PLEASE GET COLD ... SOON!!!

This week's weather in the 70s is driving me crazy!  It is November; it shouldn't be 70-something.  I love fall and I feel like I'm being cheated out of the cool, crisp bite in the air.  But more than that, the ticks think it is spring; there are massive numbers of them around, and most are the really tiny deer ticks--I have taken 10-12 off of Blake in the last 5 days.  I am looking forward to the weather getting cold and the temperature dropping so that it stays below 40 degrees.  40 (give or take a few degrees) is the point where these nasty bugs go dormant.

Meanwhile, the trees have been very interesting, surprising, (and beautiful!) this week.  Monday, I took Blake and we paddled down the pond in search of some fall pictures.  I was not disappointed!  (All I had was my iPhone, so these pictures were all taken on a phone!)

The oak trees were in their stage of deep reds, golds and browns.

 

Stearns Mill Pond, Nov 2, 2015

I love the reflection of the clouds in this one

Stearns Mill Pond, Nov 2, 2015

I paddled upstream and startled a flock of ducks; I'm not sure if they were mallards, blacks or wood ducks.  Why were my binoculars at home???  The ducks churned up the water as they flew off and it started me looking at the ripples in the water near my canoe. 

The water/shore line is at the very top of the page.  

Notice the gentle ripples in the reflection and the deep blue of the sky.

The berries on the branches of trees and shrubs feed the birds this time of year.  If you are planting in your yard, try to put in some berry producing plants, but be sure to always plant native trees, shrubs and flowers.  Ornamental plants from other countries, or even other parts of the US, are pretty, but they often push out the native plants because there are no animals, birds or insects who feed on the plant and help keep it in check (think about how Purple Loosestrife has taken over).  When the native plants disappear, so do the birds and animals that depend on them.  Put native & local plants in your yard. 

I lucked out taking this photo; the very next day, the dogwood next to the house (the red tree, bottom left) had gone into its stage of brown and crumpled leaves.  Now, just 5 days later, all of the leaves that belonged to the dogwood are gone and are replaced by oak leaves that didn't quite make it to the ground.

The Monday that I took these pictures (Nov 2) was spectacularly gorgeous in colors, temperature and the feel of the air.  Two days later it was hot and all of the leaves had withered and hung limply on the branches.  Two days after that, the leaves were in the roadways, driveways and yards!

Our road

I love the winter trees - the shape of the bare branches are so interesting.  These trees lost most of their leaves in just two days.  The acorns are another story!  In some places on the road, it is not safe to walk; you just roll along on the acorns!

Morning Sky, Nov 7, 2015

My phone just couldn't get a good picture of the crescent moon with Venus at her side, but the color and shapes are quite striking.

I am grateful that we are off of daylight savings time so that we can enjoy the early morning light again!

I recommend getting out there early and just looking around at all you can see and all that becomes visible as the sun rises.  Pretty special.

What do you like about fall?  Send comments and pictures to add to this post.

SIGHTS, SOUNDS AND SMELLS OF SPRING

"Wha-cheer, cheer, whoit, whoit, whoit."  "Peter, peter, peter."  "Fee-bee, fee-bee."  The spring bird calls greet us as we step outside at sunrise.  (The three above are, Northern Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse, and the Black Capped Chickadee - the chickadee sings a fee-bee call when seeking a mate and establishing territory in the spring; it is a slower fee-bee than the Eastern Phoebe's call and Phoebes aren't here yet - no bugs to eat.)

Have you seen the sunrises the last few mornings?  WOW!

In spite of the fact that there is still almost three feet of snow in the yard, our year-round birds know spring is coming and they are intent upon claiming their territory.  It is that in-between time when the winter foraging groups are still intact, but pairs are beginning to break off.  Soon the large groups will disappear to be replaced by pairs looking for nesting material.  Don't throw away that dog fur that is shedding all over your furniture; pick it up and stuff it in the crooks of the tree branches, or better, get a suet feeder and put the fur in the suet feeder!  Soon, the birds will be all over it, picking out fur to take to their new nests.  You can also add bits of thread and people hair.  DO NOT use drier lint - the bits are too small and can cause respiratory problems.

And speaking of sounds...  sitting on the porch the other morning, we could hear at least five different woodpeckers drumming, as well as a few doing the "tap,tap" that means they are searching for food.  Watch one on a tree sometime: "tap, tap", then it will turn its head listen for a moment to see where the bugs are, then "tap, tap -- tap, tap" and it got a mouthful!  The woodpecker's drumming (more rapid, louder, and longer than the tapping) is like the bird song of the chickadee, cardinal and titmouse--the bird is trying to establishing his territory.  We have seen a pair of Pileated woodpeckers around recently; their drumming sounds like jackhammers!


I strapped on the snowshoes and walked down to the pond to get a picture of the open water (novel concept, open water!!!) and startled four black ducks seeking food in that little bit of open water.  These aren't the "American Black Ducks" that we usually have around here, they were ducks that were black: darker black, slimmer, pointed wings and seemed to have a bit of white on the back or rump.  (WHY didn't I have binoculars with me????)

Unidentified ducks that are black

But there is open water!!  Should we wish to, we could even launch a canoe and paddle around the edge for a ways (note the stern of my green canoe sticking out of the snow in the picture below).

Open water & at bottom right, stern of canoe peaking out of the snow

And the air smelled of spring!  For those of you totally done with this snow, there is hope!  But... with the warmth and spring come the ticks.  Sigh...  I have to say, I've enjoyed having a winter that was just plain cold and snowy cuz there was no thought of ticks being around.  However, as soon as it gets above 40 degrees, the ticks start coming out of hibernation, so beware!  Even though there is a lot of snow on the ground, the ticks could be in that tree above your head.  Duck so that you don't brush against the branches and if you've been in the puckerbrush, do a tick check when you come in.  Definitely check your children every night before bed if you live near the woods or the grassy fields.  Ick.  Sorry to dampen the joys of the arrival of spring after this snowy winter.  

Other sights, sounds and smells?  

• The drip of the ice off the roof.
• People walking and running, with and without dogs, and mostly WITHOUT heavy clothes!
• The trees filled with twittering birds in the afternoon!
• Daylight that lasts longer.
• Snow that smushes instead of crunches.
• Muddy puddles and dirty snow.   :-/
• Bushes & mailboxes reappearing from under the snowbanks.
• Childrens' voices outdoors after school.
• Oh, and the skunk just out of hibernation.  That was the smell that greeted Linda the other day as she stepped out of the house before dawn.
• Carol says she knows it is really spring when she can smell the pine sap.  We aren't quite there, yet!

Got any sights, sounds or smells to add to my list?  Leave them in the comments section below.

Even though it seems like spring is really just around the corner, this can be the hardest month for the birds if we don't help them out with our feeders.  Don't stop feeding now!  There are no bugs yet and no seeds for them to find.  They need us to continue feeding until such time as you are swatting mosquitoes!