Exploring the Backyard (Easter Week)

Pip watching the birds Easter morning

On Easter morning, Pip and I were sitting at the kitchen table and our attention was drawn to the multiple birds flocking around our feeders outside our windows. With our stay at home orders, explorations must occur closer to home. Over the course of the week, I kept track of the birds in the backyard, counting seventeen species. 

A male house finch

House Finch – By far the most common bird at our feeders is the house finch, a social bird that congregates as small groups just outside our kitchen window. I watched a male pluck a sunflower seed from the feeder and place it in a female’s mouth, which is one of the mating rituals among house finches. The cats, especially Pip and Coco, like to sit on the windowsill or dining room table and watch these small active birds. While they do not stir as much excitement as some of the larger birds, such as the mockingbirds, Coco, in particular, intently watches the coming and goings of the house finches. Originally from the western North America, the house finches were introduced to Long Island, New York in the 1940s. It was estimated that approximately 100,000 house finches were captured in California and shipped to pet shops along the east coast in contravention of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. When word got out that a major raid by federal government agents was about to happen, set the birds known as Hollywood Finches free. Since that time, the bird has spread throughout the east coast of the United States.

Northern Cardinal – I always enjoy seeing cardinals in the winter, with their bright colors standing out against the snow and dun-colored foliage. Last week, we found a dead female cardinal on our front porch. She was a beautiful specimen. It looked like she had died midflight, perhaps flying into our sidelight windows.

White-throated sparrow

White-throated Sparrow – These are cute little birds, with a small bright yellow spot on either side of their beak. These sparrows are usually only in our part of Pennsylvania during the winter month, but with cooler weather several have stuck around. There are two variations of the white-throated sparrow, either white or tan stripes on their head. Studies indicate that the birds primarily mate within their variation. Although the white-striped version is more prevalent in our backyard, I have seen at least one pair of tan-striped sparrows around our feeders. 

Northern Mockingbird

American Crows – I hear several crows high above when I am filling the bird feeders, but they mainly inhabit the trees that a fair distance from our house. On Saturday morning I watched a blue jay and crow battle it out between the trees that line the railroad tracks in the back.

Carolina Wren – Watching a specific wren, I noticed he would fly to the bottom of the bushes and then would hop from hop from branch to branch to make his way to feeders. I suspect that this feels safer than exposing itself to potential predators.

Other species observed this week: White-breasted Nuthatch, American Robin, Common Grackle, Mourning Dove, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, American Goldfinch, Black-capped Chickadee, Blue Jay, House Sparrow, Downy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker.  

Coco watching a female house finch, up close and personal

Loss, Memory and Identity

The Western Facade of Notre Dame de Paris
May 2001

The fire at Notre Dame on 15 April 2019 was devastating, nearly destroying the ancient cathedral. I have been in the church several times and that afternoon my first thought was maybe I had not taken enough photographs. But in the following days I learned that Notre Dane had been systematically photographed and digitized. Perhaps my inclination to catalog sites and places would be better served in other, less familiar places.

Six weeks later, I had the chance to walk along the Seine and see the damage for myself. The twelfth century structure remained unsafe. People sat and stared in disbelief. The near destruction of an iconic building, well over 800 years old, startled people; it was a stark reminder of the transient nature of all things. It would be rebuilt. Its memory would continue to be cherished. It would remain a part of our collective identity, even if we were not French or Catholic.

Yet a year on, the great fire seems like a distance footnote to those of us who are not in Paris. The COVID-19 virus has disrupted life wreaking havoc not just on a building but on the entire society and much of the world. The gargoyles perched around Notre Dame seem to look down on the city and the world

Notre Dame: late May 2019

Isolation

Art is an integral part of any society. It defines us, explains our values, and what is important. It also helps us to celebrate, as well as provides solace in times of trouble. Art is often relegated to the back pages of most newspaper. Politics, business and finance take centerstage, helping to shift our focus. Yet, art endures. At first, you might think that art is only in museums, yet it our music, television, films. It is the rainbows drawn by children, the verses we jot down, and the items we make.

How many countries regularly published poetry on the front pages of their national newspapers? With the onset of the COVID-19 in Ireland, the Irish Times published on its front page a poem by Gerard Smyth, reflecting on the isolation that many people felt as a result of social distancing. We are not alone in our feelings, and it is a time for reflection. 

Snow Geese at Middle Creek

Seeing large numbers of anything is impressive. In a time in which much of the ecosystem is imperiled, observing an extraordinarily large number of snow geese wintering in rural Pennsylvania offers hope for the future of birds and animals. Nature is resilient, yet the lake at the Middle Creek Management Area, along the borders of Lancaster and Lebanon counties, were created when a dam was built in the 1970. The geese, which once used the east coast as navigation, have moved further inland as development has reduced feeding areas. The phenomenon of extraordinary numbers of birds gathering in central Pennsylvania is a reaction to human pursuits. 

Tundra Swans

In February the snow geese and tundra swans, as well as numerous humans, congregate at the wildlife management area near the small village of Stevens. People who have not walked any distance in quite some time, trudge a three-quarter mile path to see more than 100,000 snow geese occupying the reservoir. Slightly dwarfed by the showcase geese, families of tundra swan that nest in Alaska and northern Canada, gather and rest for a few days of rest on other parts of the reservoir lake. Although there are far more geese, the number of swans can reach an impressive 10,000 birds at a time. 

The close proximity to so many birds is humbling. It is almost as if the geese are nearly tame, yet they are not exactly ready to cozy up to people.  Even a small toddler, rambunctious and reckless as he is, gets remarkably close to the geese scouring the grass. The geese are not easily spooked but mosey off if humans (or dogs) venture too close.

What photographs, and even videos, cannot capture is the sound of a multitude of birds simultaneously calling. Even from across the lake, the sound ebbs and flows, like a wave that alerts us to the presence of nature. Watching the intricate motions of collective of geese, much like a murmuration of starlings, is compelling. Are eyes deceive us to pay attention to the whole, while missing the actions of the individual. 

Walking on the Great Allegheny Passage

While my focus continues to be on completing the C&O Towpath, it is intriguing to think about other long walks. The Great Allegheny Passage takes the up where the C&O leaves off in Cumberland, Maryland and completes a 150-mile, non-motorized trail, to Pittsburgh. Walking in the trail in the Pittsburgh area is a step back in time, mixing the beauty of the Monongahela River with the remnants of the city’s industrial history.

Homestead Grays Bridge

Approximately seven miles upriver from downtown Pittsburgh, Homestead was once a vibrant working class and immigrant hub. Today, some of the riverfront has been revitalized into commercial ventures but just a few blocks away the poverty of post-industrial blight remains. Walking from the Waterfront, a shopping and entertainment complex built on the site of steel mills and railroad terminals, the walker is at first confronted with the hurly-burly of shoppers and traffic. The Monongahela is tranquil, but the evidence of a turbulent past is all around. The foundations and rusting structures visible evidence of the steel mills that dotted the riverfront; the moorings of docks, rusting and overgrown, no doubt dangerous, are fenced off from those who walk, jog or bike passed.

Birds thrive along the river and many can be seen along the path, even on a late winter day. Frenetic robins have begun their spring mating rituals a little early this year. Mallards and Canada geese gently swim or mosey away if you approach too closely. Songbirds gleefully tweet but use the undergrowth, shorn of foliage, still provide ample cover from potential predators.

Between mile markers 139 and 140, the Pump House was a part of the U.S. Steel Homestead Steel Works and is now an interpretive center for the 1892 Homestead Strike Memorial. The strike was a defining clash between steelworkers and industrial management, pitting the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers (AA) against the Carnegie Steel Company with its local operator, Henry Clay Frick. Company under Frick sought to break the union in Homestead, introducing non-union clauses into the workers contract, leading to a confrontation when the existing collective bargaining contract expired. On 1 July 1892, Frick locked out workers who moved to keep the plant closed through surveillance and picket lines, attempting to deny the company an opportunity to employ replacement workers. The standoff resulted in a pitched battle between the union and Pinkerton agents on 6 July, when Pinkerton agents attempted to land a boat on the grounds of the plant from the Monongahela. Shots erupted and a ten-minute gunfight ensued. The governor of Pennsylvania sent the state militia to restore order. The strike melted away as workers, primary East European immigrants, crossed the picket line. The incident broke the AA; by 1900 not a singled steel plant in Pennsylvania would remain unionized.

One of the interesting things about Pittsburgh is the proliferation of ethnic clubs in the area. In Homestead, the Hungarian Social Club is visible from the trail, but appears to be closed.

Upriver from the commercial sector, the path turns away from the river slightly to circumnavigate businesses that still have property adjacent to the Monongahela. I walk around struggling steel plants and abandoned outbuildings, on East 8th Avenue. The trail leans back to the river where it squeezes between the Monongahela and lightly used railroad tracks. Walking through this area, seemingly a forgotten section of the concrete and trash, there is a temptation to feel vulnerable. A chain link fence ostensibly denies access to the Carrie Furnace Hot Metal Bridge; however, the sizable hole and graffiti on the bridge suggest that it does not do a good job. Constructed in 1900, the bridge has not seen railroad traffic in quite some time.

Rails leading to the Carrie Furnace Hot Metal Bridge

Walking During Social Distancing (March)

Pictures from the beginning of coronavirus pandemic in March 2020



Cumberland Valley Rail Trail 

CVRT near mile marker 3

Farm on Smithdale Road from the trail 

American Robin

Mourning Dove 

Rocky Knob Trail 

Gilbert Road 

First Pennsylvania Wildflowers 

Food at the airport

Waiting for my backpack to be scanned at the San Juan Airport, I took a few furtive glances at an older woman who had been pulled to the side for additional screening. Prior to me walking through the metal detector, the security personnel held those of us waiting for a delay, without explanation. The agents just simply put their hands up and refused to allow any one through in our line until all passengers had cleared the x-ray and metal detectors. Evidently, the delay was cause by this poor woman who had made some food dish that was now being closely inspected by the two screeners. The serious-faced male and female inspectors, with the baby blue rubber gloves, were handling what appeared to be enchiladas, inserting their fingers into each one to make sure nothing was dangerous or malicious in the woman’s recipe. The woman remained stoic and cooperative, but I could not but feel sorry for her. She had worked very hard to make someone at her destination a good meal and it was, at least the aesthetic quality, being ruined.

Wouldn’t it have been nice, rather than ruining this meal, if there was a way in which some of us could have avoided the processed, commercialized food typical at airports to enjoy this woman’s endeavors? I hope that the object of her love, who she doubtlessly worked to please, enjoyed it. But at a time when many people do not enjoy the pleasures of real food, or companionship during a meal, to have the opportunity so that people could enjoy a homecooked meal before hours cramped in airplane would be nice. Of course, we would have to get over our fears of something different, of trying new things, and talking to others. But it would be worth it, I think.