Rose-breasted grosbeak

I walked outside at 0745 this morning and this beautiful bird was feeding at my neighbor's feeder. And, yes, the little sparrow is a Swamp sparrow. I watched a couple of them this morning, rummaging in the muck and roots streamside.

Palm Warbler

I live four miles from a wonderful linear park, a riparian habit, that has yielded many birds already this spring. I got amazing looks at ruby-crowned kinglets, for instance, which are the avian equivalents of a high-energy 5-year-old (Donovan comes to mind). While the bird guides say the "ruby" is hard to see, I often saw it this spring, but not as a crown. It was a narrow stripe on the cap and, one day, I watched a ruby-crowned forage below me while I stood on a viewing deck over the Pine River and got several good looks at the elusive "ruby crown." I also saw golden-crowned kinglets early in spring, usually in small groups. Warblers seem almost sluggish in comparison to kinglet mania.

This morning, I saw my first palm warbler for the year, close up, and an easy sighting. No craning my neck or hoping it would hop into better view or frustration. In the same spot, I noticed a secretive skulking sparrow on the opposite bank, moving in and out of view. I watched it for quite awhile and THINK it was a swamp sparrow, but am not positive. It was grey and rusty but seemed also to have fine breast streaking. Roger Tory Peterson does say "Immature Swamp Sparrows in spring migration are continually misidentified as the Lincoln's Sparrow."

Chipping sparrows

The past two days were very birdy in my neighborhood. The wind was strong from the east and it was overcast but calm over the lake. I am battling one particular, smart, hyperactive, black squirrel with an attitude. I do this solely by moving the TWO baffles, a little higher, a little closer together, a little lower, etc. The squirrel figured out how to move away from the pole, judge the distance and leap onto the lower baffle, which was only about 2 inches from the higher one! Along with being unreasonably pissed off, I was also entertained.

Some goldfinches are now brilliant yellow and black. There was a loon on the lake and I saw two brown thrashers under the feeder near the bushes. And, at dusk, there were 11 chipping sparrows, small and elegant, picking up the loose seed on the lawn.

Cream of Red Pepper Soup

I am going to try to cook my way through Mollie Katzen's Still Life with Menu, my totally unoriginal idea inspired by Julie and Julia.

SO, to date, I have prepared the first three recipes.

The first was Cream of Red Pepper Soup, and this illustrates why I decided to do this project:

I would page through my 20+ cookbooks and seldom try a recipe. There was always something quite not right. Like, I don't like creamed soups, for instance, so I didn't expect to be impressed by this red pepper soup, but I was! It was colorful and tasty, flavored with garlic and cumin. I did have minor difficulties trying to roast the peppers in my very compromised oven in the Lake Michigan cottage. The peppers slid off the cookie sheet and nestled against the back wall of the oven. The oven itself is a hazard to work with, and the thermometer is totally off. But I sort of learned how to roast peppers. The soup was blended at the end and I could have strained it according to the author, but I liked the slight texture of the not-quite-totally-pureed peppers.

The second recipe was Praline-Butterscotch Bars...butter, brown sugar, pecans, etc. I messed up a bit with the order of ingredients, but it didn't matter. We ate these within 36 hours and I sent 6 home with Maria.

The third recipe in the first "Menu" was Spring Vegetable Salad. I loved this also. It had asparagus, snow peas, carrots, summer squash, new red potatoes, green beans, all steamed and mixed with oil, garlic, mayonnaise and herbs. I made one change. The recipe called for 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice to be added just before serving. I added only 1 teaspoon to each serving and mixed it just before I ate it. Except for Betony, who had a serving when she was here, I consumed the whole salad in 4 days. It would even be tasty with no lemon juice added, IMO.

The final recipe in the first group is a Fruited Grain Salad and tomorrow I need to go scout out raw wheat berries.

A few days ago I returned from a trip to Oregon. Here are a few photos of that wonderful visit with Steve, Andree, Liv and Donovan...

Snow today after a couple of warmer, sunnier weeks. I hope April is not the cruelest month. Looking forward to this coming weekend when Maria and Deborah come to spend a long weekend with me. It is our Rite of Spring.

The sun has shone for two days straight and although there is still a chill in the air and lots of snow in dirty piles and several inches deep in the shade, it will lose its battle with the sun soon.

Last Sunday, the great black-backed full flew by, mixed in with a steady stream of gulls flying north. AND, a bald eagle carrying a fish in its talons also flew by with gulls and crows staying close, probably hoping for a piece of this meal.