Brand New Day

Despite assorted rainstorms we've had lately, the pond here hasn't recovered much. The back, deeper two-thirds of the pond are still pretty wet, but this front end seems to dry a little more all the time.

The ducks who've returned for the winter must be a little disappointed, between low water levels and the lack of supplementary feed we used to supply that they seem to float-in-waiting for, just offshore.



It occurs to me that in just a week or two, my daily commute will no longer take me along Bridge Road where it passes through Boat Meadow Creek, so I thought I'd share a few more glimpses of this lovely part of Eastham.



Tide was creeping in as I captured these shots mid- afternoon (after a late night concert, I was none too early to arrive at work today.).

A little more rain came our way this afternoon, but not before we were able to deliver another truck-load of rocks to our new location. I think we'll have just one more load of those, and then hopefully I'll be able to identify an upcoming sunny day on which to create the new garden bed.

Meanwhile, here's an afternoon view of Boat Meadow Creek.

Morning Commute

Everyone knows the Midnight Gardener is more of a Night Owl than an Early Bird, so I'm happy to share with you this rare sunrise photo (it happens much later this time of year!) I captured on the way to work this morning!

The scene, in case you don't recognize it, is Boat Meadow Creek, where Bridge Road crosses, the site of many of my photos from the last few years.

Morning View

The view from Bridge Road, looking east across Boat Meadow Creek in Eastham, around 7:00 a.m.

Boat Creek: Two Shots

In both photos, we're looking west toward Cape Cod Bay over Boat Creek Marsh from Bridge Road in Eastham. The photo above was taken about 1:30 p.m. yesterday. The photo below was taken around noontime today. Quite a contrast, eh?

Pondside with the Peepers

A light rain to report here last night. Started around dusk and went on more or less until midnight.

Everything in the gardens this morning looked extra green and satisfied, though I didn't have time to do more than dash past on the way to the car.

I did, however, get this shot (above) of the fog over Boat Creek Marsh as I drove by on my way to work.


After dinner I made a return to the yard, but it was really too dim to appreciate much in the gardens near the house.


With so many trees around, dusk seems to come sooner there than down at the pond's edge, and the sound of the peepers drew me through the woods, growing louder in my ears as I entered their domain.



I didn't see many of these little frogs...but I was absolutely right down in the thick of peeper activity.

Their sound is just crazy-making at close range, but totally cool, as well. It sounds somehow alien, or artificial, the sound and notes are so intense. And SO loud!!

That close, you can hear each one seperately, and that they all seem to be singing different two-note pitches...and you can hear them "changing keys"...their notes adjusting...are they trying to match the pitch of someone and then find them? I wonder if they both have to sing the same two-note song in unison...because that seems almost never to happen.

Is it all for fun? (Could they possibly think of this as work?) It sure sounds like a good time.

In the midst of the distinctive peeping, there were other sounds, too...crickets, perhaps, more of a trilling sound, maybe just a different variety of frog. Lord knows, there are plenty.


I'm sure they were communi cating plenty about the lumber ing giant come down into their midst.

Sometimes all those in the immediate area around me would go silent. And then one would come on, extra loud, perhaps exerting his sense of their territory to me, with the others resuming their songs, as well.

Whatever the peeping's about, it's completely worth spending some time in the midst of, if you're convenient to the habitat. Just make sure you have appropriate footwear: it's wet down there at the water's edge. And watch where you step!

In the pictures above, I was mostly taking pictures of the places where I'd pinpointed the peeping might be coming from. In that first image, I could convince myself I see six or seven of them, though none perfectly in focus. I left the file size large, so you can "embiggen" for study and have yourself a frog hunt.




And in case you really don't have time to spend looking for frogs (but let's be hon est ...who doesn't?), I did get this one clear-ish shot to share with you impatient types.

With Slicker and Boots

There was a light mist in the air this morning, sometimes as much as a momentary spatter of rain. Not optimal conditions for working in the garden, but a day off is a Day Off, and it was harder to try to stay in the house and not get my hands in the dirt. More grasses were removed as I continue to lay out bed frameworks, carrying in the latest rock additions. The weeding is trickier in the current location, as there's some creeping thyme woven into the grass, which I'm trying to preserve.

Got the little fences up around the more substantial clumps of peonies, as they are beginning to climb toward the sky, and high winds are predicted with both the storms coming our way. Several buds are already popping up, and one industrious ant was found playing his role in the whole flowering process. That's one of the reasons I'm willing to work around the ant colony I've spied in one of the beds.

And as the rain became just a little more substantial, I did some more transplanting of perennials from the meadow-marsh area. The water level is continuing to rise there (the green heron is a daily sighting lately, tho they remain quick to fly off and avoid any photo opportunity), and two nor'easters will only amplify that, so I've been trying to extricate some of the things that've gone wild there to offer them dryer locales in the new beds.

The transplants were blackeyed susans and yarrow mostly, along with a few wild daisies, but I also discovered several clumps of something I've seen before and know, but not quite well enough to name them. You know...the face is familiar, but I just can't come up with the name. I'll try to get a picture soon, in case anyone else has knows this character.