Alex and I a Duxbury Beach, seeing more and more activity

A cold, and dark afternoon, with Alex, 5, and the new arrivals at Duxbury Beach.  After picking up the very @$%&# expensive permit (they really stick it to the non-residents), we drove out and saw some wonderful  things, including a great view of a young Coyote.  A passing birder said, "I hope he doesn't develop a taste for Piping Plovers!"
We drove down the beach and up to the lighthouse, very high winds, very strong wind chill, and saw dozens of seals basking away on the rocks.  It was great having Alex along.
A lot of these shots were taken at very great distances, hence the noise. 

Laughing Gull

I am very fond of Brants.  They are with us most of the year in the vilest of weather, and they just shrug it off.
Surprisingly hard to photograph, especially the eye, and finding a perfect example of that chevron on the neck.

Extremely elegant bird.  Always formal.

"Doesn't anyone dress for dinner anymore?"

Double-crested Cormorants are supposed to arrive in March, but I have seen them much earlier this year.
We may have some wintering over.  

Common Merganser
(year round)

Red-breasted Merganser
(probably on his way north)

Osprey
Another very favorite bird.  What an eye!
Always a welcome bird in March

Here is the Coyote.  A passing birder told me he thought this was a youngster because of the red coloration.

"Ahhhhhh, sweet mystery of life,,,,," etc. etc.
Spring love

Great Egret
Probably arrived today!

Common Loon

The weekend with Jackson and Oliver

 

What a weekend!  Susan and I took care of Jackson (12) and Oliver (9) while their parents, Ken and Erin, went to Montreal.  It was great fun.  We arrived Friday at 5:30 at Sparhawk School to see the Spring Concert,  drove back to their house for pizza, up the next morning at 7:00 for birding at Parker River Sanctuary, back for homework and  practice (piano, guitar), then off to the  Peabody-Essex Museum in Salem for a wonderful exhibit on wood art.Back home for "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King"; up Sunday AM, I took Jackson to join a group from his church to visit the Islamic Center of Boston in Walpole, where we observed prayers, and the kids could ask questions about Islam.
Susan took Oliver to the Ipswich River Sanctuary for hikes and more birding.  But I must admit that for me the  highlight: sitting on the couch,   one grandchild on each side clutching me as Shelob attacked Frodo (Jackson: "Ah, she's not all that scary! Oliver:  "Shut up, Jackson!")

This is Christina, who was the music teacher for Sparhawk.  She is leaving, sadly, to do graduate work at Longy.
She was very much loved at Sparhawk, and will be greatly missed.

Oliver, providing the really difficult percussion to the ensemble.
Unfortunately, the rubber tips of the mallets kept flying off!

Saturday AM at Parker River.
The ducks are arriving (Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintail)

Northern Pintail

The boys loved this Tom, who was very vocal!

Proof that older brothers just have to harass their younger siblings.
(Observation tower, Parker River)

This is birding?

At the Peabody-Essex Museum

This is a work by Stephen Paulson entitled:
"The Most Recently Exposed Annex to Dr.Marquard's
Notorious Clandestine Museum on the Third Planet, with
Two Landscapes, a Classic Sky Quilt, and Thirty-Three Artifacts Illegally Imported
by Marquard and Crew from the Void, in Clear Violation of the Compact, 1999"
Perhaps the longest title of all?

Donald Derry
"Mother and Daughters" 2002
 

Hal Metlitzky
"Double Helix" 2012

 

Todd Hayes
Untitled, Ring Series, 1992

Binh Pho
"Seven Poppies"
2009
It was great to see this artist again.  There was a remarkable showing of his art
at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton.  Great woodworking AND painting.

Derek Weidman
"Sage Grouse"
2014
Ferocious technique, and great humor

John Morris
"Dog"
2003

Giles Gilson
"Venus and Vargas"
2006
You would swear this was a glass object.

 

Fraser Smith
"The Theory of Everything"
2010

Let me quote what the placard said about this work (remember that this is a exhibition of works in wood:
"At first glance, it is easy to mistake this work for an actual patchwork quilt, the whole idea behind
trompe l'oeil, or "fool-the-eye" imagery, which has a long tradition in Western art. Smith carved this
representation of a hanging quilt from a solid piece of wood.  His painstaking attention to detail,
right down to the suggestion of the puckers created by hand stitching, enhances the deception"

 

Susan and Jackson, suitably stunned.

I confess, this is my work of "art".  This massive board was covered with pieces of wood backed by magnets, and
you were invited to create with it what you wished.  This was about 15 minutes of work.  It lasted about 6 minutes before the
next "artist" attacked the board.

This is the Islamic Center of Boston. 
The architecture was inspired by Moorish architecture.

Here is Jackson's group before entering.

In the library, admiring a photo of Mecca
(the largest gathering of people on the planet, as many as 3,000,000)

Here is the prayer hall which makes the building a Mosque.  It is facing Mecca, of course.
 

This is the Mihrab, which is the holy-of-holies and again points towards Mecca
The small window contains calligraphy which is a symbol of Allah.
It was a really good experience for the students (Jackson's church is a
Universalist Unitarian church) and the guides were very welcoming.