Birds of Prey in Wrentham

This is a Broad-winged Hawk named Rufus, and his extraordinary keeper, Marla Isaac. Marla rescues and rehabilitates animals with New England Reptile and Raptor. Last weekend the Open Space Committee of the town of Wrentham hosted Marla and six of her magnificent birds in an educational and riveting demonstration of native New England birds of prey.



Even knowing ahead of time that the presentation would include owls, it took my breath away to see an actual owl sitting on a human hand. This is a Barn Owl, whose name I didn't catch.

As Marla presented each bird, she walked around so that everyone could get astonishingly up close and personal. We had the best seat in the house: a picnic blanket right up front. Chris stood against a tree and snapped photos the whole show while I minded Gabe. I had to take my little munchkin aside to keep him busy during the first half of the presentation, which was all talk; but once the birds were brought out of their boxes, I scurried back to our seat.

This is "Merlin", a Great Horned Owl. I think he could see straight into my soul with those eyes.

Marla seemed to be not just an old pro with handling birds, but also with audiences of children. She didn't miss a beat when someone (else's) toddler scampered out to her feet.

Each time she walked a bird past our blanket, I could swear the birds stared down at my son with a look that said "tasty!"

There is something very cat-like about owls. They have such haughty dignity. . . but also seem to appreciate a good head-rub.

Merlin's egg was rescued from a tree that had been cut down. Because Marla was the first thing he saw on hatching, he is imprinted on her - which means she's a big mama owl to him.

. . .and only Mama could get away with this! Here, Marla demonstrates exactly how long an owl's neck is under all of those feathers.

This is a photo worthy of icanhascheezeburger!

This is "Sargent", the fastest animal on Earth: a Peregrine Falcon. It surprised me how small he was. These birds are as flawless-looking as airplanes.

This gigantic bird is a Red-Tailed Hawk. You can see his red tail feathers more clearly in the next photo:

. . .and this eerie beauty is "Uncle Fester" the Turkey Vulture.

And now for some flying! Rufus, the little Broad-winged Hawk in the first photo, was turned loose for some aerial fun. Here, he is diving after his favorite toy. If cats had wings, they would play in this manner.

Marla understands what motivates her birds. It's unsentimental: they use her for food.

Here, Rufus gets some quail. He gulped an entire leg-bone like a carnie swallowing a sword. These birds require the equivalent of entire quail each and every day.

Before filling the raptor's belly with raw meat, bones, and feathers, Marla sent Rufus flying back and forth to perches strategically placed throughout the audience - including one almost directly behind me. I had the amazing experience of watching a hawk fly almost straight towards my face. It took a concerted effort not to duck. Rufus passed so close that I was buffeted by the wind he stirred.


Rufus did some guffaw-worthy hops about the area, including comical slippery landings on the smooth tops of the bird boxes.


Here, he flutters unexpectedly to a playground structure.



This boy had an encounter that he'll undoubtedly be talking about for the rest of his life.

This is Rufus striking a pose on Marla's head. . .



. . .and being removed from Marla's head.

Thank you Marla for the amazing presentation!

Let's Take A Fall Garden Tour

Fall "Nesting"

Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. We are having beautiful cool Fall weather in Southern California - cold nights and sunny days (we call it cold if it gets down into the 50's at night). Not quite cold enough to offer you hot chocolate, but just right to offer you a cup of hot tea. Please join me for a Fall stroll through beautiful Roger's Gardens and Home Shop.

I just love my new yellow tea cups with blue birds - I found them at Anthropologie - one of my very favorite fun shops (they were on the sale shelf) and just right for your nice cup of hot tea.


Let's get started - off we go. Bentley is not going with us as he is at the "Dog Wash" today.

Roger's Gardens is located on 7 fabulous acres in Newport Beach, California and has been called "America's Most Beautiful Home and Garden Center".

The have a fabulous new Floral Studio.

Beautiful Fall arrangements.

Lovely Garden Rooms

The fountain is changed every season and one never knows what you will find displayed in the fountains.

Pretty Fall flowers

Fall berries

Beautiful orange Poppies

Lovely Pansies in bright fall colors

Fall Colors Everywhere

Pumpkins in every variety.

Fall pots beautifully planted.

More pumpkins arranged in a fountain.

I am so glad that you stopped by and hope you enjoyed your little Fall Garden and Home Shop tour. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate that you take time to leave me a comment and follow my blog. I will be back in my studio painting next week and if you would like to see my paint somethings special please leave me a comment or send me an e-mail.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

Inside Out

Here I sit, inside on my last "free day". Tomorrow I begin working (a "real" job) and had hoped to be able to spend some time today outdoors. Unfortunately Mother Nature knows best, I really have quite a few things to work on here with my lap-top. Still, I couldn't resist taking a few shots at the amazing leaf display going on outside my windows.

Looking out my front door you can see the sugar Maple is dropping leaves like crazy. Now I'm wishing we didn't spend all day Sunday raking under this tree.

Out back (looking from my second story bedroom) you can see another spectacular sugar Maple. This one is in my neighbors yard but much of it hangs over this property and of course plenty of leaves land in my hosta bed back there.

Note to self, time to put away the yard furniture! Unfortunately in another week or two that much hated white vinyl fence will be back in full view...yuck!

Looking out my living room picture window you can see the front lawn again. The leaves are falling so fast as I type this that I expect the tree to be bare by the end of the day tomorrow. That's a good thing as they are coming to mow the lawn one last time on Thursday and after that all the yard clean up will be on my shoulders.

Hey silly dog, get out of the rain! Calie the wonder-doodle doesn't mind rain too much. Surely though it must be hard to see with all that hair in her eyes? Uh oh, might be time for a haircut...

So what will I do on this last day off? I'm going to put some time aside to finish up one of the books I'm reading. 'Bloom Again Orchids' by Judy White, published by Timber Press has been gracing my nightstand for the past two weeks. The photos alone are enough to give me sweet dreams as I slip off to sleep at night.

Orchids are the only houseplant that I'm willing to deal with. They are so incredibly easy to grow and the flowers are stunning. Later this week I'll post a book review here and then it's on to the next gardening book. If I can't be outside during the day I can still read about it and post here!

No rainy day blues for me,
Melanie

Where the plains meet the mountains

An end to some extensive travelling in the US in Colorado, visiting Lauren Springer and Scott Ogden, consummate plantspeople both, with an immensely richly planted and very naturalistic style garden in the burbs of Fort Collins. Its odd looking at the planting here, as it is such a mix of the familiar and the unfamiliar - basically the kind of grass/deciduous/conifer type planting you might see anywhere in northern Europe or much of the US, but with added cacti and agaves.

Its dry here, and although it can jolly cold in the winter and hot in the summer, the reduced moisture level means that it is possible to grow a whole range of plants which would rot in a damper area. Not just possible, but essential, as it is so dry that very little would survive without some irrigation during the growing season.

The Great Plains begin, here - utterly desolate (on a cold day with snow threatening), almost frightening in their emptiness and vastness. No-one seems to want to live here anymore, hardly surprising, and their are deserted houses, whole little townships virtually derelict (including Hereford!), and occasional little cemetries with no sign of any habitation in sight. The short-grass prairie is not much to look at at this time, but instructive to see the visual importance of yuccas, indeed you never feel far from a yucca over vast swathes of the American west.

Short grass prairie at Pawnee Buttes is not that inspiring at this time of year, but there are plenty of flowers May to June.

This is actually quite a nice climate to live in, especially as summer nights are always cool, which Scott thinks is very beneficial to plant growth. Light intensity is incredibly high here (at 1500m in very dry air) so bulbs can perform spectacularly from late winter onwards. The skiing in Boulder where the Rockies begin so dramatically is a pull too, so there are a lot of people living here now - and its seems to be becoming one of those points of good gardening you find in the States; Lauren probably has a lot to do with this, but fundamentally it probably comes down to Panayoti Kelaides, at the Denver Botanic Gardens, a name I have known for years. So nice to meet him at last, for his reputation is truly formidable; an expert on alpine flora, and on natives of the region, and on getting them into cultivation.

So is this just vicarious enjoyment of an exotic garden style? Or can I take something home from here. Probably not me personally, from soggy Herefordshire, but the drought-tolerant look and lessons are a great inspiration for drier parts of the country. It is also useful to see an extreme version of a situation you are familiar with - it somehow emphasises new possibilities and ways of thinking.

Lauren and Scott's book Plant Driven Design, was published by Timber Press earlier this year, and was one of 2009's best garden books.