Unlikely Playmates

The first real warm humid southern low of the season has brought temperatures in the 70's, bugs in the air, thunderstorms at night, large leaf aster and marsh marigold sprouting during the day.  Our lettuce has sprouted in the garden.  Many of the onion and garlic have begun to breach the soil as well.

On a drive up the Gunflint Trail today I saw a moose, fox and even a snapping turtle ambling it's way across the road.  The moose looked a little ragged after the winter.  It didn't even look up as I slowly drove by the pond it was grazing.

At my destination I was startled by rustling in a nearby fir tree.  First I just thought that it was a squirrel scrambling away from me.  It persisted.  I soon saw the squirrel and then curiously a Blue Jay flew from limb to limb seemingly giving chase.  The squirrel would jump to another tree and the Blue Jay would playfully swoop down at it.  They were playing a game of chase!  The cunning squirrel would position itself at such a spot where the bird would have to land just before he was in reach.  He would take this fleeting moment to jump to the next limb or across the trail to another tree.  I've never seen anything like it before and couldn't resist watching their game unfold for a while before I realized that they were content doing this all day.  Here these two animals of very different species weren't fighting over pine cones; they were spending their day climbing and flying around the stand of balsam fir playing chase!

The warm night air is full of sound.  Crickets, frogs and saw whet owls fill the air with music as light clouds drift past the waxing moon: remnants of the first stormy cumulus clouds of the season...