Am posting a link to a video about how wolves can change the physical course of rivers! Fascinating! Makes me wonder what kinds of things change the course of our brook. Some are obvious, like a tree falls, things start piling up against the tree snag and it becomes easier for the brook to take a different path, but what else makes a difference??
Video URL: http://msnvideo.msn.com/?videoid=6a4694ae-d81f-40de-8a50-ba37705b077a&from=sharepermalink-email
We saw a fisher in the yard a couple days ago, just around dawn. Took off down the hill to the pond and around the point. Several coons in the yard on recent mornings, too, and the birds sure sound like it is spring!
Be sure to step outside and LISTEN! :-)
Enjoy
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
CHILLY WINTER, BUT SIGNS OF SPRING
Sure has been a chilly winter! The birds are snarfing the food; I'm glad I got a birdbath heater for them this year, so at least they can have some water without having use up their internal warmth melting snow.
The deer have been around a lot, too. Particularly around the bird feeder with the corn and also munching on our Yew bushes (they need trimming anyway...). After the little dusting of snow a couple days ago, there were many tracks in our yard and on the road -- looked like a party had been happening in our yard! Canine tracks (fox, I think) came out from the hollow across the street and crossed with the deer tracks - two of each, is my guess; I'd like to know more about tracking. The other critters are sure acting like spring is coming; it was downright cacophonous in our yard Monday night! Driving the local dogs crazy. Is this the time the fox kits are being born?
Meanwhile, I'm toasty with a fire in the fireplace, getting stuff done and communing with the Carolina Wren who pays a visit outside my window almost every day. Hope everyone else is finding warmth and something to smile about on these chilly mornings! Leave a comment... what makes you smile when you step outside?
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| -7ยบ at 7:45 this morning! |
The deer have been around a lot, too. Particularly around the bird feeder with the corn and also munching on our Yew bushes (they need trimming anyway...). After the little dusting of snow a couple days ago, there were many tracks in our yard and on the road -- looked like a party had been happening in our yard! Canine tracks (fox, I think) came out from the hollow across the street and crossed with the deer tracks - two of each, is my guess; I'd like to know more about tracking. The other critters are sure acting like spring is coming; it was downright cacophonous in our yard Monday night! Driving the local dogs crazy. Is this the time the fox kits are being born?
Meanwhile, I'm toasty with a fire in the fireplace, getting stuff done and communing with the Carolina Wren who pays a visit outside my window almost every day. Hope everyone else is finding warmth and something to smile about on these chilly mornings! Leave a comment... what makes you smile when you step outside?
Sunday, February 2, 2014
MASS AUDUBON FOCUS ON FEEDERS BIRD COUNT
The Mass. Audubon Focus on Feeders Bird Count was this weekend and Linda & I kept track of what we saw during the weekend. For those of you who haven't done a feeder count, you check the feeders/yard periodically and write down what you see, then you report the largest number of birds seen during the day. For example, many of our Goldfinch were elsewhere today, but at various times we saw: 3, 5, 2, 11, 7, 10. So we reported "11"
Our tallies were:
4 Mourning Doves
1 Red-bellied Woodpecker
3 Downy Woodpeckers: 1 Female, 2 Males
2 Hairy Woodpeckers: 1F, 2M
7 Bluejays (in the top of the tree, bouncing and talking quietly to each other!)
1 American Crow
1 Black-capped Chickadee (where were they??)
2 Tufted Titmouse
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
1 Carolina Wren
5 Eastern Bluebirds: 2F, 3M
1 Song Sparrow
1 White-throated Sparrow
7 Dark-eyed Juncos: 3F, 4M (that is a low number!)
1 Northern Cardinal: 1M (don't know where the female was today)
2 House Finch (sad that there were no Purple Finch today)
11 American Goldfinch (they are turning yellow! I was counting 25 and more a couple days ago!)
1 Red-tailed Hawk flying and also yesterday, I saw one dead beside the road on Moore.
Pileated: this morning I heard what I assume was our Pileated tapping inside one of his dining holes. I have frequently heard him there and then seen him fly out. Today he did not fly out, so my observation is not 100%.
Screech owl: I went back out just before sunset when I often hear/see the Pileated and discovered our local screech owl in its hole in the tree where it was last spring!
It is fun to spend the day focusing on the birds!
Our tallies were:
4 Mourning Doves
1 Red-bellied Woodpecker
3 Downy Woodpeckers: 1 Female, 2 Males
2 Hairy Woodpeckers: 1F, 2M
7 Bluejays (in the top of the tree, bouncing and talking quietly to each other!)
1 American Crow
1 Black-capped Chickadee (where were they??)
2 Tufted Titmouse
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
1 Carolina Wren
5 Eastern Bluebirds: 2F, 3M
1 Song Sparrow
1 White-throated Sparrow
7 Dark-eyed Juncos: 3F, 4M (that is a low number!)
1 Northern Cardinal: 1M (don't know where the female was today)
2 House Finch (sad that there were no Purple Finch today)
11 American Goldfinch (they are turning yellow! I was counting 25 and more a couple days ago!)
1 Red-tailed Hawk flying and also yesterday, I saw one dead beside the road on Moore.
Pileated: this morning I heard what I assume was our Pileated tapping inside one of his dining holes. I have frequently heard him there and then seen him fly out. Today he did not fly out, so my observation is not 100%.
Screech owl: I went back out just before sunset when I often hear/see the Pileated and discovered our local screech owl in its hole in the tree where it was last spring!
It is fun to spend the day focusing on the birds!
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