk when I saw a Bald Eagle perched in the tree tops near the house.  He flew away a short time later, but didn't disappear altogether.  Instead, he joined up with another eagle that had been sitting in a tree on the far side of the property. 

 

 Photo taken from an upstairs window

There they sat quietly observing their surroundings.

 

Evening

I took these pictures just before sunset yesterday.

Bald Eagle perched in a Spruce tree

Eastern Sky

Eagle's Nest

Winter Birds

The birds appear to be doing well despite the fluctuations in weather.  I've seen only one sick bird near the bird feeders, a female Pine Grosbeak.  Whenever the temperature dips, we get more visits from the finches, mostly, Common Redpolls.  During these cold snaps, there are so many in and around the feeders that the chickadees find it very difficult to come close enough to take a sunflower seed.  At these times I usually put some seeds in places unfamiliar to the other birds with the hope that the chickadees will get there first.   The nuthatch, on the other hand, is more aggressive, and the finches will often give way when he flies down for a seed.

Currently, we are experiencing mild conditions which we all appreciate.

       

White-breasted Nuthatch on Poplar branch

White-breasted Nuthatch with a morsel