What have YOU seen?

Hey, all of you Stearns Mill Pond denizens and users, what have YOU seen on the pond or brook? Contribute your info - what great sightings, what birds, what animals, what sad things, what changes (good and bad), what wonderful moments have there been? Let's share what we know and love about our pond.
Live on the pond or brook?
Become an author on this blog; send me a message and I will add you to the official author list. Or, if you prefer, just click on the word "Comments" at the bottom of the entry to get a comment box up so you can add your sightings and thoughts. Email me pictures from our pond to post - I will credit them to you.
Click on the picture to see it in a larger format (all photos by D.Muffitt unless otherwise credited)

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

AFTER THE STORM

I haven't posted since the big 20+" snow storm of February 9, so I'd better catch up!  How can anyone not like snow!  Look at how gorgeous this is!!

Stearns Mill Pond after storm
 
Saturday, we obviously spent shoveling -- now, Blake is only 14" at the shoulder and the snow was 20" or more, so when we went out first thing in the morning, before shoveling, he wasn't thrilled! I bounded through the snow until I realized I had a taut leash.  I looked back and he was sitting down.

No.  I'll wait.
Sunday I strapped on the snowshoes and went down to the pond to see if I could find any tracks.  Interestingly, most of the snow was blown off of the pond with those heavy winds.  

I saw one set of tracks on the pond; I am assuming the fox, but I didn't venture onto the ice to check.  Double clicking on the pond picture, will come up with a larger size and you can see the tracks, especially on the left side.  I went a ways around from our landing in both directions and didn't see any tracks on the shore.  The tracks on the pond came in toward the shore several times, but never came up onto the shore from where I could see.  But, on the other hand, the snow disappeared close to the shore and became ice (or very close to the shore, some open water), so the tracks disappeared.  I didn't go very far upstream and couldn't see the end of the tracks in that direction.  The interesting thing is that the tracks only went in one direction - they never came back.  I looked with the binoculars, but couldn't see tracks on the other side of the pond.

I wondered the next day, if my snowshoe tracks made it possible for the fox to get from the pond up to the hollow across the street as the next morning, I saw tracks in the snow through the trees and over to the hollow. 

Today, we saw the fox out on the south side of the pond, opposite our house.  It was just walking down the pond, near the shore.  Periodically, it would stop and look, but then kept going until it was out of our sight.  It looks healthy and strong.

Haven't seen the bluebirds in over two weeks; they are probably gone.  We enjoyed them for the weeks they were here!  



Friday, February 8, 2013

COOPER'S HAWK

We've had a Cooper's Hawk around most of the afternoon (I'm assuming it is the same one.)  Gorgeous bird in the snow.  I'm not sure it is particularly happy about the snow, though!



We first saw it today, flying in to the front feeder area and it dove into the yew bush!  Now granted, this is a HUGE yew bush and definitely needs some trimming, but still, yew bushes are dense.  We could see into the bush (right under our window) and it was moving around in there.  We couldn't see whether or not it had lunch, but we don't think so.  Pretty soon it flew out of the bush into another one.  15-20 birds scattered out from that bush!!!  We leave the yews as they are just because they do provide great shelter for the birds in the winter, unless of course, a Cooper's decides to move in, too!

About an hour later, we saw it on Suzanne & Michael's garden cart handle (pix above).  It sat there long enough for me to go get my camera (which of course, is always upstairs if I need it downstairs or, like today, downstairs if I need it upstairs!).  It flew off to a tree and then as I sat down to do the blog, it went zooming past the kitchen window!

This bird is so much smaller than the juvenile we saw the other day; both Linda and I are thinking that it really is possible that the juvenile is a northern goshawk.  This one is a lot smaller and more slender.  Hopefully, we'll see that juvenile back again some time!  It has been here twice already.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

TRACKS IN THE SNOW

I'm supposed to be working, but what good is it to be semi-retired if you can't go look at nature?!?  I had been thinking about going down to the pond to see if there were any tracks in the new snow, but started working and was studiously avoiding checking my email every time it dinged, consequently missed Suzanne's email:
"There is a very beautiful fox out on the frozen pond.  Been watching for 10 min. he’s just hanging out, meandering around, stopping to sniff in the snow now and then or just standing still.   Healthy looking."

DANG!  I have been looking up at the feeder every once in a while, to look at the bluebirds or nuthatches or other visitors.  (Had a gorgeous red-breasted nuthatch the other day! Have seen it before, but not for as long, with such a great viewing!)

I finally got up from my computer and took my camera on a walk to the pond.  Suzanne was right - there were MANY fox paths!  A couple up in the yard, too.  (One has me suspect that perhaps the fox got a squirrel for breakfast, but it might have been tracks at two separate times.)



In the lower left corner, you can see the imprint of the pads on the above pix.  (I am not a tracker, but I am assuming these are fox tracks, as they are canine looking and Suzanne saw a fox wandering around on the pond.)

The tracks lead over to the area where I have seen scat and where I think the fox had a den in past years, but most of the tracks were more "wandering" than this set (see below)




Yesterday, I saw the resident Cooper's Hawk on the branch outside the kitchen window.  It is so much smaller than that big accipiter Linda, Carol & I saw last week!  I heard back from Marj Rines (who really knows her birds) who said she thinks it is a Coopers, not a Goshawk.  She's probably right, but I'm gonna keep watching!  The fun is in the looking more than the IDing.
:-)