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Daily short takes from an Appalachian hollow

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mink

December 2, 2017 by Dave Bonta

Heavy frost. When the sun strikes it, a faint mist rises from the yard. My father stops the car in the road to say he’s just seen a mink.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags frost, mink, mist
November 19, 2013 by Dave Bonta

A mink hunts in the creek-side meadow, weaving through currant bushes where juncos bathe and groom, neither paying attention to the other.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags black currants, juncos, mink 1 Comment
November 12, 2013 by Dave Bonta

The first half-inch of snow. A mink appears along the creek, looping over and under the snow-laden grass like a dark needle and thread.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags mink, snow, stream 1 Comment
October 11, 2012 by Dave Bonta

A large, dark weasel flushes a rabbit from cover and stops, rearing up on its hind legs: mink! We stare at each other with mutual disbelief.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags cottontail, mink 1 Comment

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On This Day

  • May 13, 2025
    Warm rain. The hollow echoes with pileated woodpecker drumming and the REEP, REEP calls of great-crested flycatchers. In the yard, an American redstart is singing…
  • May 13, 2024
    After so many gray days, the clarity of the air and the quality of light moving through new leaves feel miraculous. A red-eyed vireo’s lyrical…
  • May 13, 2023
    Overcast with a few drops of rain among the bird calls. A hummingbird hovers over a peony bud and flicks it with his tongue.
  • May 13, 2022
    Cloudy with a 100% chance of warblers. A wood thrush gets a drink from the stream and resumes singing. The smell of lilacs.
  • May 13, 2021
    Say what you will about cold spring nights; they lead to gorgeous mornings. And what’s that stunning black-and-white bird? Only a downy woodpecker.

See all...

Related book

Cover of Ice Mountain with a linocut of a big ridgetop tree.

What I do after I sit on the porch. One winter and spring's daily walks distilled into short poems with linocut illustrations by Beth Adams.

Header image: detail from Paper Garden by Clive Hicks-Jenkins (used by permission)

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