BEAVER SCULPTURE

Ever notice how nature is infinitely interesting?  The "Beaver Sculpture" left and below is just off to the left of the access road to the Willis Pond public area.  I don't know if the tree was cut off before or after the beaver tried to cut it down.  Anyone know?  Sure is intriguing! (Obviously not SMPond or Hop Brook, but it is nearby!)

BRILLIANT SUNRISE

Brilliant doesn't really describe the sunrise this morning and pictures never do it justice...
Morning such a beautiful time; I feel blessed that I have to get out in the morning to walk the dog.  This morning, at about 6:15, I took him out for a second walk as Linda was leaving, and the sky was just beginning to be red.  When we turned around to come back in, my breath was taken away by the brilliant sky!

All of the birds are beginning to claim their territory and it's quite cacophonous first thing in the morning.  As we stepped out of the house today, we were greeted by the calling of our resident Carolina Wren, sitting in a tree right close to the door. Linda & I call the Carolina Wren the "teakettle" bird because it says, "Teakettle, teakettle, teakettle, tea."  They are amazingly loud for such a small bird -- sure gets your attention!   Our Teakettle bird always leads the way in the morning.  If I remember correctly from last year, later the robins will sing first.

Saturday morning Blake & I were greeted by the calling of a Great Horned Owl.  Nice...  I do like to listen to the owls.  We are still hearing and seeing our little Eastern Screech Owl.  We are hoping that there are two of them and one is tending a nest in that hole!

SNOW, FORSYTHIA AND A PLETHORA OF BIRDS

It was snowing while Blake and I were on our walk, but look at what we saw!!!

 A sure sign of spring, right!

The back bird feeding area is right outside the window and is very distracting as I am trying to work...  I look up from the computer and there is a Carolina wren.  Gotta switch glasses, grab the binocs and take a look.  It is so cute!  The Carolina is the first bird we hear in the morning right now - he sits on the porch and claims his territory!

So this morning I saw, goldfinch (quite a few!) and the males are turning yellow, a lone robin trying to find something satisfying, the male of our cardinal pair, the Carolina wren, a male bluebird, 3 blue jays, quite a few juncos, 3 mourning doves, a pair of nuthatches, a pair of chickadees, a male & a female downy woodpecker, a red-bellied woodpecker, and a pair of tufted titmice.  I can also see the pond from here and there was a male common merganser.  Busy place at that moment!

SKUNK CABBAGE

Last week, Linda & I were out walking Blake and crossed over the place where the creek that enters Stearns Millpond crosses Moore Road. We noted that on the right, just after the culvert, there was a spot where there was no snow, even though there were several inches of snow elsewhere.  We also noted that there was skunk cabbage peaking up through the ground.  "Peculiar; I wonder why."

Today, while enjoying my Sunday comics ritual, I read Mark Trail (often really interesting nature information!) and it said, "Skunk cabbages can also generate their own heat of up to 59-95 degrees Fahrenheit above air temperature to melt through frozen ground."  Question answered!!

RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS

The red-winged blackbirds are back!  Blake and I took a walk with Carol down into the Hop Brook Conservation area and on the way back (on Surrey) heard a ruckus in the trees and saw a flock of them near the brook.  We saw a second group on Dutton near the little hollow just up from the intersection with Raynor.  Spring is on its way!  Remember that when it snows tonight or tomorrow... 

Eastern Screech-owl sunning in its hole before heading out at dusk

 Our little screech-owl is still around; it seems happy in the hole in the oak.  Above is a better picture (I set my camera to raw so I could do more of a zoom once it was on my computer).  Fun to see it there.  The sun hits the tree about an hour and a half before sunset and that is when I've seen it.  I suspect it is a male because there is a lot of calling at dusk.  Sure is cute!

EASTERN SCREECH OWL

VERY COOL!!  We have seen Eastern Screech-Owls before, but always because we went somewhere and someone was else showing us the owl.  Tonight, WE found it, right here near the pond and near our house!  A few days ago I came home and heard one trilling near the house and called to Linda to come listen.  I knew it was close.  I was in the driveway with the dog and she was on the upstairs porch and we found it sitting in a tree, right near us!  We didn't have binoculars with us, but it was close enough that I spotted it and Linda got to see it fly (it flew as soon as Blake & I moved out of sight). 
 [--Update 3/11/13: got a picture today.  Will reset camera and see if I can get a better one tomorrow.  Talk about well camouflaged -- it is hard to tell owl from bark of tree!]

Eastern Screech Owl

 Last night we heard it trilling in the woods down near the end of Raynor (near the cul-de-sac) at dusk.  We couldn't see it, but I spotted a dark spot on a tree that I thought might be a hole.  This is the same area where I saw the Pileated Woodpecker in the fall, so it occurred to me that the owl might be living in an old Pileated hole.  This morning, we walked over to look and sure enough, the black spot was a hole in the tree. 

This evening, I was walking the dog about a half hour before dusk and noticed that the sun was shining right on the hole.  But, the hole looked funny!  It wasn't black like this morning.  Now, it could have just been the light, but knowing that the screech likes to sit in its hole and bask in the sun, I thought it was worth checking it out, so went back into the house for Linda and the binoculars.  Sure enough, the hole was filled with a screech owl!  Carol & Joe came over with the scope and we had a great view; Carol saw it blink!  

Tomorrow, I am going to take my DSLR camera over and see if I can get a picture; I'm pretty sure it will be there, again basking in the south sunlight.  I don't have a huge lens, but we can get pretty close, so I might be able to zoom in on it.  Check back to see if I get a picture.  Meanwhile, here is a link to information about the Eastern Screech-Owl.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Screech-Owl/id
Be sure to listen to its call - the trilling call is what we heard this time.  The whinnying, or screech, is really eerie sounding!  Ours is a grey morph, but looked much like the red-morph sitting in its hole in the picture on the All About Birds site, except it was grey, and exactly the same color as the oak tree!

I'll bet this owl was snug in its hole Friday during the storm when we got another 15" of snow!  Cavity nesting birds have the right idea.  I think our juncos & sparrows roost in the yew bush which is way overgrown and gets covered with snow, thus making a warm home in the storm.  The Christmas lights are still on the bush, too, and probably provide a bit of warmth as well!

MERGANSERS

Carol reported seeing Hooded Mergansers earlier this week (I saw them, too!) and Common Mergansers today.  See, spring IS on its way!  The migrants are coming in and the center area of the pond, where we are, is pretty much free of ice.  Be sure to let me know what you see, or better, sign on as a contributor so you can write your own entries!

The Bluebirds are back!