Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Early Winter Gray
It is one of those early winter days that is cool, but not cold, and gray. In fact, it is warm enough that thunder is rumbling around. We've had lightening and a little hail storm. The hail was BB -sized and came down while the sun was brightly shining. If you closed your eyes and didn't look outside or at a calendar, it would almost remind you of spring. But, it's just the unsettled prelude to the cold of the coming winter.
Birds have been visiting our feeder regularly. You can see the little Downey Woodpecker just below the suet hanging on the Maple tree. We have Jays, Nuthatch, Chickadees, Redbellied Woodpeckers, Cardinals, Goldfinch, Titmouse, Dove, and Robins. I haven't ever seen the Robins eat any of the seeds, but they scratch around in the mulch on the garden. I've been trying to get a closeup of the Chickadees on the feeder we have hanging off the deck railing, but they are too shy.
I found a buck scrape in the back lot. It doesn't seem very big, so I'm guessing it is a younger, less experienced buck. He has, however, done a good job marking several trees and scattering his dung about. There isn't a strong smell, so I'm sure he was up to his shenanigans much earlier in the fall. These saplings are from seeds scattered by critters eating the fruits of O'Dell's trees. They are pear and apple and attract deer and possums among others. One tree (a pear) remains propped with the piece of PVC pipe O'Dell put there years ago. These trees are just uphill from the blackberry brambles that O'Dell planted. I imagine I'll get out the weed eater this spring and cut more paths for berry picking. We had good access to the berries last year. The hot and very dry weather didn't make for very good berries, however.
Birds have been visiting our feeder regularly. You can see the little Downey Woodpecker just below the suet hanging on the Maple tree. We have Jays, Nuthatch, Chickadees, Redbellied Woodpeckers, Cardinals, Goldfinch, Titmouse, Dove, and Robins. I haven't ever seen the Robins eat any of the seeds, but they scratch around in the mulch on the garden. I've been trying to get a closeup of the Chickadees on the feeder we have hanging off the deck railing, but they are too shy.
I found a buck scrape in the back lot. It doesn't seem very big, so I'm guessing it is a younger, less experienced buck. He has, however, done a good job marking several trees and scattering his dung about. There isn't a strong smell, so I'm sure he was up to his shenanigans much earlier in the fall. These saplings are from seeds scattered by critters eating the fruits of O'Dell's trees. They are pear and apple and attract deer and possums among others. One tree (a pear) remains propped with the piece of PVC pipe O'Dell put there years ago. These trees are just uphill from the blackberry brambles that O'Dell planted. I imagine I'll get out the weed eater this spring and cut more paths for berry picking. We had good access to the berries last year. The hot and very dry weather didn't make for very good berries, however.
