-Outside In-

Still no more snow

2012-01-29T07:30:00.002-05:00

1/29/12, 7:30am EST

Ha!

2012-01-24T13:50:00.002-05:00

1/24/12, 1:45pm EST
Where did all our snow go?! And I saw bluebirds on the meadow above here.

More snow

2012-01-21T09:37:00.002-05:00

1/21/12, 9am EST

Finally - snow!

2012-01-20T16:05:00.002-05:00

1/20/12, 4 pm EST

Winter afternoon

2012-01-18T15:49:00.003-05:00

1/18/12, 3:45 pm est

Looking back

2012-01-12T16:14:00.001-05:00

1/12/12, 4:15 pm est

Sun

2012-01-12T16:11:00.002-05:00

1/7/12 , 2:30pm est

New Year's Day

2012-01-01T09:08:00.002-05:00

1/1/12, 9am EST

A different view

2011-12-18T08:13:00.002-05:00

12/18/11, 8am EST

Evening light

2011-12-12T16:02:00.003-05:00

12/12/11, 4pm est

Frosty morning

2011-12-04T08:09:00.002-05:00

12/4/11. 8:00am est
sent from my mobile phone

Power line clearing

2011-11-29T16:03:00.001-05:00

4pm est 11/29/11
sent from my mobile phone

Power line clearing

2011-11-20T07:35:00.002-05:00

11/20/11, 7:30am EST
sent from my mobile phone

First frost

2011-10-07T08:31:00.001-04:00

sent from my mobile phone

Adorable asters

2011-09-18T16:52:00.002-04:00

short-winged blister beetles

2011-08-25T15:53:00.000-04:00

I had two of these cool-looking critters on one of my jack-in-the-pulpit plants. Good thing I didn't try to touch them - they can exude a fluid that causes blisters. But I didn't know that then - I took photos so I could ID them. It took me a while since their wings are not at all obvious so I thought they didn't have wings - I wondered if they were the larvae of something. In the end, it was a "go through the insect guide page by page until you find a matching picture" process, but that did work and here are some pictures of Meloe angusticollis.

Potato bean

2011-08-21T16:20:00.002-04:00

These pretty flowers belong to the groundnut - a common food source in colonial times, and probably in the early years of nationhood as well. Here is a bit of local information about them. They are a legume, but also have edible tubers - hence the name potato bean, which is the first name I learned for this plant. Other plants also go by the name groundnut, but this is the only one I know of in my region. I didn't find this info in any of the references I looked at, but the potato bean flower has a sweet, pleasant scent that is enhanced by the warm sun (as are most flower scents, I think). I wonder if these would grow in my yard? These are growing in some open land up the street from my house. Apparently they are pretty easy to transplant via the tubers, but I wonder if I have enough sun. Could be a good experiment...

High summer meadow

2011-08-05T08:23:00.004-04:00


Goldenrod & Purple Loosestrife - hard to see the Joe-pye-weed

Lady Slipper

2011-05-24T15:51:00.002-04:00

The first I've seen blooming this season.

Holly flowers

2011-05-22T09:12:00.003-04:00

We all know the berries, but have you noticed these?
And you can see this spring's new leaf growth as well, and some "winter burn" or some such damage on a couple of the older leaves.
I'm not sure if this is Ilex aquifolium - English holly (I suspect it is), or Ilex opaca - American holly. Either way, it is pretty.

kayak

2011-05-13T22:06:00.000-04:00

Concord River

My husband and I got out for our first kayak of the season today. It was a beautiful sunny day with just a light breeze and temps in the upper 60s. We chose to head to a put-in not far from our house, since it was getting to be late morning by the time we got organized, but we decided to go downstream first, since we hardly ever do that and the wind was light. As it turned out, the wind was with us as we paddled upstream on the way back and we didn't have to work too hard at all. All in all, pretty much a perfect paddle.

We saw great blue herons, Canada geese, red-wing blackbirds, tree swallows, a red-tail hawk, a turkey vulture, several painted turtles and a snapping turtle. We heard many, many birds without seeing them, and we saw a beaver lodge and lots of beaver chew, but no beavers. We did, however, see several mysterious splashes. As you can see in the photo, the leaves are not fully out yet, but they are coming - we are in full spring mode here in New England.

flowers!

2011-05-03T22:15:00.001-04:00

forget-me-not - so cheerful and unassuming, they come up in different spots different years

violets - always so sweet - these grow all around my house, including these on my front walkway

trillium - I transplanted this from my neighbor several years ago - it hasn't spread, but it comes back every year (this hasn't fully opened, but it looks pretty this way also)

Japanese andromeda - I just learned the name of this one today, even though it's been here for years - not native, but not invasive, and quite sweet smelling (a robin has built a nest in the bush near my back door)

bloodroot - so this flower has already dropped its petals, but it is a very cool plant that is spread when ants take the seeds back to their tunnels where they then grow

shadbush - this looks better in real life than in a photo, but once this blooms I know spring has arrived

beech leaves

2011-04-27T18:44:00.000-04:00

The American Beech trees have finally lost last year's leaves. That means that the new leaves are about ready to pop out. And that means that spring is here.

Spicebush

2011-04-27T14:48:00.002-04:00

One of the sweetest smelling early bloomers - even if it isn't showy.

blooms

2011-04-24T19:46:00.000-04:00

So spring is finally making a slow entrance here in New England. Each day the views look a little greener, and today we hit temps above 70ºF for the first time this year. These pics are from a couple of days ago, and there are more out there now!

a cool fungus in my yard - no id yet

marsh marigolds

pulmonaria (lungwort)

skunk cabbage

frog

2011-04-05T15:20:00.000-04:00

Just reporting the first frog sighting in my own little stream this spring. I guess this warm rain finally tempted them out.

I'm glad it's warm enough for frogs again

Now if only that stubborn pile of snow outside my back door would melt...

a better pic

2011-03-30T16:40:00.000-04:00

The owl moved, in the same tree, and I was able to get a better picture. She (just a random guess) clearly noticed my every move when I was in her field of vision. So beautiful!

wonderful - Barred Owl

wow!

2011-03-30T15:55:00.000-04:00

So my daughter and I are coming back from our daily afternoon walk with the dog and we see a big bird fly toward our house. It's an owl, says my daughter. I could tell it was a big one, but not which kind, until I got up close. It turned out to be a Barred Owl! Very cool - and it ended up landing in the big ol' pine in front of our house. The songbirds in the yard are not happy! The owl is still there, as I write this. What a great place to live!


What a beauty!

spring?

2011-03-27T21:20:00.000-04:00

We've had a couple of warm days, but not too many yet. Still below freezing pretty much every night.
BUT - I did hear wood frogs in a nearby wetland today, for the first time this spring. No peepers yet.
And we still have a couple of piles of snow where there were huge piles before.
The birdfeeders are staying full longer, though, which is another sign of vernal change - the birds are finding other, more tempting, food, which is good.
And little green shoots are coming up in spots.
I'm sure it won't be long before leaves are popping out left and right!

sights

2011-03-16T20:47:00.000-04:00

I just got a new camera. Here are some random pictures I've taken recently, learning how it works. With the lens that it has on it now, it is better at macro and not as good at zoom as the camera I was using. But I can changes lenses on this one, which will be a whole new experience for me.

Fryeburg, happy the snow is not so deep anymore

Beech leaves - they'll be on the ground soon


Ice in the stream - that has melted now, thankfully

Lichen and moss with quartz and oak leaves

Lichen on dead tree

Eaten acorn shells at the base of an oak tree

Spring is definitely coming - the skunk cabbage is up!

March rain

2011-03-11T15:18:00.001-05:00

Rainy and foggy and beautiful.

March thaw

2011-03-06T16:09:00.002-05:00

Little by little, winter recedes.

joy

2011-03-03T12:22:00.000-05:00

I just heard red-winged blackbirds! They are back from their winter migration and so now spring IS just around the corner.

... came in like a lamb

2011-03-01T18:22:00.000-05:00

Now it is March, so spring is officially only 3 weeks away. Of course, this being New England, you never know...

Here are some pics of what can happen when you are a little critter and big hungry ones move faster than you can.

Here are some mouse tracks coming up from the base of a tree. Often in winter, mice will tunnel under the snow for warmth and safety. Safety is a big concern, as you will see.

Not too far from where those mouse tracks came from the tree, I found these marks in the snow. Clearly, a swoop and grab by a fairly large raptor. I took these pics around 8:30am after a one-inch snowfall - perfect for tracking. Given the time of day and the fact that I was in the woods, I'm guessing the hunter was an owl getting its last snack before its daily rest.

Here's a closer image, and you can see no blood, so it was a clean catch. How do I know the mouse didn't get away? There are no more mouse tracks after the bird came down.


And here's a close-up of the very clear wing print.

I love the stories that sights such as these can tell, or at least hint at. I saw a lot of great tracks that morning (it was this past Sunday), including a ton of fisher tracks. Fishers are rather mysterious, keeping very much to themselves and having a fierce reputation. They've moved back into this area relatively recently, as the hardwood forests have grown back over the last century.


Here's a nice set of fisher tracks.

And just for the record, since the snow was so perfect-for-tracking, I got pics of a typical rabbit track and a typical gray squirrel track. They are very similar in size and shape, but in general (though not always), the rabbit fore-feet run back-to-front while the squirrel fore-feet run side-by-side. The trick with these tracks is that when you look at them, the hind feet are in front of the front feet due to the scampering gait of the little mammals.


Typical gray squirrel tracks (ignore the little bird track below). The animal is moving from left to right here, but the hind feet are in front of the fore-feet in the track.

Typical rabbit track (probably Eastern cottontail, though I keep hoping for a New England cottontail). The animal is moving from right to left in this picture, but the larger tracks are the hind feet.

Also, I had a gift card for Borders book store, which has gone into Chapter 11. The store near us is closing, so I needed to use up the card quickly. I was thrilled to find a copy of Paul Rezendes' Tracking and the Art of Seeing: How to Read Animal Tracks and Sign. Another book for my natural history collection!

still winter, but...

2011-02-24T15:12:00.000-05:00

Yes, it is still definitely winter here, though tonight's predicted precipitation should be rain. There is still a good foot of snow on the ground, which is down from the three feet we had a few weeks ago, and the only bare ground around is where the snow has been cleared by shovel or plow. I haven't even seen places where wild critter have cleared through - just a few squirrel tunnels.

Here you can see the depth of the snow along a stream bank - we've still got some melting coming, and I'm sure we'll see plenty of rushing brooks come warm weather.

The oak leaves have mostly come down now, but beech leaves are still hanging on.

Here are some oak leaves caught in the path after they blew down.

But spring is definitely on the way. We've had some lovely days and the sunlight is stronger, and lasting longer, each day. And here is the spring witch hazel (hamamelis vernalis) beginning to bloom.

Cute

2011-02-20T12:34:00.002-05:00

It's been a long, cold winter. These young deer hang around my mom's house in upstate New York. Given their size, I would think they would still be with their mother, but maybe something happened to her. They also seem small for this time of year, indicating that they were born late last season. They look healthy - and they sure are cute.

Lightning strike

2011-02-19T11:14:00.002-05:00

Walking the dog this morning I came across a wide swath of bark chips scattered across the snow. I could see no evidence of woodpecker work, but in looking up and around I noticed a long strip of bark missing from a nearby pine tree. Last night we had a terrific thunderstorm with lots of lightning. This tree must have been struck! I've seen lightning-struck trees before, but rarely so soon after the fact. And there was no evidence of burning at all, I suppose because of the rain, and the recent warm weather causing melting. A very exciting February thaw.
These are phone pics, but will give some idea of the scene.

lots of snow

2011-02-13T22:05:00.000-05:00

We've had so much snow here that I haven't been getting out as much as I'd like - unless you count shoveling. I have had lots of birds at the feeds though, including a Hairy Woodpecker today. I haven't seen one of those for quite a while, so I'm glad to know that they haven't abandoned our neighborhood. Apparently we've had nearly 6 feet of snow so far this winter - there's still about 2 feet on the ground, not counting the piles where it's been shoveled or plowed. I'm hoping that some predicted warm weather this coming week will melt it a little. I love winter, but now it's just crunchy and hard to drive around. We could lose a foot or so, and then get a fresh 4" on top - that would be great!

rescue

2011-01-30T20:08:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I heard one of those nasty "thud" sounds that means a bird has hit a window. I looked out the window to see if it was a small thump, allowing the bird to fly away, or something more serious. We have between two and three feet of snow on the ground, so if anything landed in it by accident, it would be in danger of freezing. I could see a few brown feathers sticking out of the snow, but I couldn't tell if the poor critter was alive or not. I quickly donned the gloves and high boots I keep by the back door at this time of year, for dumping compost and filling bird feeders, and went out to investigate further. It was a little house finch, head down in the snow. I picked up the poor little guy, carefully righting it and resting it back in the snow. Then I thought it might be too cold directly on the snow - though the snow would reduce any swelling and bruising that might occur. I'm not a vet, nor a biologist, so I can only do what seems to make sense to me. I very gently picked up the bird again, without the snow, and put it carefully on the ledge of what we call the squirrel feeder. Its head was turned, and I couldn't tell if it was simply stunned, or badly injured. It sat quietly on the ledge for a while - fifteen minutes? - and I looked out a few times to see if it was still there. But did I think to take a photo? No! Silly me. Anyway, at one point I looked and it was there and when I turned back a few seconds later, it was gone! It had not fallen off the ledge - I checked the ground below. I suppose the Cooper's hawk that has been hanging around might have gotten it, but I think I would have noticed a bird that large swooping down right outside my windows. So I am hoping that the pretty little finch recovered from its head banging and is now hanging out with its finch buddies again. It's a rough world out there - I hope I did the right thing.

Winter sunset

2011-01-21T17:17:00.002-05:00

On my afternoon walk with the dog

Tracks

2011-01-17T15:34:00.002-05:00

Mouse tracks in the snow

Snow

2011-01-12T08:40:00.002-05:00

My front deck this morning

Holes

2011-01-07T16:33:00.001-05:00

I was out walking the other day, and I noticed this:

Can you see all the wood chips around the bottom of the tree trunk? That is always a sign to look around, to see where they came from. So I did, and when I looked up, I saw this:

Only one critter, that I know of, makes those big oblong holes in a tree - a pileated woodpecker! I know they are in these woods, but in spite of their being so big and noisy, I rarely see them. It is great to see signs like this.

A little ways away from this dead tree, I saw this:

Another dead tree, another hole - more than one, actually. But this hole was very close to the ground, and much larger inside than out. Who made it? Upon closer examination, I saw this:

I still don't know exactly who made the hole, but a little mouse (white-footed mouse? wood mouse?) has been using it as a dining room. Look at those munched acorns - they look like the ones I find in the corners of my shed. So I call this a mouse house!

It would be really neat to see all the creatures that I know are out there in "my" woods and meadows, but it is also very mysterious and intriguing to know that they are there, unseen. I imagine they see us far more often than we see them. So many secrets held in the outdoors...

On vacation

2010-12-26T16:07:00.001-05:00

In Florida

Beech tree

2010-12-22T15:16:00.001-05:00

frost

2010-12-18T17:00:00.001-05:00

frost, moss, pine needles, leaves... all on a chilly morning

first snow

2010-12-14T09:38:00.000-05:00

We had the first snow of the season last night. It's not much, but it is real snow. (We did have a few flakes the other day, but they didn't stick so they don't count.)

and here are a few gleaners from under one of my feeders a couple of days ago

woodpecker

2010-12-05T16:25:00.000-05:00

Oh my - I got a treat today - a pileated woodpecker on a tree in my neighbor's yard, and then in my yard a little later on. First I heard it, and then found it - they aren't too hard to find if you know they are around since they are so big and make pretty distinctive noises. I suppose they are so cool because I don't see them very often. My neighbor mentioned seeing one a week or so ago - I wonder if this was the same one?

Moon and Venus

2010-12-02T06:45:00.003-05:00

December 2, 2010, 6:30 am

Not a great photo - it's from my phone - but vaguely captures what was a beautiful sight.

red-breasted nuthatch

2010-11-26T17:22:00.000-05:00

I've got red-breasted nuthatches at my feeders again this year. I haven't had them, or noticed them at any rate, for a couple of years now, so it is fun to see them back.
I've also got blue jays, cardinals, chickadees & titmice, white-breasted nuthatches, goldfinches, house finches, carolina wrens, downy woodpeckers, a red-bellied woodpecker, mourning doves, juncos... there are probably more that I'm not thinking of at the moment or that I haven't seen yet.
I have not seen large flocks of robins as I do some years. I've seen a few, and I don't know if they haven't flocked up yet, or just haven't made it to where I look for them.

Ice

2010-11-25T08:33:00.002-05:00

Plenty of ice on the ponds this morning. It's the first real ice I've seen this season.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Beech tree

2010-11-23T14:50:00.001-05:00

bird stories

2010-11-20T17:30:00.000-05:00

I've got three bird stories.

The first is about an annoying woodpecker (and I mostly like birds!) that has been banging on our house for several days - made a pretty good sized hole, in fact, all the way through the siding, which is vertical cedar. Today my husband and I (I was the one on the ladder) put up some aluminum over where the critter had been pecking and hung a few cds up there also, hoping to discourage further damage. We also got and put out a suet feeder, which some website said might help keep them away from the house.
I'm not sure if it was a downy or a hairy - when I went out to chase it off, I was more concerned about the house than exactly which type of bird!
Many years ago we had a problem like this, but the bird eventually gave up and we haven't had anyone doing damage like this in ages - I suppose it is a new bird in the neighborhood.
This problem is actually quite common in my neighborhood, which is comprised of cedar sided contemporary homes. They seem to like the corner of the house where the power lines come in to the building, and I've heard that there is enough vibration in those wires, where they attach to the house, that the birds mistake the vibrations for that of insects in the wood. Some people have hung plastic owls up in an effort to keep the damage to a minimum.
Woodpeckers are funny sometimes - in one house we lived in, there was an aluminum tv antenna on the roof. We had a woodpecker that would come and bang on that. In that instance it must have simply been to make the noise, to declare territory or advertise presence - there were no bugs to be had there, and I'm sure the woodpecker knew that.

The next story is shorter, but more interesting - I think!
I was walking yesterday morning under some power lines. There were two groups of mourning doves in different places on the lines. At some distance, a bird flew toward the power lines and the further group of doves scattered. I wondered for a moment, and the same bird flew toward the doves closer to me, scattering those doves also. At this point I could clearly see that the bird was a hawk - a sharp-shinned, I think, judging by the tail length and overall size. The hawk must not have been particularly hungry because it just flew off after the doves scattered, not bothering to chase any of them, that I could tell.

And the last story is the coolest - maybe...
My husband and I were outside, putting the ladder away after the woodpecker project, and our daughter came out, very excited about a "huge bird" in a tree behind the house. Well, she was right - it was a barred owl, just sitting on a dead branch, looking around for a snack (there were tons of songbirds around at our feeders). It sat there for quite a while - I got the binoculars, my husband got the spotting scope, and my daughter got her camera. Eventually a blue jay came along and the barred owl flew off to a nearby pine tree where it could be more sheltered. It did not seem particularly bothered by the jay. The jay squawked a few times, but no other jays came along to start a mob and the jay flew off to find something else to do. I guess owl mobbing wasn't high on its' list of activities for today. I worked outside most of the afternoon, planting some mums and doing some fall cleanup, and when I came in, as it was getting dark, the owl was still in that same pine tree. I would love it if it chose our area for its' winter territory (in spite of the potential loss of some songbirds).

Oh yeah, one more thing - I've seen several pine siskins this fall. Last year I noticed few if any, and the year before we were over-run by them.

witch hazel

2010-11-06T10:47:00.000-04:00

My hamamelis virginiana is blooming! This is the fall witch hazel. I have had a spring-blooming witch hazel, hamamelis vernalis, for several years, and I put in a fall-blooming slip a few years ago. This is the first fall it has bloomed. It is an interesting plant, in either variety. It blooms very early - February! - or late - November - depending on which one you are looking at.
Here are a few pics of my fall witch hazel:

First Frost

2010-10-10T08:03:00.002-04:00

Summer is really over
Seasons roll along as ever

Nodding Ladies Tresses

2010-09-26T07:38:00.002-04:00

I saw these pretty little orchids on my walk this morning. It's nice to see some blooms amid the reddening colors of autumn.
While I enjoy the changing seasons of New England, I'm always a little sad to see the passing one go. At the same time, the excitement of what is coming continues to thrill me - every year is a little different, and it is fun to see what will come.

Late summer harvest

2010-09-14T10:38:00.002-04:00

A little more nectar before frost comes

ouch

2010-09-10T07:34:00.001-04:00

I've got stinging nettles all over my yard this year. I never noticed them before, though I suppose they must have been here. Maybe this summer's hot, dry weather - coming after a cool, wet spring - was just perfect for them to grow quickly. I've heard of them before, certainly, but never knew exactly what they looked like.
Earlier this summer I plucked a weed from my pepper plants that I thought was galinsoga, but it stung me! At first I thought it must be an insect on the plant, but then it remained irritated, as if something was in the skin of my finger. Indeed, that is what happens - a piece of the "hair" breaks off in the skin, along with some chemicals, and it hurts! This plant is in the family Urticaceae.
At least for me, there is no long-lasting damage, but the irritation from the stings does last for a couple of hours. I would definitely recommend wearing gloves when handling the stuff.
The confusion with galinsoga is interesting - the flowers are completely different, but the one I saw first did not have flowers yet. The leaves are somewhat similar in shape, but the nettle leaves are much more serrated. Also, over time, the nettle plants get much, much bigger.

Baby red squirrel

2010-08-21T14:52:00.001-04:00

Very cute!

sent from my Droid

sharpie

2010-08-09T22:08:00.000-04:00

I got a great view of a sharp-shinned hawk today. It was especially nice to see it when I did, as I had done a program earlier in the day with a broad-winged hawk. Birds are so cool!

Also, the second nest of robins - two this time - fledged a couple of days ago. I expect that's all we'll get this year.

mid summer

2010-08-01T13:45:00.000-04:00

Yes, I've been busy and I've been away. Here's a shot of a cat-tail and some joe-pye-weed from my morning walk.

It's not that I haven't been out and about, it's just that I've been focusing on other things, I guess.

blooming

2010-06-28T16:28:00.001-04:00

hot hot hot lately, but the bee balm is blooming - and looking lovely

I haven't had much activity at my hummingbird feeder lately, and I wonder if it is because these delightful flowers are blooming...

just some pics

2010-06-05T21:39:00.000-04:00

This is the last of 4 robin hatchlings to fledge (5/23/10)

Bee Balm (Monarda didyma) bud

I put a big bunch of these in near my little pond. I hope they do well.

new rain barrel and herb garden

busy

2010-05-26T19:40:00.000-04:00

I've gotta get some new pics up here. I have some, quite a few actually, but it's too much fun to be outside doing stuff. I don't want to take the time to fuss around with this. I'll try in the next couple of days. I've got work to do out in the yard, though. If I don't hop to it, you won't be able to get in and out of the house, the front walk is getting so overgrown. I'm going to take some of the daylilies and move them out to the area by the road. Clears the walk, fills an awkward gap that is a pain to mow - win-win, I say.
I'm also trying to grow some more vegetables this summer. The swingset has come down, in preparation for a new shed. I've already got some tomatoes and peppers in pots growing out there. We'll see how it works. My long-term plan is to set up some raised beds, but I want to see if there is enough sun for veggies. If not, I'll go for shade loving perennials. That's the cool thing about gardening - if one thing doesn't work, something else will.
And I've got a new rain-collecting barrel. We've had one for a while, in the back of the house, where it catches runoff from a crease in the roof. The new one is connected to a downspout, and is in front of the house, where most of the plants that need to be watered are. It's in the herb garden, under an overhang in the roof where no plants would grow.
I used to do a lot of vegetable gardening. One year I made a lot of pesto - so much that it lasted until basil came into season again the next summer! Here, my yard is fairly shady, so we'll see how things go. I've done tomatoes and such in tubs on the front deck with some success, but I'm feeling more ambitious this year. Wish me luck.

hungry

2010-05-14T20:44:00.000-04:00

Those winter moth caterpillars I wrote about the other day have pretty much finished off the leaves on my witch hazel. I hope it will come back - the leaves, not the munchers! Interestingly, they've eaten the spring blooming shrub, but not the fall blooming one. Coincidence? Location? I cheer every time I see a bird eating one of those worms.

supper

2010-05-06T21:06:00.000-04:00

We've been inundated with winter moth caterpillars here lately. They are little inchworm type critters, about 1/2 an inch long, and they are decimating the leaves on many trees. The big, healthy trees will survive, at least this summer, but the weaker ones will be culled, and so goes the circle of life.
On the other hand, somebody's got to eat some of those caterpillars. And I just saw a cardinal that was doing his darndest to get as many caterpillars as he could. His mouth was just stuffed full, and he kept trying to grab more. I suppose he's got a clutch of babies somewhere to feed. Maybe I'll poke around and see if I can find the nest. The birds can take as many of those caterpillars as they want - I like green leaves.

river

2010-04-30T18:56:00.001-04:00

First kayaking of the season today - very nice, though a little windier than I thought it would be. Saw tree swallows, red-wing blackbirds, a gull, a crow, a great blue heron, Canada geese, turtles (probably painted), and a beaver lodge. This was on the Concord River.

cute

2010-04-26T16:08:00.000-04:00

There was a red squirrel dashing around my yard this morning, and I managed to get a few pics. It was pretty cute, and was clearly watching me watch it. There are, as usual, lots of birds around as well, but I particularly noticed a flicker and a phoebe, neither of which stayed in sight long enough for me to photograph. But really, it is enough to know that they are around. Yesterday I saw a fisher on the stone wall behind the house, noticed first by my daughter, and a rabbit in the yard in the late evening, noticed by my son.

coyote

2010-04-21T17:09:00.000-04:00

On our afternoon walk today my daughter and I took different paths around a little stand of pines. As we neared where they joined up again, she said "Mom, come here." Then, when I got to where she was standing, pointed toward a rustling sound about 50 yards away. A coyote pup! We quickly called the dog back to us and after watching 'til the pup went out of site we headed in the other direction. There have been coyotes around here as long as we've lived here, and I've seen them on occasion, but never a baby one before. I'd guess it was around 6 or 8 weeks old, but I really couldn't say for sure, with the distance, short viewing time, and lack of knowledge about coyotes. I can say for sure that it was cute.

birds

2010-04-19T17:10:00.002-04:00

Some nice bird sightings on a morning walk today. It was on the cool side - mid-40s, I'd guess, though I didn't check a thermometer - but bright and sunny.

I heard, and then saw when I followed the sound, a towhee. They used to be called rufous-sided, but now are called eastern towhees. It's not a big bird, but it has a loud and distinctive song.

And up in the field I saw a pair of tree swallows. First I saw one flying around in the acrobatic way they do. Then it landed in a tree.

Then I watched them fly around in the air some more.

I saw what might be their nest site.

And I watched them fly around some more, 'til they landed in another tree for a rest.

On April 4 there was a brush fire. I don't know anything about when or how it started, and I'm thankful that we've had as much rain as we have this spring - the damage doesn't seem too extensive. But several young pine trees got singed. I'll be interested to see how they react over the long term. One good thing I noticed that the fire did was to burn the buds off some winged euonymus bushes - we've got a lot of that invasive around, and I won't be sorry if some of it dies off.

red-tails

2010-04-14T09:54:00.000-04:00

I saw a great sight this morning! Two red-tail hawks flew over my head, up high, and landed, one at a time, on a power line vertical post. Shortly after that, one of them flew over to the second post of the pair, and the two of them sat there for quite a while. They seemed to be watching me and my dog, and there were a lot of songbirds around as well, which could have made a nice breakfast. It was an amazing thing to see, these two great hawks soaring overhead in the bright blue sky... Eventually one, and then the other, took off and flew over to some nearby trees where I lost sight of them. I wonder if they have a nest in there? I didn't have time to go check this morning, but I will definitely keep my eyes open next time I head over in that direction.

Here's a not-too-good phone-camera shot of the two birds. Can you see them?

shadbush

2010-04-13T16:59:00.000-04:00

It's a lovely sunny, cool day today. My shadbush is beginning to bloom. Tomorrow is supposed to be even nicer than today, so maybe it will all come out. But it looks pretty nice today, so here are some pictures.

Pretty blossoms, interesting shape, early leafing - just a great plant, and it's native!

blue jay

2010-04-11T17:33:00.001-04:00

I love blue jays. They are so bright and energetic. I know they get a bad rap for harassing other birds and stealing eggs, but I do love to look at them. Thornton Burgess wrote that Sammy Jay's coat looked like a little piece of the sky.

All winter I've been trying to get some photos of blue jays, but they move around a lot, hardly ever sitting still for long, and my photography skills are limited, as is my patience. Today, however, a jay landed in the dogwood tree outside my kitchen window, and stayed there for a while. It wasn't exactly sitting still, but it was still enough and close enough that I could get some pictures. Finally! And they aren't half bad...

sitting (and squeaking!)

moving to another branch

with a branch for its nest (?)

temperature

2010-04-08T19:47:00.000-04:00

Busy week! Yesterday it was about 90ºF - a record for Boston, and hot for April definitely. Today was much more seasonable, and pleasant, at around 60ºF. Cold front moving in, and one in my head too - I hope both clear out soon! Ninety is a little warm for my taste, but low 70ºs is pretty pleasant, and good for drying out some of that water that is still hanging around after our March rains.

All sorts of flowers are coming out, and leaves too. The maple leaves are popping, and the shadbush and spicebush are nearly blooming. I don't have any pics just now, but will try to get some this weekend - as I write this it is dark out. The warmth is making the view change every day. Of course, the lengthening days are important also, but these unusually warm spells make it all happen even sooner.

downy

2010-04-03T14:11:00.000-04:00

I read somewhere that you can tell the difference between a downy woodpecker and a hairy woodpecker by the sound they make when pecking. If the tapping is so fast you cannot count the taps, then it is a downy - a hairy taps slowly enough that you can count the taps. I don't know if that is true or not, but I also learned (from an online video that of course I cannot find now) that the downy's beak is proportionately much shorter in comparison to its head, than the hairy's. The links I've given above point this out as well.
I heard several woodpeckers this morning, but they were hard to find in the trees, even without leaves yet. Finally I got a good view of a female downy (no red) up on a dead oak branch. She was tapping away, and I couldn't keep up. She was practically hugging the limb with her feet, and I could see, with binoculars, her tail working to help hold her in position. The bark was still on the branch where she was, but it was clearly coming loose - I could hear different sounds as she tapped in different spots up and down and around that branch. I watched her for quite a while, until a blue jay, perhaps annoyed by the tapping(?), swooped down and caused her to fly to another spot.

Here's a pic of a downy I saw last weekend and snapped with my phone camera.

None of the birds I saw this morning were in a good position to be photographed, but here are a couple of shots that I took of scenes that looked particularly beautiful on this bright, sunny morning.

clover with dew

trees, moss & puddle

more rain

2010-03-30T14:03:00.000-04:00

It's raining again! Seems to be a Monday tradition this March. Our yard is sure looking lake-like. It is raining buckets right now, and I am getting sick of the tapping on the roof, but the birds are still out there, presumably looking for food. I'd think they'd want to take cover wherever they might find it, but I guess not. Without searching I've seen a blue jay, a cardinal, a hairy woodpecker and a downy woodpecker. Too wet for the camera. And it's chilly today also. It rained a lot yesterday, but it was in the 50s - now it's closer to 40ºF. Bleah!

chorus

2010-03-27T22:02:00.000-04:00

This morning as I walked there was a wonderful chorus. I heard birdsong all along my trail. There were robins, mourning doves, blue jays, chickadees and many others. It was cold this morning - so cold there was ice on my pond, in spite of last weekend's balmy temps and arrival of spring, but the birds were singing away. There were at least four-and-twenty blackbirds singing in one area, and a glorious cardinal calling in a meadow. What a wonderful way to start the day!

cardinal

red-wing blackbirds

ice on the pond!

buds

2010-03-22T15:52:00.013-04:00

If you don't like the weather in New England, just wait a few minutes.
- Mark Twain

It is raining today, but even from inside the house I can see the buds swelling on the shadbush and on the spicebush. The warm weather and sun in the previous few days got that going. There will be more flowers and lots of green soon. And soon I will take down the birdfeeders for the summer. They are already much less used that even a week ago, which means that the birds are finding food elsewhere. I am happy to feed the birds, but I feel better when they are eating their "natural" diet. It seems a little later than usual to me, but the goldfinches are beginning to turn yellow again, another sure sign of spring. Even though this was an easy winter, those signs of spring are welcome. We used to live in New Hampshire, and when we moved I said the only thing I didn't miss was the long winter. I've been here three times as long as I lived there and I love it here, but I am glad that winter around here is a little shorter. Of course, I wouldn't want NO winter, either. That's what I love about New England - seasons and their constant change. Just when you start to get tired of a season, it moves on and changes. Of course, that goes for weather in any given week, and sometimes in a day!

spicebush (Lindera benzoin)

shadbush (Amelanchier canadensis)

spring is here

2010-03-21T14:27:00.002-04:00

New colors for the new season.
And here are a few pictures of blooms from my yard yesterday.

crocus

primrose

pulmonaria

Now, since spring has sprung, a new year is beginning in many ways. I've got nearly a year of pics of Round Meadow on the left column of this blog. I'm going to start a new series of a different view. I can't decide if I prefer the "back woods" - the woods in back of my house, or "shadbush" - a shrub in my front yard. Opinions?

As with Round Meadow, I'll do a sort-of-weekly photo through the seasons.

2010-03-19T17:00:00.000-04:00

Signs of spring... tulips peeking up, perennial herbs resprouting, primroses blooming, shadbush and lilac buds swelling and turning green, new and more bird songs...

and baby painted turtles...

like this one I found at work today. It was on a busy path, so we moved it closer to the pond it was heading toward

aural spring

2010-03-18T21:48:00.000-04:00

This morning I heard my first wood frogs of the season, and this evening I heard my first peepers of the season. We are tumbling head over heels into spring!
If you'd like to hear what I heard today, and a bunch of other frogs as well, try this website - it's from Canada, but you can get the idea of what they sound like. (I'm sure frog accents aren't any more difficult to understand than any other Canadian's.)

signs of spring

2010-03-17T15:54:00.001-04:00

Here are a few images with honest-to-goodness signs of spring. The thermometer outside my window (which is not in the sun, but is in a warm, protected spot) reads 70ºF right now, and the forecast is for more of this in the next several days.

daffodils

trillium (if I didn't know where to look, I would have missed it)

ferns

water

2010-03-17T15:00:00.000-04:00

I have a new little waterfall, after all that rain - 3 days of it! - last weekend. The part of the stream on the upper right used to flow only during heavy rainstorms, but I think now it may be permanent. Or semi-permanent - my stream is what it termed "intermittent" which means that it dries up at times. I will be interested to see what this area does now, and if the stream will have an additional segment, or if it will be rerouted. I'll let you know...

flood

2010-03-14T16:11:00.001-04:00

We've had a lot of rain since yesterday.

Here's the precipitation report as of a little earlier today.

Precipitation Accumulation
Precipitation Amount
1.18 inches	In the 3 hours preceding Mar 14, 2010 - 10:56 AM EDT / 2010.03.14 1456 UTC
1.71 inches	In the 6 hours preceding Mar 14, 2010 - 01:56 PM EDT / 2010.03.14 1756 UTC
3.54 inches	In the 24 hours preceding Mar 14, 2010 - 07:56 AM EDT / 2010.03.14 1156 UTC

If you click the weather link under the moon phase widget you can get the current report.

My little pond and stream are overflowing and the stream now has several branches, which I know from experience are temporary, but they are still impressive.

stream flooding below my house

I'll need a kayak to get to the house!

the pond today - can you see the waterfall?

the pond last fall - full, but normal

trees

2010-03-12T17:34:00.009-05:00

Trees are living things. Being a living thing means that the thing must die some day. That fact seems much sadder for animals (including birds, insects, etc.) than for plants, for some reason. Maybe because we don't think plants have emotions? Anyway, while we seldom spend a great deal of time observing dead animals - they tend to get stinky, for one thing, and decomposers work pretty fast on them, for another - dead plants can be fascinating.
And since trees are the biggest plants we have, they tend to last quite a long time after they die. In fact, they are an integral part of their ecosystems, even after they stop photosynthesizing.
They provide food directly for decomposers, an indirectly for birds and other creatures that eat the decomposers. As the parts rot away, the nutrients held within those parts go back into the food cycle, feeding young plants - maybe even a tree's own seed.
Dead trees also provide habitat for insects, birds and mammals. Insects burrow under the bark, or even into the decaying wood. Birds can still build nests in the branches until they break off, and cavity nesters (birds that nest in holes) excavate nests, or take over nests excavated by others. Squirrels and blue jays, among others, will store nuts in holes in trees. Possums will sleep away chilly winter days in large tree holes stuffed with leaves and other warmth-conserving materials. Fishers will raise families in tree cavities.
And dead trees can give us interesting images to consider as well. On my walk this afternoon, I noticed a tree that was clearly dead, and rotted around the bottom. It looks like any slight breeze could knock it over. I went over and gently pushed on the trunk. It is still pretty stable - I'm sure a strong wind could take it down, but my nudging barely made it move.
After that, I kept noticing dead trees. Here are pics of several that were interesting in one way or another....

oak

another oak

too decayed to identify

white pine

same pine, up close

cedar

another cedar

another oak

At this time of year, many trees look "dead" with all their leaves gone, but if you look closely at the twig tips you will see the buds of this coming year's growth. Those buds were formed as last summer was ending, and they sit there all winter, waiting for warmth and light to release them. The flowers and leaves will emerge and the living tree will continue to grow.

weather

2010-03-11T21:07:00.000-05:00

We've just come off several gorgeous sunny days. As I write this, it is raining, and predicted to do so for the next few days, but up until this morning spring has been building. It has even remained above freezing at night! The problem with that is that for the sap to run in the maple trees, it needs to be above freezing during the day and below freezing at night. Ideally, it is about 40ºF during the day, or a little warmer, and about 20ºF at night. If it is too cold, the sap will freeze up and stop running. If it is too warm, the sap stops running also. So this year will probably be a poor syrup year. The winter wasn't very cold around here, and now it is warm already. Good thing I have some syrup left from last year.

twisted branches

glorious

2010-03-07T19:28:00.000-05:00

What a day! Cardinals singing to start off the beautiful morning, and then a wonderful two-and-a-half hour walk, part of which was through areas I have not been in for a very long time. Perfect weather - no jacket!!!
This walk was through the property that lies behind my house, so parts are very familiar to me, but other parts are less so - I tend to be a creature of habit, and often follow the same routes. This land, more than 250 acres, is owned by the town adjacent to mine. I live on the edge of my town, and when I look out my back windows I see into the next town - though you'd never know, because it is all woods (second growth pine-oak forest, in case you are interested).
This land is town-owned, but it is not in conservation. It could theoretically be developed. It is called land-locked because it is surrounded on two sides by major highways, and on the others by residential areas, putting it in a restricted access situation. There is no automobile access to the area (other than parking for walkers, bikers, skiers, etc.) so development would be very expensive since a bridge or a tunnel would need to be built to cross a 6-lane state highway (there is no room for an entrance/exit ramp). BUT this has not stopped some people from thinking that such a project would be financially feasible.
Part of the town's water supply comes from this land, so it would behoove the selectmen to advise town meeting to do everything possible to preserve the land and prohibit development. Any building would have to protect the water sources, and there are vernal pools on the parcel, which are protected by state law and cannot be destroyed or filled, but wouldn't it be better for all concerned if the land were to simply remain open space?
There is already a power line easement over part of the property, and also a natural-gas line easement. Both of these areas are kept relatively clear of brush, and provide excellent edge habitat for quite a number of birds, and plenty of other wild critters as well. We saw a red-tail hawk circling as we were starting our walk.
There is, fortunately, a group working to get this property put into conservation in perpetuity. This is the group that organized the walk I went on this morning - and into the afternoon. Now, because I live in a different town, there is not much I can do to further the land protection issue, so I feel a little helpless, but I do what I can to support the project - such as adding some natural history knowledge on walks like this morning's.
The tricky part of this situation is that the only really legal access to the land is from a residential area in a different town (my town), so many residents don't know how to get to the area, and since it is not officially conservation land, there are no funds for signage and trail marking, etc. I kind of like the fact that it is "secret", but I also want it to be protected, and the only way to do that seems to be by telling lots of people about it, so they get excited and interested, and tell their town meeting members and selectmen that the land should be preserved.
Another interesting facet of this property is that many years ago, it was used as a car dump. You can find some really interesting old car parts from the 40's and 50's, as well as a few newer dumps. Of course there are also old batteries, tires, and lots of broken glass that can't possibly be good for the critters that call that area home. Sometimes people have paintball wars back there, and sometimes kids start brush fires while goofing around, but most of the people who use it are respectful - mountain bikers, runners, walkers and such.

If I had a zillion dollars maybe I'd buy the whole piece and donate it for public use. Wouldn't that be nice? But it ain't gonna happen any time soon! You can learn more about the Land Locked Forest here.

vernal

2010-03-02T15:06:00.001-05:00

I'm definitely feeling spring today. It is over 40ºF today, and the sap is running in the sugar maples. The sun is out, sort of, and the air has a scent and feel to it that connote spring and warm weather coming. I can't take a picture of it, and I can't think of words to describe it, but it must be a combination of the wind, the mud, the sun, fattening buds, bright birdsong, and probably many other elements. It is not received by a single sense, but by all in combination - is there a word for that? It is not tactile, but neither is it an emotion. It is very comprehensive, physically and psychically, and I know exactly what it means even though I cannot describe it either way, or any other way very well, apparently. Maybe you already know what I mean! It is a knowing, an understanding, of the natural world, and I suppose that it is what has helped us survive for so many eons in so many places. I wonder how long it will last.

blue jay feather

weather

2010-02-26T19:32:00.000-05:00

Today we had sun, clouds, rain, snow, sleet, lightning & thunder, all in rotation. It was definitely interesting. And not really the kind of good weather for getting sap running. For good syrup weather you need cool nights, around 20ºF, and warm days, around 40ºF. Sap will eventually run anyway, but that is what works the best. Buckets have been hung, so it is time to go!

rainy day

2010-02-24T16:42:00.002-05:00

Be careful what you wish for, you might get it. Yeah, I said the other day that I'd like a thaw or a snowstorm - well, I'm getting thaw, but in the form of buckets of rain. Not really what I had in mind, but there you go - weather! Things are looking a little floody, given that the ground is frozen. There was some wet snow on the ground this morning, but since daylight it's just been rain. And more in the forecast for tomorrow.

I did at least hear the cardinal singing his bright spring song today.

And I'm not sure who was trying to eat from my birdfeeders, but one of them was on the ground, empty this morning.

overflowing pond & waterfall

limbo

2010-02-21T16:23:00.001-05:00

This is the part of winter where we need either a good thaw or a big snowstorm. Everything is icy and crunchy and getting old. Sure, the chickadees are calling "spring's here" and the witch hazel is beginning to pop and the light is getting brighter, but it is still windy and chilly and most definitely winter - we need a little excitement! So I say, give us a couple of days with temps in the 50s, or else a good dumping of snow so we can get in some more skiing.

I did see some frozen footprints on my little bridge this morning, going up the path, but the weren't clear enough for me to determine if they were fisher or raccoon. It's still nice to know that whoever it is, is around.

And here are some rodent tunnels I saw yesterday. Of course, they aren't tunnels any more, since the tops have melted off.... And that might be a fisher print off to the left side - I didn't notice it when I was taking the photo (too busy focusing on the tunnels, I guess), and back here at home I can't look for other clues in situ.

sun again

2010-02-11T14:53:00.000-05:00

The predicted snowstorm never materialized yesterday. We got an inch, tops, and it has mostly melted in today's beautiful sunshine. Take a look at the round meadow to the left - you wouldn't believe it snowed at all yesterday.

The following picture, of some scat, won't appeal to everyone, I suppose, but look at this! I can't say what animal it came from, other than a small one, but I can tell you that whatever it was, ate bittersweet berries - nothing else around here has that vivid orange color.

bittersweet scat

(from a chipmunk? skunk?)

snowstorm

2010-02-10T16:04:00.000-05:00

Yesterday seemed like spring. It really wasn't that warm - maybe 35ºF - but the sun was shining and it hadn't been above freezing for quite a while, so it was very pleasant.
Today we are having a snowstorm. Nothing like what the mid-Atlantic region has been putting up with, and not even as much as has been predicted, but it is definitely snowing. School was cancelled, although it didn't need to be - the snow didn't start in earnest until 3pm. Oh well.

snowstorm

raccoon tracks

2010-02-04T18:28:00.003-05:00

I spent quite a while today following a raccoon trail. It was clearly a well-used trail - there were many tracks going in both directions. There were also many side tracks. I'm guessing the coons are living under my neighbor's deck, judging from where the tracks seemed to come from - I decided not to trespass and follow the tracks into their yard. Then I followed the tracks out from the house line and through the woods for quite a ways. One interesting thing I noticed was that whenever there was a downed tree lying in the general direction of the trail, the coons would walk on the tree trunk, instead of on the ground. The tracks were very clear in some places because we had a dusting of snow the other night. In other places I had to look carefully around where the snow had melted away to find where the trail picked up again. I have no idea how many raccoons are out there, but there are a LOT of tracks. They often stopped around dead trees, as if looking for snacks there. I followed the tracks all the way down to a swamp where the trail led onto the ice. I continued to follow it for a while, but then I started to see open water as I got closer to the stream that runs through the swampy area. Not wanting to walk all the way home wet and muddy - it was pretty cold here today - I headed off the ice and back toward home. As I came back to the (human) trail I found no people tracks, but more coon tracks!

coon tracks on ice

coon tracks up close

Another cool thing - my new phone has a GPS in it, so I tried it out today, and I could see where I was walking on a map! I knew where I was the whole time because I was in an area near my home, but it was neat to think that if I were in some unfamiliar place, I could find my way out to a road - assuming there is a GPS signal of course, and that the battery isn't dead.
I'm not generally a techie, but some new things are just so cool!

winter view

2010-02-03T15:39:00.000-05:00

This is a scene I saw on my afternoon walk yesterday. It is a stream that runs into a swampy area where there are lots of red-wing blackbirds in the spring and summer. Yesterday and today all is pretty monochromatic - that's February in New England.

winter swamp

This photo is from my new phone - not too bad, really.

hawk, sunset

2010-01-31T19:41:00.003-05:00

In the middle of the day today I saw a biggish bird fly over our house from the front to the back. I thought, by the color and size, that it was a mourning dove - we have lots of those. But then my daughter called for me to look out the back window. There was a hawk there in one of the trees, quite close to the house - and the birdfeeders, which I'm sure were the attraction of that perch. It was, I believe, a juvenile sharp-shinned hawk. It could, perhaps, have been a broad-winged hawk - I wish I were better at hawk ids. Anyway - here is a through-the-window photo of the bird, just before it took off and flew out of sight.

sharpie (Accipiter striatus)

My afternoon walk was late today - after sunset, but before the light was all gone. There were some lovely clouds colored by the last few rays of light.

a few minutes before 5pm

a few minutes past 5pm

later that day...

2010-01-28T13:38:00.001-05:00

The sun was out earlier, and now it is snowing lightly. Here's that same witch hazel in the early afternoon.

What a difference a few hours can make!

just checking

2010-01-28T08:54:00.002-05:00

Here are some photos of my witch hazel this morning. It didn't look like much a couple of weeks ago, but look at it now. I know that it can be explained by science, but it sure looks like magic.

Before you know it, we'll have flowers!

wintergreen

2010-01-26T16:13:00.001-05:00

spotted wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata)

January thaw

2010-01-26T14:43:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we had loads of rain. NOAA says just over an inch, but it felt like more - I suppose because of all the snow melting along with the falling rain. Temps reached the high 50's around here, and my stream is really rushing. Today is still warm - in the 40's - and mostly sunny.
The other thing I noticed yesterday is that it was still not quite dark at 5pm, and on a rainy day! That is inspiring.