A Little Winter Reading….

Several people have asked me to recommend some good nature related winter reading and today, being a bit cold and blustery outside seemed a good day to look over my bookshelves to find some of my favorite books…some days I just pick up one of them to reread a chapter or two…

These are newish books focuses on the nature and beaches of Cape Cod and they are all wonderful. Although “The Fo’c’sle” is a “children’s” book it so lovely and so beautifully illustrated that adults who love Cape Cod should add it to their collection… And Bob Finch’s little book is just like book candy. Throw it in your bag or glove compartment for those little pockets of time when you need something quick to read but don’t feel like reading a magazine that is about 3 years old….

I got my first nature books as a very young child and I still have many of them. I also collect ones I see at yard or estate sales. Reading books written about nature so long ago is very revealing and also nostalgic. We have changed the way we see and think about nature but even 50 or 100 years ago there were people out there trying to get people to understand why conservation was important on a personal as well as societal level. The John Hay is from my mother’s collection and has been a family favorite since my childhood, along with all the rest of his books.

I love to read essays and personal accounts of people;s interactions with nature and all these books fit into that description. If you don’t know all or any of these authors, I highly recommend them…”Life of the Skies” is a new one or me and I hope to settle in and read it this weekend…

Do you have any special nature related books you find yourself returning to again and again? I will add more over the next few weeks so feel free to add your own recommendations in the comments.

Watching the sun set….

There’s nothing like a winter sunset at the beach….often quiet but never dull

On this afternoon I got to the beach just as the sun was lowering over the jetty in the distance

A gull kept me company…

behind me other gulls took advantage of the last fading light

until finally….

and then just the pink remained….

and day was done….

Happy New Year!

Wow, the last few months have just flown by me and I have been remiss about posting here. If you’re on Facebook, that is where I am every day with new pictures, latest sightings, etc. but I will try to be better about posting here for those of you are not Facebook sort of folks….

It’s hard to believe there’s still snow on the ground but it sure has been cold out there! There is even still snow at the beach…

and for those of you keeping track of the birds you see this year, this Iceland Gull at Craigville Beach is very accommodating and easy to see in the parking lot there…

Stay warm out there!

Beautiful foggy morning…

Last night it warmed up and rained and our snow vanished into mist…

At the beach you could only see the water close up…even the gulls were mostly hidden in the mist

The black ducks in the marsh continued to dabble…

and the overall view was pretty subdued and lovely…

The harbors were socked in…

and even the fishing boats looked like ghosts in the distance

Even as I write this the sun is burning off the fog and soon all this mist and all that snow will be long forgotten…

but for just a little while there was magic at the beach on a January morning….

Finally….

some ice and snow! Not much but hey, the way this winter is going….this may be it!

On the south side we didn’t get much…just a dusting, really

but when we drove a few miles to the north side we found ice in Barnstable Harbor…

some actual snow on the beach…

and some lovely views….

even the marsh had an icing…

but that didn’t keep this guy from heading out to check his lobster pots…

as we were leaving the beach I took this shot…is there anything lonelier looking than an empty lifeguard chair in winter?