TECHE Project | Reflections on the Teche

Posts Tagged ‘TECHE Project’

Poetry Friday: Wood Duck Diary

Posted in Books, nature, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged Michelle Kogan, tanka, TECHE Project, wood ducks on September 26, 2025| 26 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater at The Poem Farm. Click here to find links to more poetry goodness.

Poetry Friends! I have a new book coming out next month: Wood Duck Diary: Tanka poems in English and French.

I wrote the book of tanka and haibun poems to capture the miracle that my husband and I have witnessed each year by watching a Ring camera in our wood duck house.

Irene Latham wrote: “Readers of all ages will JUMP at the chance to celebrate the life of wood ducks in this inviting volume. Delightful verse, scientific facts, and striking photographs combine in this heartwarming tale of real-life animal adventure (and the humans that make it happen).”

The humans that made this book happen are my dear friends David Dahlquist and Mary Ubinas, through a donation to the TECHE Project. All proceeds will benefit the TECHE Project. One of the goals of the TECHE Project is to promote the well being of wood ducks along the 135 miles of the Bayou Teche through educational workshops and placement of wood duck houses.

My hope is this small book will inspire others to take the time to notice and wonder about nature and our environment. Wood ducks are beautiful birds that were once considered endangered. When we watch the dozen or more ducklings jump from the house a mere 24 hours after hatching, we do not know their fate. I don’t like to think about all the dangers lurking in the bayou waters, so I write poems about them. I’m sharing a few here. The book is available now on Amazon. I will receive my first shipment in a few weeks, so you can also order from me.

February 24

House Hunting (Haibun)

The hens are showing up! Now that the drake scouts have identified a safe nesting box and area, it is time for the hen’s approval as they begin to inspect the boxes for themselves.

Dawn, when sunbeams stream,
an expectant glow invites
a wood duck couple—

Female shimmies through the hole,
Chatter-chipper to her mate.

la maison de chasse
L’aube, quand les rayons du soleil coulent,
une lueur d’attente invite

un couple de branchus—
La femelle se trémousse dans le trou,
Chatter-chipper à son compagnon.

Margaret Simon, from Wood Duck Diary
New Chicks

Gentle peeps echo.
Jumping onto mother hen,
New chicks jitterbug.


Like petals on a pinwheel
fluffy down spins together. 

Nouveaux poussins

Doux piaulements résonnent.
Sautant sur maman canne,
Nouveaux poussins font le jitterbug.


Comme des pétales sur un moulinet
duvet moelleux tourne en rond.

Margaret Simon, from Wood Duck Diary

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Slice of Life: A Visitor

Posted in Slice of Life, Writing, tagged Prothonotary Warbler, swamp birds, TECHE Project on May 31, 2022| 10 Comments »

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.

As I was resting on the sofa in my living room, I heard a light tap on the window. Oh, no, I thought. We’ve had times before that a bird has flown into the window and either died or been stunned. I expected to see a poor thing lying lifeless on the deck, but instead was surprised by fluttering. The little guy flew to a nearby branch and stayed long enough for me to identify him as a Prothonotary Warbler.

I studied this swamp beauty when I was writing Swamp Song (which has yet to find a publisher).

Prothonotary Warbler
Prothonotary warblers live in wooded swamps and forage above slow moving water. They hop among branches of downed trees searching for insects and snails to eat. They are a bright yellow color with blue-gray wings and tail. The male will select a nesting cavity in holes left behind by woodpeckers and chickadees. Prothonotary warblers are declining due to habitat loss. Prothonotary warblers got their names from the bright yellow robes worn by clerks for the Pope in the Roman Catholic Church known as prothonotaries.
From Swamp Song by Margaret Simon

I am on the council for the T.E.C.H.E. Project as an education consultant, so I called our president who is a biologist and knows about birds. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Patti, I know some people believe their parents come back to them in cardinals, but I think my dad is visiting me in a Prothonotary Warbler.

Patti: Yeah. Yeah?

Me: No, really. This male bird is coming to my window and fluttering wildly. I’m afraid he’s going to hurt himself. What should I do?

Patti: It’s likely a young juvenile who sees himself in the reflection. They are very territorial. He’s stupid. He thinks he sees another bird.

Me: So, he’s just strutting his stuff!

Patti: Yeah, he’s showing off for ya’!

My first thought was my dad was not that kind of guy. Showy. No strut. But he was one who liked to tell jokes and hear people laugh. So before I chased the bird away from the danger of the window, I looked up at his sunny self and smiled! Thanks, Dad!

Prothonotary Warbler in cypress tree. (Not a bad shot for through a window with an Iphone.)

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Slice of Life #28: A New Dock in Town

Posted in Bayou Song, Photography, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged Bayou Poems, Bayou Sunset, Bayou Teche, Clean Up, TECHE Project on March 28, 2022| 10 Comments »

I am proud to be a council member on the TECHE Project. This weekend the final touches on a kayak dock in downtown New Iberia were installed. My friend and TECHE Project member David Dahlquist designed kiosks for every town along the route of the Bayou Teche. For this kiosk in New Iberia, he placed my poem I am a Beckoning Brown Bayou from my book Bayou Song. It warms my heart to know someone will read this poem every day.

The TECHE project also works to improve the water quality of the bayou. The ultimate goal is to restore the waterway to be a safe recreational area. The work is ongoing and requires participation from many entities. Yesterday afternoon, Jeff and I did our small part. We picked up two plastic chairs and pieces of 3 styrofoam ice chests. We also had a beautiful paddle on a gorgeous spring day. What a blessing the bayou is to us and our neighbors! A place of peace in this crazy world.

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#NPM19: Day 2 and Wood Ducks Update

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged #NPM19, NaPoWriMo, Paint Chip Poetry, TECHE Project, wood duck house on April 1, 2019| 11 Comments »

See more posts at Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life

Some of you have been following our wood duck house story. In late February, my husband built a wood duck house and set it up near the bayou. We put a Ring doorbell camera inside to capture the whole process. We were amazed when a hen came in the very next day. It took her a few weeks to lay the eggs and begin sitting on them. I wrote about it here and here.

The last time I was able to count the eggs, I had counted 13 eggs.

The problem with using a Ring camera is, with the constant motion of a hen sitting fairly consistently, the battery runs down. We changed it out once with no problem, but Saturday afternoon, it had totally died. Because we couldn’t look at the camera to see if the hen was in the house, my husband spooked her when he went to change the battery.

She came back for a brief minute then flew back out at around 7:30 PM. After that, nothing.

Did she abandon the nest altogether? Alerts to motion come onto my phone. I usually turn off notifications during the night but I didn’t Saturday. We waited for the buzz of the phone. Nothing.

Sunday morning I looked out the window, saying a few prayers that she would return. I saw the couple in the water. I practically begged at the window, “Please go back in. Please go back in.”

She flew up and around the house and landed back in the water.

I woke up my husband who admits he wasn’t really sleeping. I said, “There must be some kind of sound coming from the camera to scare her like that.”

He said, “To hell with broadcasting, we need to save these eggs.”

But taking the camera out didn’t prove necessary. I heard a buzz on my phone. She’s back! She was in the box, settling in, poking around, as if nothing had happened. Whew! Relief!

Jeff watched one of the videos from the camera and noticed that there was a hen perched at the hole flying out while another hen was in the box sitting. Could they both be sitting? Are they sharing the nest?

While our hen was away, I was able to get a shot of the eggs. She hadn’t had time to cover them before she left. I counted 20 eggs! Twenty!

If my calculations are right, and the 12 hour hiatus doesn’t change the incubation time, the eggs are due to hatch on or around April 11th. You know I will be posting. You can follow on my Instagram or Facebook page.

Now for poetry. I am playing with some fun poetry games. My students are playing along and posting on our Kidblog site.

With Paint Chip Poetry, I pulled honey, quicksilver, and under the sea. The prompt was “We’re all in this together.”

We’re all wild honey
under the sea
free and quick
like silver sparkles
together
making waves
splashing
sprays
whale family.

Margaret Simon (draft, 2019)

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SOLC2019: #21 What’s in a Name?

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Slice of Life, Travel, Writing, tagged Bayou Teche legend, TECHE Project on March 21, 2019| 12 Comments »

See more posts at Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life

Vernal Equinox on the Bayou Teche.

Begin with the source,
Lore told again and again,
ancient words from native people–
Teche,
Tesh,
Snake

Water runs through it
brown bayou mud
bound by an ever-eroding shore
Teche,
Tesh,
Snake.

Sun sets on vernal equinox
sends rays of light across
cypress trees reflected in still water
Teche,
Tesh,
Snake.

–Margaret Simon

Reflections

The name of my blog originates with the bayou that runs behind my house. Bayou Teche was so named for an ancient Native American legend that the warriors battled a huge snake for days, and in finally killing it, the giant serpent created a waterway through where it lay. The Bayou Teche meanders back and forth for 125 miles.

We recently joined the T.E.C.H.E. Project, Teche Ecology, Culture and History Education, a nonprofit with a mission to improve the Bayou Teche for recreation as well as for ecosystem health. One of the perks of membership is the gift of a mile marker. Our house is at mile 69.4. We plan to mount the marker on our wood duck house, but we will wait until Eve, our resident mother, finishes her nesting.

The name of my blog has significance to me. It reflects the place where I live along with my own internal reflections about teaching and writing. Literal and figurative reflections on the Teche.

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SOLC2019: #13 She is Sitting!

Posted in Slice of Life, Writing, tagged Bayou Teche, TECHE Project, wood duck house on March 13, 2019| 13 Comments »

See more posts at Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life

Baker’s dozen wood duck eggs!

“There is motion at your wood duck house.”

It comes as an alert on my phone. I can’t help but look.

Two weeks ago, we set up the wood duck house that my husband had made. The next day a hen came.

We placed a Ring doorbell camera on the roof of the house, so anytime there is motion, the device records a video and sends it to my phone. Incredible technology!

Incredible nature!

I marvel at how this bird knows exactly what to do. For the last two weeks, she has come into the house daily. In the morning, she flies in, rearranges the furniture, and lays a few eggs. Then she leaves.

I’ve watched each day, and if she didn’t cover them up with the shavings, I can count the eggs. The count approached a dozen.

I’ve been posting updates to my Instagram and Facebook accounts. I wrote the first post about the house here.

Last night as we were having dinner, my phone buzzed. This was unusual to get an alert at night. And the alerts continued.

The wood duck hen came in at 7:09 last night, and she’s still there!

Now we count 29-31 days to hatching. But the big day is the day after hatching when the baby ducklings climb up the side of the box and JUMP! If it’s a school day, I will have to call in sick.