A good egg and my son remembers his dad

Mom on the nest and she's won't budge.

A mad mom keeps a watchful eye on the home owner who  trying to get a good look at her nest and the egg inside it.

A Baltimore Oriole hangs around my blossoming cherry tree.

AUBURN, Maine – Every spring, I inspect my green hedges that surround my front yard, searching for nests with an egg in it.

The nests are usually empty, but I discovered one several days ago with an egg laying there, apparently abandoned by mom and dad.

But as I moved closer to examine my exciting find like an eight-year-old child, a large mockingbird let out a screech, warning me to back off.

The mother was peering down at me from high up in my blossoming cherry tree — and she meant business.

I slowly moved away, never taking my eyes off mom for fear of being dive bombed by the angry parent. Getting picked off by one of our fine-feathered friends hurts.

“Take it easy, mom,” I said. “Have no fear, ma’am. I am just another curious hominid marveling at your offspring like a little boy.”

Mom wasn’t buying my explanation, stood her ground and gave me the evil eye.

I surrendered the high ground and went back inside my home to watch from the window to see if this protective mockingbird would return to her nest.

She did and nestled in to keep her vigil.

Our front lawn draws a variety birds because those hedges act like a natural barrier between cats and other predators that can’t penetrate the protective thicket and strike at our winged friends.

Each spring, a pair of mockingbirds return to hang out there, chasing away other birds with a vengeance as they nest in my hedges. 

That’s why we have bird seed and sewett hanging on poles in the middle of the front lawn. They put on show just five yards from our picture window.

I have witnessed mockingbirds shooing away large crows and blue jays. Fearless mockingbirds are the neighborhood bullies who stake out their turf without mercy.

But I always enjoy nature’s live show in front of our picture window.

The return of birds in the spring reminds me that I survived another harsh Maine winter and have another opportunity to enjoy a splendid summer and fall.

Anyday above ground is a good day.

What a son of a gun

The past year, Anthony, a University of Maine at Farmington junior, co-hosted a two-hour afternoon show on WUMF — the school’s radio station can be heard on the Internet.

During his last show of the season this week, Anthony decided to play “Sarah” on Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk” as a tribute to his old man.

So what’s the big deal, you ask.

Well hear out a dedicated father for a moment, please!

Being the family storyteller and a journalist, I have been feeding Anthony’s stories of our lives since our son dashed down the hallway in a diaper.

Anthony enjoys stories from our past. I told him about my radio show at Norwich University in Vermont. We had recently got the album “Tusk.”

I played “Sarah” that evening and was sure the band had another hit coming its way.

Anthony returned the favor last Tuesday. 

That’s what sons do for their fathers.

A city's oasis

"Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean."

- Naturalist John Muir  

LEWISTON, Maine — Call it a slice of heaven or a lush oasis which sits quietly in the middle of an old Maine mill city.
 

This fertile tract of land is walled off by huge pine trees and tall grass. Streams, ponds and hiking trails run up and down Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary.  

It's tallest point is 510 feet. The sanctuary is managed by the Stanton Bird Club, which was founded in 1919 and began receiving donated parcels of land over the last 90 years. The "Crag" once belonged to the Thorne family in the 1800s before eventually becoming a wildlife habitat.
 

The sprawling city surrounds this 357-acre wildlife preserve, but when you begin walking the trails and become enveloped in its magnificent greenery and soothing solitude, you forget that you are in the heart of Lewiston. The city's noises fade away as you venture deeper into the forest and head for the top where an open meadow greets all hikers — and it is all free of charge.
 

Making you way up solid walking trails and narrow paths is not a difficult climb. Old landmarks, which can be traced back to the 1800s, line some of the obscure trails. This habitat is also used for snowshoeing and cross country skiing during Maine's endless winters.
 

Anthony and I started at the Montello gate and briskly walked up the steep blue trail, which is marked by spray painted trees every 50 to 100 yards. It is a half-mile walk to Anthony's Fireplace, which sits on a small open field. 

I was carrying a full pack with water, food, bug spray, binoculars and a camera when we stopped to take a breather at a unique bench called Kavanaugh Bench before we continued our trek to a large pond, which is teaming with frogs' eggs at this time of year. The murky pond supports a variety of wildlife. It is an eye-opening event when the frogs take over the pond later in the summer and disrupt Thorncrag's silence with their croaking.
 

We followed a narrow path that circles the pond and trudged up a shady steep hill toward Anthony's fireplace. The huge fireplace is surrounded by large stone benches. It is a quiet area to rest and down water and a quick snack. About a couple hundred yards away on the yellow trail, we pass Miller's Fireplace and Gordon's Ledge and park ourselves at Landry Memorial Bench, which is the summit at Thorncrag. We reach for the binoculars and peer through a narrow clearing of trees where we see a snow-capped Mt. Washington looming in the distance on a clear day.

We packed up our grub and water and headed down the sometimes difficult trail toward Whale Rock, which is giant boulder that resembles a whale. When we finally made our way down the hill without losing our footing, we decided to visit Whale Rock another time and turned west. Anthony and I carefully walked through a washed out path of protruding rocks and meandering small streams. We stopped to listen to the running streams and birds interrupt the forest's tranquility.

We moved gingerly through the rocky terrain and found the trail up to the meadow a safer climb. 

We halted our advance at a wooden park bench and munched on more snacks, but the black flies and mosquitoes were out to get us. We moved on past the Farmstead Foundation and took the orange trail to the other side of Thorncrag before turning onto the red trail where we passed Cellar Hole and Springhouse Foundation on this day in May.  

The entire two-mile hike took about two hours after making numerous stops along the way to refresh ourselves.

We often take advantage of this oasis, which is 15 minutes from our home in Auburn. It is a convenient way to visit Mother Nature on hot summer days without spending an hour on the road. 

For more information, checkout www.stantonbirdclub.org.