Friday, June 15, 2012

THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2012
Cathi and I had a very fun afternoon together. First we went to a gallery opening for a local photographer, Louie Rochon, who had some amazing photos. We met him and his girlfriend, who Cathi knew from before - they were very interesting and nice, too!
 Then we went to the Greenbank Farm, where the Audubon Society was having a dead bird night. The local taxidermist works with them to collect and preserve specimens of all the birds on the island, and they brought loads of them for people to see. The tables were staffed by Audubon members who could answer just about any question. Above are some owls - some are stuffed realistically, some are just kind of flat, and some are in pieces.
There is a group of folks who meet every Wed. night to prepare the dead birds, and a few were working there for us to see. This lady had just finished pulling out all of the bird's insides, which are laying on the paper towel. She is stitching up the skin now, and from here it could be preserved several ways. 
This tree had really cool upright cones. 
Before we went inside, we sat out on a picnic table to have a snack and watch the birds. We were amazed to observe the swallows swooping down and splashing in the pond - apparently that is how they drink: on the fly! It was really fun to watch, but really hard to photograph!
 We also hiked up the hill to let Cathi's dog, Tui, stretch her legs after sitting so patiently in the car. There was a fantastic view of the sunset - a nice reward at the end of the night.

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