Gift of Nature....

This picture of my oldest son makes me smile and it also makes me realize I did what I set out to do as a mother. I gifted my four sons with a great love of the natural world. I don't think there is anything I could have done with my life that was more important then raising my boys. They are my pride and joy.

Pileated Woodpecker

Sitting drinking coffee on this gorgeous Sunday morning, an extra hour in my back pocket as it's daylight savings time. Suddenly I spy a large bird over on the side yard. A Pileated Woodpecker! I watched him for a good 15 minutes pecking holes in a dead tree and feeding on grubs. At one point one of the baby red squirrels saw him in her tree and tried to chase him! Round and round the tree they went, the Pileated didn't give up his prime grub hole, lil Red left. It's going to be a great day, nice mild temperature, sunny skies and a whole day in front of me to get out there and explore.

If you can do one thing to help nature at home, it would be to leave dead trees in your yard stand. At the very least have them cut to a manageable size if you fear them falling. So many species of birds and mammals are dependent on dead trees to feed and nest. Not only would you help some birds and mammals survive, you would open up an opportunity to observe them and add a little nature joy to your life.

Hawk Watch

I've had a great Hawk Watch season. I've enjoyed the birds and the company of my fellow Hawk Watchers. Hawk Watchers are a great group of people who are for the most part very different then regular birders. Identifying and counting Hawks at a long distance is a specialized skill that you can't learn from a field guide. You have to get out there and just do it. It takes a lot of time out in the field to learn how to ID the birds in all wind and light conditions. You end of spending a ton of time with people from all walks of life. I'm never sorry for the time I put into the watch each year. We are only 2 dozen birds away from our goal of 10,000.

Hike

Gorgeous November 1st hike. What a contrast the white snow and the colorful leaves made against a brilliant blue sky. I felt blessed to be alive. I hadn't been out for a week and this hike was so needed after my oldest son leaving the nest on the 31st. I felt like a completely new person after-wards.

Large flocks of Cowbirds in the yard. Ruby and Golden Crowned-kinglets continue in my yard and the woods. Bears still hanging around. Both Gray Squirrels and two Reds also continue at the bird feeder at least once per day. Wildlife call for a Brant. Wrens have taken up residence in the Paper wasp nest.

Oct 29th Snow Storm

What is a true friend? One that comes out in a snow storm to bring you a Paper wasp nest so that your resident Carolina Wrens have a warm place to sleep at night! The other night with a threat of frost I brought in the two ferns that hang on the front porch. I put them in the family room. Monty didn't see me move them, so when he went to go in the family room, he got a bit upset as to what was on the floor. I walked him over to the plants and suddenly a bird flies out of the fern! OH NO....I knew immediately it was one of the wrens. As we were trying to catch this poor bird, my son comes in the room and asks why there is a bird flying around the FR? We were in the LR....YIKES now there was two in the house. I managed to catch them, put the ferns and birds in the breezeway. Early in the morning I opened the door and they both flew out, none worse the wear for their experience. My friend had offered me a big beautiful nest a few weeks back, we were waiting for a killing freeze. I texted him to see if he still had the nest for me, told him the story, yes he had already cut it down. I never made it over his house to pick it up. During the early hours of the crazy snowstorm, he shows up at my house with the nest. I hung it on the front porch and almost immediately the wrens were there checking it out. I know were there are two more big nests this year, both are too high and hanging over ponds for me to collect. Grateful to my friend!

Junco

Bird of yesterday, White Thoated Sparrows, they have arrived in great numbers. Also had Winter Wren,Hermit Thrush, Kinglets up at the Co. Park. Bird of today was Bluebird! Dozens at all different spots around the fields.

First Junco under the feeder, can winter be far behind? Still no more monarchs last two days.

Bear pics

No monarchs yesterday, I'm sad to see them go.

Great day...I'm back

Bear at our land.

I'm having a blissful morning. There is NOTHING that I have to do today.No one is at home which is so rare. I'm Drinking coffee, enjoying my wonderful peaceful life and doing some writing. I did some thinking yesterday while I spent seven hours up at the Hawk Watch. How lucky am I to be living this life, that when I was a kid I could only dream about? I grew up in the heart of suburbia. I so wanted to live in an area that I could immerse myself in Nature everyday. Some how, I've made it happen. For the last 23 years I've lived in this beautiful town, surrounded by more wildlife on a daily basis then most people see in a lifetime. I can look out my window and see one of the most magnificent creatures that live on earth, bears. I have several parks where I can be enjoying the outdoors with in minutes of deciding to go. I can't even begin to imagine just how awesome it will be to finally build our log cabin on that gorgeous piece of property that has even more wildlife then where we live now. And recently becoming a certified naturalist and wildlife rehabilitater. My heart is singing....LIFE IS INDEED GOOD!

Nice Backyard birds this am Y.B.Sapsucker, RC Kinglet. first W.T. Sparrow! Lots of chickadees, Nuthatch and TTmouse.

Awesome hike up in the Co. Park. The most gorgeous fall day I can ever remember and no one, not a single soul was up on the trails or in the fields! There are literally thousands of cars cursing into Warwick to enjoy the Fall colors, but no one hits the trails. Birds of note today Swainsons thrush, Towee, Kinglets, W.T. Sparrow, first Junco of the year and the bird of the day....is the WB Nuthatch! They were everywhere!

Hawk watch count for yesterday, with Westerly winds and complete cloud cover, 173 birds total, 4 Bald eagles and 5 Merlin. Also saw 3 Brant flying with a canada goose. 11 Monach butterflies.

Birds

Yesterday the first of the W.T. Sparrows have started to return to our area. Today there are even more up at CL Park. Ruby-Crowned Kinglets, Golden-Crowned Kinglets and Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers (2) are around. Prarie and Yellow-Rumped Warblers. More chickadees, Nuthatch and Tufted Titmouse are hanging around the feeders.

Feeling lost.....

There is nothing on this earth that feeds my soul better then getting out into nature daily. No matter how I'm feeling it always helps me to see the world clearly again. It is my drug of choice to heal my heavy heart. I can fully escape from what ever is getting me down just by stepping out into the woods. It helps me to make decisions that getting clouded by the chaos of daily living. I now know why I'm feeling so lost with out my Petey....he was my hiking partner, he was part of my nature tonic for the last four and a half years. When I'm out there, I miss him terribly. I feel like my soul is screaming for him. I feel lost. He wasn't *just a dog*, he was my dog. My constant companion, he knew me inside and out. I miss the simple bliss of just being with him sitting on the side of a mountain or in a pine forest, or at the side of a lake. I miss his zoomies, always thanking me for taking him. I miss his Dobe smile, his utter joy of living in the moment. I miss him making me go for a hike by poking me and barking at me until I put my shoes on. I MISS PETEY. What we had was very special. I hope that Monty and I can build the same kind of quiet understanding, the same bond. I know it will take time, strong bonds with dogs are earned with time together. For now.....we are out there everyday working on it, in Petey's honor.

Random Fall wanderings...

We have yet to have our first frost. Many monarchs continue to gather on the last of the Butterfly blooms. We lost some of our leaves during the rain over the weekend, but many trees have not even changed yet, it will be an extended Fall color change, to the delight of all the leafers who travel north to see them in all their spender. This morning, two Red squirrels were hanging around the feeders as well as both Gray Squirrels. Seeing them all doing well put a smile on my face first thing today.

Oops someone left the fryer pot on the deck

This is what happens when you leave a large pot full of cooking oil on an open deck and there are hungry bears roaming around. We had people to dinner and ended up running out and forgetting to lock the pot back up in the garage. Derek was in the Living room in the early hours of this morning when he heard a loud crash. He looked outside to see the mess.

The weather is GORGEOUS this weekend. Last night we had a small gathering of friends and family up at our Tipi. The moon came up while we were all arriving, it was stunning. The air was crisp and scented with fall. We hope to spend much more time at the tipi now that we have furniture. I feel so at home on our land.

Hawk Watch on Friday was a bust, 6 total birds, rainy on and off all day. I do love being up there and watching the change of seasons. Having so many hours to stand in one spot helps me to stay in the moment and really observe nature, each minute detail of it.

Red Squirrels go free

Today was the day to let the five little girl Red Squirrels free. Once the cage was opened it didn't take long for them to come out and begin to explore. With in a half hour all were in trees. Miss them already, but know in my heart freedom is all that matters to a wild animal. Wildlife Rehabilitation is very rewarding work. I'm glad that I decided to work on my bucket list now rather then later....because already I'm starting to check things off, one from way back was to get my Rehabilitators license. Another dream was to become a Naturalist, that I accomplished two weeks ago. I'm now working on becoming a Certified Master Naturalist. There is so much to learn and do... Life IS Good!

Gray Squirrel Rehabs

The two gray rehabs are doing really well,they were released a week ago. The last two days they have showed up at the feeder in the afternoon. They both look healthy.

Fall Hike 10-11-11