A Backyard of Baby Animals

Originally published June 12, 2009 at Suite101.com

I’m sitting at the dining room table, writing, or pretending to write because a gray squirrel has perched on the railing surrounding the deck behind my apartment. After a moment of vigorous grooming, it sprawls over the railing, four feet dangling. Flattened on this branch-substitute, a second gray squirrel meanders across the deck and down the stairs. Neither squirrel seems aware of the other.

Unlike the third squirrel to appear, this one walks along the railing until it notices squirrel number one (that also notices this railing invader) and with distinct “hey, I’m not here to cause any trouble,” body language, squirrel three backs up.

Only it doesn’t get far because a slightly larger gray squirrel is right behind it. It presses the smaller squirrel to the railing and immediately begins grooming it (with much enthusiastic chewing of fleas, lice, and whatever else). At this point, I want my camera, which I usually keep downstairs, but it’s upstairs charging for a weekend event. I risk crossing the room and getting the camera (the back door is wide open and I’m convinced the squirrels will hear the floorboards creak and head up the nearest tree). The squirrels are still grooming.

Squirrels two, three, and four bound off for a vigorous wrestling match in the poison ivy (their fur protects their skin from getting a rash). Squirrel number one is still draped over the railing, watching.

Three house sparrows drop onto the deck, all with the dull coloring of the female. One sparrow hunches into a ball and cheeps until another sparrow feeds it. A male house sparrow, with his brighter chestnut feathers, drops nearby into the grass. I realize that I’m looking at parents feeding their fledglings – juveniles old enough to fly short distances but still looking for a handout from mom and dad.

The gray squirrel, tired of perching on the rectangular branch that is my railing, jumps to the ground, causing the birds to take wing. Even in the small, shared backyard of an apartment, the spring’s bounty of baby animals is evident.

Wandering in Nature

Originally published 3/12/2011 at explorealongtheway.com

Why did I start a nature activity blog in March when, quite honestly, I’m a bit of a weather wimp? I don’t like being cold or walking through deep snow or over ice. For years I’ve toyed with the idea of taking up cross-country skiing or snowshoeing so I could get a better appreciation of winter, but I’ve never mustered the motivation. I’m happy to appreciate nature in winter by gazing through my window.

Don’t get me wrong, if there is less than six inches of snow on the ground and there isn’t a brisk wind, I love walking in the winter. Part of my point is that you don’t have to be into numerous outdoor recreational activities in order to appreciate nature.

Today, I took an early morning walk in the park where I walk all but the winter months. The wind was brisker than I’d like it to be but I needed to get outside without a group of students in tow. Most of the snow has melted except for the plowed piles alongside the roads within the park. Some of these piles are so encrusted that they look a bit like sand castings.

I spotted a couple of chipmunks staring over the top of one pile of sand and snow. When I turned to look at them they vanished, the first chipmunks that I’ve seen since last autumn. Gray squirrels ran here and there, startled by my presence. I saw no white-tailed deer although with the snow gone a winter’s worth of scat was revealed in pebbly piles.

I looked up at one point and saw a hawk flying against the sun. I wondered if it was the red-tail I’ve often seen during warmer weather. The hawk landed in a pine then soared in a half circle, sinking over the other side of a hill, likely in search of one of those chipmunks pushing its way up out of its winter den.

Appreciating nature doesn’t have to take a lot of time, nor does it require any recreational equipment aside from some comfortable sneakers. It only requires some time, a place, and a bit of attention.