Blessings

Snowdrops, my front yard, Needham, MA

Some days just seem blessed. They may not start out that way. This morning was overcast and raining. But when I got to the Charles River Peninsula at 6:30, and saw the mergansers, the wood ducks, the muskrat (1st of the year), the great blue heron flying by, and the bluebirds checking out the nest box, I knew I had made the right choice. A day to bask in the glorious NOISE of red-winged blackbird song or to listen intently to the urgent precise recitations of house finches.

It was the type of day where the swans, upon seeing you, swim to your side of the river as if to offer up more perfect poses for low light photographs.

And the type of day where you just happen to look over your shoulder and see otters gamboling around the icy edges of the river.

And your camera batteries, while blinking red, manage to hold on long enough to let you capture a long video of what the otters were up to (in this case, a lot of sniffing and rolling about).