This morning Travalon watched his Premier League team, the Wolves, play Nottingham Forest. The officials didn't take away any of their goals this time, so they tied 2-2. Then we had to go to the credit union right near our house, where we have the condo association account. A very strange thing happened the other day: when I contacted the one unit that hadn't paid yet, they said they were having problems getting it to work, which is strange because they always paid before. They wanted to use Zelle and asked what email to use, so I said my personal one, since it's linked to that bank account... and then I got a notice that the money had gone into our personal account at a different credit union because it's also linked to that email. So I had to write a check from our personal account and take it to be deposited in the condo association account. I think we have solved the issue now... I'll find out next month.
Then Travalon and I drove up to Horicon Marsh, since we hadn't gotten there yet this spring. People have been posting photos of pelicans and whooping cranes, but we didn't see any, and the egrets don't seem to be back yet. The one Big White Bird we did see was a pair of what I believe are trumpeter swans.
Tundra swans are usually noisier and hang out in bigger groups. Trumpeter swans don't seem to make much noise except when they fly, and then they sound like, you know, trumpets. Tundra swans sound like excited puppies, and they never shut up. At least that is my experience.
We also saw several species of ducks. In one spot we saw red-headed ducks and ring-necked ducks.
In another spot we saw buffleheads. If you look closely, the male isn't just black but iridescent.
People have posted photos of our buddy the white-headed goose too, so he (she?) is still alive and well, but when we went to that part of the marsh, we didn't see him. Honestly, we didn't see that many geese, but we could hear them, so they were hiding in the reeds. We did see turtles and the blind.
On the way back we stopped at Patrick Marsh and saw lots of gulls way out on the lake. Closer to shore, we saw a Bonaparte's gull and a pair of red-breasted mergansers, but Travalon only got a photo of the male.
It was a gorgeous day, so even if we didn't see as many birds as we would have liked, we just enjoyed being outside in the sunshine. It was warm enough to just wear a T-shirt.
In the evening Travalon dropped me off at an early music concert while he went to Leopold's. The violinists at this concert played so beautifully; whenever I hear great violinists, I get a bit wistful, thinking how maybe I could have been that good if I'd really practiced. I do still play the violin, even in public sometimes, but mostly I am a mandolin player. Maybe once I've really learned the tunes at the Slow Irish Jam, I'll get up the nerve to bring the violin instead of the mandolin.
The stuffed dragon I'd ordered that was supposed to come in May has shipped! This Year of the Dragon has been a difficult one for some people, like Travalon and Tiffy both lost their mothers and the Daughter of Denni is still battling cancer, but I feel like I've been in a children's book about living in an enchanted land: "I sailed on a fast boat over the waves to a tropical island surrounded by turquoise water, where I drank right out of a coconut, and then I saw a flock of pink birds, and then I sailed on a green river, and then I saw a black sun with white beams!" I hope it continues to be this enchanted for all of us!
No comments:
Post a Comment