W P C: On Top

 

 

A nesting pair of Osprey Eagles has built its  nest in an ancient pine tree along the Colonial Parkway near Jamestown, Virginia.

The sculptural form of this tree always grabs my attention as we drive past.   I’ve photographed it many times in different seasons and in different light.

We were  delighted to find the eagles and their nest today, in the top of the tree.

Both eagles came and went as we watched, always returning with something clutched in their beak.

Sometimes returning with a wiggling fish, other times with a branch to expand the nest.

They are a busy young parents, on top of the world, with a hungry family to care for.

 

 

Photos by Woodland Gnome 2014

Weekly Photo Challenge:  On Top

Weekly Photo Challenge: Layers

The James River, from a bank along the Colonial Parkway

Jamestown, Virginia, November 2013

The scarlet Virginia Creeper vine caught my attention.  I was walking along the bank, camera at the ready, on this first very cold and windy day of autumn hoping to see birds out on the river.  The wind was too much for all but the eagles, who were riding the wind currents far above.  All of the ducks and gulls were sheltering in the marsh on the other side of the Parkway.  This place, in and of itself is about layers.  Layer upon layer of life and living gathers in this place.  

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The presence of the native people is still strong here.  The mighty Powhatan Confederacy controlled most of present day Virginia west to the Shenandoah Valley, north as far as Washington, DC, south into North Carolina, and east along the Eastern Shore of Virginia as far north as Delaware.  A political alliance of many individual tribes, their seat of power was very close, across the York River in Gloucester.  They fought hard against the British colonists for control of this beautiful and rich land, attacking again and again until treaties limited them to small reservations in 1647.  The Pamunkey Indians, who still have land to our northwest along the Pamunkey river, were native royalty, and at times ruled the Powhatan nation.

The presence of the first English colonists is also strong here.  Replicas of their ships sit tied up to the river bank near where this photo was taken.

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Replicas of the ships used by the first group of colonists to come to Virginia in 1607 sit anchored at Jamestown Festival Park.

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The archeological dig is ongoing at the site of their 1607 settlement less than a mile away.  I’ve visited with groups of students, sitting in the first chapel at Jamestown, gazing at the foundations of their homes, their grave sites, and even the recovered skeletons and armor of those first, ill-fated colonists.  The decisions they made, precedents they set, and political organization they established here, along this river, still reverberate in our lives today.

Their attempts to establish themselves here were broken and scarred, again and again, by fire, starvation, war, and disease.  So many died in terrible circumstance, to be replaced by the ongoing replenishment of ship after ship of hopeful immigrants to Virginia.  Eventually the colony took hold, and spread, and prospered; you know the rest of the story.

But tangible evidence of that awkward beginning is what remains here at Jamestown.  Like the dead limb overgrown with vines in the photo, layer after layer continues to accumulate, the new overlaid on the remains of the old.

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The ferries run all day between Surry and Jamestown.

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Part of the new is the ferry which crosses this river many times each day.  So many people who actually work in Williamsburg and James City County commute daily from Surry and other rural areas south of the James; from Newport News to the east; even from as far as Richmond to the northwest.  Many people find work here in the hospitality industry, in retail, at the hospitals, or at the college; yet choose to live elsewhere.

We have a vibrant, thriving community here now thanks in large part to The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, established in the town of Williamsburg by the Rockefeller family beginning in the late 1920s.  The “colonial capital” fell into disrepair after the seat of government was moved to Richmond in 1780, during the Revolution, for greater security further inland.  It would have decayed into oblivion but for the efforts of Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin, once rector of Bruton Parish church, and  John D. Rockefeller, along with his wife Abby, who began purchasing property and restoring buildings with a vision to preserve the area’s rich history.  Their efforts laid the foundation for the beautiful community and strong economy we enjoy here today.

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And development continues.  We grumble as forests are cut to make way for new shopping centers and neighborhoods.  A new hospital was just completed, along with a new road through what was forest just months ago.  Signs of more development along that new road are already apparent.  Traffic has noticeably increased in just the few years we have lived here.

And we remain keenly aware of the children growing up all around us.  Students at The College of William and Mary prepare for their professional lives in wave after wave of coming and going each year.  Some remain and join the community.  Others move on.  All follow in the rich tradition of Jefferson, Monroe, Marshal, Clay, and so many others who have studied here since 1693.

Layer upon layer of life and living, all here, in this tiny bit of Virginia; accumulate like the layers of stone on a stalactite.   They are all visible at once.  It’s easy to feel the fourth dimension of time here as though the shades of all who have come before remain.  We can see and examine them all; tease them apart, see their interconnections, and hopefully learn something from the rich tapestry they create.

“You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.”

Alan Wilson Watts

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A marsh on Jamestown Island near the original 1607 settlement.

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Tell the Tale of Change

Sea gulls fly inland during rough weather on the coast to find shelter along our creeks and marshes.

When it gets blustery along the coast, the sea gulls come inland.  I’ve seen flocks of gulls in parking lots as far inland as Richmond ahead of very rough winter storms.  It has been windy and cold all day today in Williamsburg.  Our high in early afternoon topped out in the 40s, colder when you’re in the wind, but it’s been bright and sunny and beautiful.  We knew there would be gulls along the creeks and marshes of the Colonial Parkway.

The gulls crack clam shells by dropping them on the road from altitude, and then gather to feast on the meat inside.

We went at low tide.  It looked as though the gulls were standing on ice, but it’s not that cold yet.  They were standing on the mud in a thin sheen of water, where they searched out what shell fish they could find in the muck.  With a tightly closed clam clenched in its beak, the gull would take flight and drop it onto the pavement, where it cracked.  We drove up to find a huddled group of gulls in the road feasting on their tasty clams.  And they weren’t anxious to leave their meal for us to pass.

Suddenly it’s cold, and all the creatures are reverting to winter ways.  The eagles along the Parkway have left their nests, young reared and hunting now for themselves.

A bald eagle soars over the river and marshes, watching for a meal.

We saw them only from a distance today, high in the clear blue sky.   We recognize them when the light flashes off of the adults’ white heads.  Otherwise, they are a tiny silhouette against the sky.  The young won’t grow their white feathers for several years yet, but they are learning the skills they’ll need to survive along the river.

The only geese we saw were flying at altitude across the marsh, probably heading south to someplace warmer.  The large families who lived along the Parkway all summer have disappeared.

Muskrats make “push ups” in the marsh to shelter their family for the winter. They can eat the reeds and grasses from the inside during the worst weather.

Muskrats have been busy building their winter dens in the marsh.  Called, “push ups”, they are formed by pushing up mud and vegetation to form a home about 3′ high.  The family of mother, father, and young stay warm inside, and find protection from predators and the weather.  These “push up” nests suddenly disappear by early summer, to be rebuilt in autumn.  Native Americans at one time used the size and timing of the “push ups” appearance to forecast the coming winter weather.

Deer were out along the Parkway in the midday sun, boldly grazing in the meadows.  They are so accustomed to the traffic that they barely lift their heads as we drive past.  Sadly, we came home to find two more young ones had squeezed themselves tiny to sneak in through our fences and graze  in our garden while we were away.  They find it harder and harder to find food as summer vegetation disappears.

Bald cypress trees, tough and long lived here along the coast, turn brown and then lose their needles each autumn. A freshly camouflaged duck blind confirms this spot is valued by hunters.

Even the bald cypress trees have turned brown, and will soon lose their needles.  One of the only deciduous conifers, these beautiful, long lived trees love the wet ground along the banks of our marshes and creeks.  In fact, one of the tallest ever recorded bald cypress trees, at over 44m high, grows in our area.  The oldest know bald cypress tree is over 1600 years old, so these tough hardy trees merit our notice and respect.  They are native to the East Coast of the United States from Delaware south to Florida, and along the Gulf coast west to Texas, and as far north as Kentucky.  From Virginia Beach south they’re often covered in Spanish moss.  They grow among pines, live oak, and wax myrtle.

As the brightly colored deciduous leaves surrender to November’s winds, and the hardwood trees stand nearly bare; the Hollies, Oaks, Pines, Magnolias, and Wax Myrtle shine.  Their glossy green leaves reflect the winter sun and keep the landscape bright and alive.

A young Magnolia tree grows in the shelter of the hardwood forest on Jamestown Island.

I can only wonder what the first colonists must have thought watching their first few autumns on Jamestown Island.  They had never seen a towering Magnolia, vibrant and green against the autumn sky.  They had never before seen crimson Staghorn Sumac, crowned in berries, or the majestic Bald Cypress with their knobby “knees” poking above the high tide.  What a different landscape from what they had left behind in Britain.

The ferries run all day between Surry and Jamestown.

The small songbirds found shelter out of sight today, probably roosting in the bamboo groves and evergreen shrubs.  We never even saw a red flash of cardinal darting along the road.  The James river  glittered as it does on any summer day in the bright sun.  The ferry kept up its trips from Jamestown to Surry, and the tour buses plied the Parkway full of  curious visitors.

Replicas of the ships used by the first group of colonists to come to Virginia in 1607 sit anchored at Jamestown Festival Park.

We humans keep to our relentless routines as the seasons ebb and flow.

But the wild things tell the tale of change and transition, as they always do.

Photos by Woodland Gnome 2013

Related articles

• Returning to the Parkway (forestgardenblog.wordpress.com)
• Bald Cypress Trail (flippingfoodie.wordpress.com)
• A Golden November Day (forestgardenblog.wordpress.com)