A Second Look--March 11, 2015

The weather warmed this week and the snow has started to melt. I finally made it out for a good look around the yard to see what I might find under and on top of the snow.  It had entirely melted in some places and in others it was about six inches deep and difficult to walk through. I found a few broken branches and lots of animal tracks--mostly deer.  The next day after doing a little research about the tracks, I decided that I would show some of them to you this week. If I had only known that was what I was going to do, I might have taken some more representative shots with something for scale. However, the rain came and I decided that what I had would have to do.

Here are a few things I saw this week during a Second Look. The first few pictures are of tracks and the last few are just a few other scenes I saw..

Among the deer trails, were drag marks which are characteristic of a buck. Because bucks walk with somewhat stiff legs they drag their hooves as they walk. We rarely see a buck among the deer that visit us, but apparently he was out during this recent snow. The picture on the right is from last October.

It's not very clear, but there are no drag marks between the hooves on the left. They very well could have been made by the group of does on the right. The deer were having an afternoon snooze as the rain was waning and the fog was rolling in.

When I first saw these prints, I thought they were from a rabbit. (I may have even called them that last year in a post.) However, it's more likely that they were made from a squirrel. A rabbit's hind feet are offset with one in front of another, while a squirrel's are not.

There were plenty of crows around during the snow storm, but I didn't seem to get any pictures. This picture on the right is from last January.

These are the best kind of prints to see during a snow if you want to make it to work the next day.

Thankful Sunday--March 8, 2015

I am thankful that I have sisters to be silly with sometimes.

My sisters and I are usually reserved kind of people--that is until we get together. Then you can never be sure what is going to happen. And for that I am thankful. 

(Can you guess which of us were cheerleaders and which of us were majorettes in our earlier days?)

Snow Day

Every once in a while, there is enough snow that my library is closed and I don't have to go to work. Today is one of those days. So what have I done with my extra time? A little of this and a little of that and a lot of nothing. It's been a great day.

My Snow Day

It started snowing this morning and is still going. Before it's all done, we should have over 8".

My day began with the determination to get a lot done.  I started with the laundry.

Next, I was going to work on taxes. However, I was distracted by the birds outside.

Ward, who was teleworking today, turned his chair around so he could see out the window

Then we were both distracted by a squirrel on the main bird feeder. This is the first time we've had a squirrel on this feeder since we put up the cone-shaped baffle. I hope this is a fluke of the extra snow height that it had to jump from.

Now back to the taxes. I was almost to the tax papers when I passed by my library book and thought there wouldn't be any harm reading a few pages.

Then Ward called and asked what this crested bird was. I told him it was a tufted titmouse.

Along about now, I was starting to get hungry. I thought I couldn't concentrate properly on the taxes if I were hungry. So after a snack, I made some spinach lasagna.

In the meantime, Ward was tired of sitting and decided to do some shoveling.

It will be dark soon, so I've decided the best use of my time would be a to do a little more bird watching. I'll work on the taxes after the sun goes down.

A Second Look--March 4, 2015

Sunday, we canceled our planned activities and spent the whole day indoors because of an ice storm. Even though we didn't go out, once again we enjoyed the show the birds and critters provided. Along about the middle of the afternoon, what did to my wondering eyes appear? A pileated woodpecker!
She was noshing on a suet cake with all of her beauty and grandeur. Although we see other woodpeckers in abundance, we only see a pileated one about once or twice a year. I was excited to say the least.

Here are a few things I saw this week

during a Second Look.

Sunday morning began with snow and turned to sleet and freezing rain in the afternoon.

We always see plenty of juncos around the area of feeder.

But what we hadn't noticed until last weekend was the huge littering of sunflower seed shells under the patio table. Apparently, the juncos have been getting seeds from the feeder and going under the table to eat them.

The suet disappears a lot faster when the squirrels are eating than when the birds are.

On the left is the pileated woodpecker that visited. As soon as she left, a male downy woodpecker (right) flew in. Downy woodpeckers are the most common kind we see at the feeder. Notice how much bigger the pileated one is.

This is the pileated taking off just before the downy flew in. The pileateds are known for the white under their wings which is very evident here. I also find it interesting that, even with that big wing flap, her toes are still anchored to the feeder.

Thankful Sunday--March 1, 2015

I am thankful Spring is only 20 days away.

A sign of Spring in years past.

No signs of Spring yet except on the calendar, but it never fails to show up. And for that I am thankful (and hopeful).