The Morning Porch » springhouse

The springhouse phoebe has already...

Dave Bonta — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 15:00:30 +0000

The springhouse phoebe has already found a mate. They take turns fluttering up under the eaves to refurbish the 30-year-old nest.

Dave Bonta — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:40:47 +0000

The spicebush is a haze of yellow beyond the springhouse. Another too-warm morning. What will be left of spring by warbler time?

Dave Bonta — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:38:10 +0000

Sleet rattles on the roof like a fast typist. Two deer in the springhouse meadow: when they stop moving, they vanish into the brown weeds.

Dave Bonta — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 16:56:40 +0000

A wren sits grooming itself in the sun on the peak of the springhouse roof, fluffing out its breast feathers, probing under its wings.

Dave Bonta — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:49:13 +0000

First snow of the new year: thin as the flaking whitewash on the old springhouse. Two hikers and a dog each wear vests of safety orange.

Dave Bonta — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 15:34:38 +0000

Clear and still. In the corner of what used to a lawn across from the springhouse, the limbs of a fallen tree shine white with frost.

Dave Bonta — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 14:57:20 +0000

A Carolina wren breaks the silence, bobbing up and down on the peak of the springhouse roof: one side frosty, the other steaming in the sun.

Dave Bonta — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:34:24 +0000

Rain and fog. A pileated woodpecker performs invasive surgery on a locust tree next to the springhouse, removing a malignant colony of ants.

Dave Bonta — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 14:09:21 +0000

Clear and bracing, like a shot of vodka. The thirteen cattail heads beside the springhouse sway gently in the dawn light.

Dave Bonta — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 13:13:13 +0000

Cold and quiet. Two phoebes are refurbishing the nest under the springhouse eaves, going to the stream and returning with beaks full of mud.