Friday, May 11, 2018

Perfect end to a perfect week

After dining on haute cuisine at one of the little restaurants in the St. James Plantation community where we live (I had a haute dog and fries), Mrs. Paco and I took a stroll on a nature trail that meanders through a maritime forest and marshland behind the club. A gorgeous day in Carolina, filled with bright sunshine and the fragrance of pines. Here are some photos from the trail...









Here, Mrs. Paco contemplates the strange twist of fate that has stuck her with a husband who insists on dragging her into the mosquito-infested wilderness...



We picked up a brochure today that, among other things, lists many of the birds to be found in Brunswick County. I don't claim to have identified any by sight, but I find the names of some of them intriguing or amusing or both and hope to get a glimpse of some of these eventually: the greater scaup (not to be confused with the lesser scaup); the worm-eating warbler; the dark-eyed junco; the eastern-wood pewee; the boat-tailed grackle; the lesser yellowlegs whimbrel and the least sandpiper.

10 comments:

Gregoryno6 said...

Does 'maritime forest' mean trees grown for ships?

bruce said...

Love the bird names. Should put them in a novel.

Skeeter said...

As far as I know, sandpiper is the only one of those birds that we have in Oz.
Ours is the most sandpiper, probably so known because it migrates from the northern hemisphere in large numbers.
No doubt they are trying to escape the global colding, from which your least lot are suffering.

RebeccaH said...

When I was a kid, my favorite thing in life was roaming the woods and wild places. I still love it, but walking very far is more difficult now. However, I'm fortunate to live near a state reserve that has some excellent hiking trails.

Paco said...

Gregory: I think I feel my leg getting pulled.

Skeeter: I think the least sandpiper is actually the species I've seen skittering along the beach here. Looks like the photos on the internet, anyway.

Rebecca: Same here. I used to wander for miles through the woods around my house back in Cary, NC, when there were still thousands of acres of undeveloped land. I'm looking forward to exploring Brunswick County - although the missus and I will, of course, be advancing with caution (don't need any more broken bones, if we can avoid it).

It's funny how evocative smells can be. The scent of the pine forests takes me back to when I was six years old, and Old Paco was building a tree house for my brother and me. It was in late Spring, and the air was pleasantly warm, and the aroma wafting up from the pine straw was wonderful.

Steve Skubinna said...

Don't you mean a "haute dog and frites?"

And I never thought the scaup was so great, myself. It's just an okay scaup.

Paco said...

Steve: Quite right; a haute dog and pommes frites.

Strange how mere birds have established their own caste system: greater and lesser scaups, indeed!

Steve Skubinna said...

Well, nobody ever got anywhere fighting against the scaupiarchy.

bruce said...

After the birds revolt it will all be different. The least shall be first.

Jonah said...

They all sound like swamp creatures.