Woodland Enchantments- Poem, Observations, and Images

Trees with young  leaves silhouetted against a light sky, hawk sitting in tree. With title text
There are spirits abroad 
in wood and meadow,
working their subtle enchantments
through eyes and ears 
on minds and souls:
Fairies dance in shafts of light
Angels sing from tops of trees
nymphs lure with flash of colour
to shady Goddess sanctuaries 
while Guardians swoop overhead and
call warnings- Walk softly human,
this is not your place alone, 
life/death-magic is in every step,
go with reverence and attention!
Cohan, May 24, 2021
 

Dance Fly on a person's hand.cohanmagazine.blogspot.com

Dance Fly on a person's hand.cohanmagazine.blogspot.com

Dance Fly on a person's hand.cohanmagazine.blogspot.com


Stop for a minute and notice the amazing life around you, like Dance Flies engaging in a slow courtly mating Ball (I just learned there are over 3000 species of dance flies- larvae are predatory, but adults live on nectar with the exception of mating time, when males bring silk-wrapped prey as gifts to the female! who chooses a mate from the swarm of dancing males). The small group I was watching, (near the edge of a mixed wood, beside where I was sitting for my tea break before cutting some firewood), were not flying around horizontally as flies usually do, but danced with their bodies nearly upright, moving up and down, back and forth (catching clear images or video of them in motion is beyond my skill or equipment). I wanted a closer look so I stuck my hand out and one landed, posing for me as I moved my hand around and took several photos!

Listen to the variety of unseen birds singing high in trees- calling as they go about the important business of feeding or stopping their work for longer more elaborate songs that sound like pure joy yet also convey serious meaning to mates or rivals. Today I think it was Dark-eyed Juncos, as I finally caught a glimpse of their distinctive tail feathers flashing- interesting as usually I see them in the open, on the ground, in the yard spring and fall, but not during nesting time. These ones were farther back on the acreage, up high in spruce trees (no photos).

Calypso bulbosa native orchid in mixed forest, Alberta. cohanmagazine.blogspot.com

Calypso bulbosa native orchid in mixed forest, Alberta. cohanmagazine.blogspot.com


Look closely at the forest floor as you walk, let your eyes learn to notice breaks in the patterns of fallen leaves and twigs that may tell you of an interesting leaf, or moss or flower. Watch for tiny splashes of colour, like these Calypso orchids (Calypso bulbosa/ Fairy Slipper etc) I was thrilled to find not long ago, no more than 30 metres from the gate between the acreage and farm. I've seen them on the farm in the past, but the last plant I knew of disappeared some years ago, and lots of searching after that yielded no new sightings. By chance after a short walk recently, I thought I should scout around in some suitable habitat in case some new plants may have matured to flowering (they are tiny, hardly visible from any distance in flower apart from a little hit of bright pink; out of flower the small ground hugging leaves are unlikely to catch your eye in mixed vegetation from more than a couple of feet away). I found this plant which had one flower then and has opened two more in the week since.

Cooper's Hawk sitting in a poplar tree at a distance. cohanmagazine.blogspot.com


Don't forget to also look up- at first I thought a crow was flying over, but then realised it was a hawk, probably Cooper's- they'd nested in the woods right behind the house for a couple of years, with their noisy-hungry chicks and adults with a very woodpecker-like cry. Fun to have, for while they hunt songbirds often, they do not hunt near the nest, so that when chicks mature, the area is not denuded of prey. So having them around did not chase away the smaller birds (unlike the crows nesting close, last year!). This one was just outside the acreage, and clearly thought I was too near its nest- I didn't see the nest and didn't want to stress the bird by hanging around, nor taking the chance that its not too low overhead swoops might get closer- I snapped a couple of distant shots (still no long lens!), left it sitting in a tree where it loudly scolded me, and continued on my way.

There is beauty, magic, wonder, everywhere- you just need to look for it!


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