Sit spot days 2 and 3

Tues Mar 17: Out sitting at 3:30 pm or so, the sun and afternoon laziness was the most notable thing, like a summers afternoon only it was about 45 degrees out. Blackbird and woodpecker. Blue sky, slight breeze. The beech buds looked light against the sky -- were they like that before? Later I got up and looked more closely. The beech has those sets of little rings round the twigs, probably indicating a years growth. Some are quite close -- 1/2 inch, some 3 or 4 inches apart. The buds stick out on individual twigs. The quince throws off little twigs off it's main branchlets too. But more buds per twig. It doesn't have the rings. I used to know what those are called but forget now. The trees under the beech are small sugar maples, from what I can tell (buds look like ice cream cones). I'd read that maples grow in the shade, waiting for their big break -- these will have to wait a long time! Saw another little black spider (or the same one) in the leaves. Turkey vulture -- been seeing those for a few days now. Still never any birds in the beech. Maybe the maple is too tasty and high; at one point there were two woodpeckers on it pecking at the same time. Mostly though it was just the deep silence of the afternoon sun.

Mon Mar 16: Different dead leaves are different shades of brown. There's one, about 2 in x 3/4 in, smooth edges, pale as can be. No oak leaves. Beautiful beech leaves, with the pleasing gently wavy edges. The beech branches reach far out, nearly horizontal at the bottom, and then further up the tree much closer to vertical. It has those big buds that stick out from the twigs. The maple trees are somehow less linear in their approach. The quince bears the marks of my pruning, and one branch is thoroughly chewed, presumably by Meera when I tied her there. I hadn't seen that before. The carpenter's vehicle has left deep tracks in the mud, showing a deep brown mud. The ground feels rich and dark beneath me, not ledgy at all. The air is humid, not very cold but not at all warm. You can see blue sky through the clouds, but they're pretty thick, with interesting patterns. The ponds water is dead calm, no trace of fish or insects yet, very black. I can just smell the mud and dead leaves around. Funny wisteria forest I sit in. Few birds. Sunset on a cloudy day. But twice flotillas of geese arrive, honking loudly and receiving answering honks from those already on the pond. 3 ducks go by. Could I tell a wood duck from a mallard in flight, at a distance, with practice? Yesterday we got out the telescope and identified wood ducks, beautiful with red lines on their head and white lines and blue on the back, like an Asian painting of some sort. And the small little divers were / are hooded mergansers. The female h.m. has a great brownish tuft that she raises, then lowers and dives again. And the beaver has appeared, leisurely making his/her way around the pond last night and tonight.