Cloud

May 2013    © smck

Osprey With Fish - II

08 May 2013    ©smck

08 May 2013    ©smck

08 May 2013    ©smck

Note: In this 3rd, computer enlarged, photo you can see the large talons on its right foot grasping the tree.

Osprey

(Pandion haliaetus)

Ospreys (Pandionidae)

The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds Eastern Region © 1977

A large, long winged, “fish hawk” 

Body 21-24 inches (53-61 cm) long,  wings 54 – 72 inches (1.4-1.8 m)

Range; Breeds from Alaska to Newfoundland south to the Gulf Coast to Florida.  Winters Gulf Coast and California south to Argentina.  Also breeds in Eurasia, North Africa, East Indies, and Australia.  The habitat is sea coast, lakes, rivers and other bodies of water with food.  Nests are a mass of sticks and debris in trees, telephone poles, etc. and even on flat ground or rocks.  The Osprey’s entire diet is fish for which it is well equipped with sharp spiny projections on its feet.  The Osprey hovers over water till it sees a fish near the surface, at which point he plunges in feet first to grasp the fish with his talons.

Osprey With Fish

08 May 2013     © smck

Luckily I usually have my camera in the truck with me.  Coming over the first real hill from the town of North East I spotted this guy, fish in claw, flying with steady beat of his wings toward  a section of wood that I had already suspected was the vicinity of their nest.  Quickly I pulled to the shoulder of the road, then when traffic was clear I did a U-turn and drove about 1/4 mile (a little less than 0.5 kilometer) back to near the hill top, then again pulled to the shoulder and stopped opposite where I saw him perched waiting to get his photo taken.

Invasive Beauty

07 May 2013    © smck

Several decades ago I saw my neighbor's Wisteria blooming in incredible display in the spring.  So I gathered a few seed pods from his yard at the time and when I bought my old decrepit house in the country I planted about 6 to 8 seeds at the back where an old clearing had been overgrown with various scrub-type trees.  The Wisteria sprouted growing a foot or so in height the first year and then continued to stay about that size for the next three to four years.  This prompted me to transplant them to more sunny areas which triggered an astounding burst of growth.  I little realized that I had unleashed an invasive monster that has by now overwhelmed their supportive tree hosts,  breaking tops and limbs with their weight and ever lengthening vines as well as sending amazingly long ground vines in various directions which then climb any new tree with which they come in contact .  This Wisteria is incredibly beautiful  - but I find that it is an annual battle of new growths versus me trying to save the existing trees - one young nut bearing walnut tree has already been broken off at the top. 

This might be the last year for this lovely view. 

The Balvenie Port Wood 21 Year Old

Well I do promise things that I forget to deliver on don't I (i.e. the posting of 05 April 2013).  But 'better late than never' some flaker like myself once said.


First, with reference to the price and me being a tight-fisted old wanna-be Scot (third generation on my mom's side and who knows how far back on me dad's) - I happened to be visiting my son in Baltimore and we stopped for awhile in an interesting liquor and deli store where among other great items of interest they had a small three-pack of Scotch 50ml (@1.7 oz) miniatures -  one The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 year old, one The Balvenie Single Barrel 15 year old, and one The Balvenie PortWood 21 year old.  Buying miniatures is normally not a cost effective way to buy booze but if what you are interested in is sampling a new, to you, variety of Scotch then it is a reasonably inexpensive route to take and especially if your new sample turns out to be unappealing to you.

My son had already tried this particular packaging of The Balvenie and had commented to me that although decent the 21 year old had not appealed to him, that the 15 year old Single Barrel was his favorite (of the three) and the 12 year DoubleWood was definitely his second choice.

I live in a somewhat rural area (by east coast standards at any rate) and was never able to find any liquor outlet locally that carried miniatures so from this fortunate display I quickly bought and brought home a packet of miniatures shown in the second photo.  Eventually I got around to trying one of the aforementioned miniatures - the 21 year old PortWood, and will say that I, having had a bottle or two in years past of the DoubleWood, will probably end up agreeing in full with my son.  Not that the two small samples that I drank from the miniature were not good, they were, but not worth the going price for this aged whisky.



The following review was listed on forpeatsake.com with the reviews ranging from 96 to 81 (with one outlier of 55).  I choose to list this review because it reflects my own judgement of it being a decent whisky and that he was glad that he had just bought a miniature as it was just not worth the price for a full bottle.  As always, I think that if you have the money and the inclination then try this decent drink for all of us seem to have different taste preferences in whisky - just look at the range of scores - but if your taste has been in line with my previous reviews and your pockets are not deep then perhaps you could skip The Balvenie 21 year old with no loss.

 

Review by ColoradoDram on Forpeatsake.com

Color   Medium amber.

Nose    Flowery over all else. Water opens up vanilla , nuttiness, and winey oak.

Body   Full bodied, very oily.

Palate  Sweet raisins, heather, dry wine.

Finish  Very warm, very long, and extremely dry. 

score - 83

Best served neat (like most Balvenies). This is mature, refined, and consistent, but I'll take the inconsistencies of the 15 year Single Barrel on depth of character alone. Thank goodness I bought this in taster size, because there are much better values out there for dry wine finishes.