omly

I have been doing a lot of walking recently, which always strikes me as an excellent time to observe the life around me. So here is a random series of observations:

When we were first landing I noticed a lot of what look to me like sand pipers. There are lot of lakes in the area so I guess they are just some sort of freshwater version of the same type of bird. It turns out that the town over is named Plover. I am also told that there are seagulls, but I have not seen any.

The squirrels here are not as large and fearless as the ones back home. They are also accompanied by more chipmunks (aka turbobears).

I saw a beautiful waterbird in one of the inlets I was walking past in the Middleton area. Sadly I was unable to get a good photo and have been unable to identify it.

When I was walking yesterday morning just after dawn I came upon a huge flock of sparrows flying low feeding in a marshy/fallow field area. They had brighter yellow bellies then the ones I am used to, but they still made me really homesick for the farm. I wonder how the new round of chicks are doing.

Everyone here seems to own a dog. I saw a cat yesterday and was startled by how long it has been since I had seen one.

The cicadas are really loud here. I notice them more here than at home. (Perhaps this is a result of fewer trees at home?) They are about as loud as they were in Virginia. I saw dead ones both in VI and here in WI, but none in MA. I guess I just missed the season when they started to die off.