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!  

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!  

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.

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.
:-)