At The Water

Brown Creeper

2012-02-13T06:00:00.000-06:00

This is the first winter that a Brown Creeper has hung around. It sure does work the trees.

It also is one of my nemesis birds. No matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to get a really good picture of it. It may just be the fact that it is a really small bird that blends into the tree and always on the move, that causes all the problems. You can see what I mean in the following pictures.

Common Whitetail, Female

2012-02-12T06:00:00.000-06:00

This is an interesting and first Common Whitetail I've seen. Picture was taken up at Hasty Brook last August. I'm not used to seeing stocky dragonflies.

It is often confused with a Twelve-spotted Skimmer but the side stripes are angled on the CW.

Familiar Bluet

2012-02-11T06:00:00.000-06:00

This little dragonfly (1.4 inch.) I've seen around quite often in the fall. It is also one of the dragonflies that is easy to miss identification on. One of the chief ID features is the eyespot which is usually small and round or comma shaped on the Familiar but is large and round on the Northern Bluet.

If I missed the ID on this dragon, please let me know...I'm really new at this.

Downy Woodpecker

2012-02-10T06:00:00.000-06:00

I was out on one of those mornings after a night of heavy fog, trying for some pictures of the hoar frost, when this little male Downy Woodpecker decided to pose for me.

Sharp-shinned Hawk

2012-02-09T06:00:00.003-06:00

As I was looking out the window of the garage early one morning, this Sharp-shinned Hawk flew in and took a perch of the feeder post. It eyed the neighborhood and then made a quick dart to the bottom of the LP tank.

It kept running around the end trying to get at something under the tank. Since there is maybe an inch clearance and I had seen a short tailed shrew in that area in the past, I figured that was what it was going after. The shrew couldn't have picked a better place to build a nest...nothing could get to it and there was plenty of food around.

After about 5 minutes of watching the hawk, I decided the shrew could use my help. I picked up my camera and went slowly outside. I figured the hawk would leave but instead it perched on the railing of the compost pile and just looked at me while keeping a close eye on where the shrew would be.

I took the first two pictures from about 25-30 feet and the last one at about 15 feet. After about 5 minutes the hawk gave up and went out to terrorize the sparrows.

You probably noticed that this is a fairly large bird for a Sharpie. Doing a little figuring on the first picture where you can see the 2x4 the bird was setting on, I came up with about a 12" bird. This figure would make it a female since the avg. male size is around 10" and the females are bigger birds.

The bird was back a couple of days later and I managed only one shot with my old lens (the good one is in for some repairs) when it was perched on top of the brush pile. The second picture is a cropped version of the first.

Am. Goldfinch

2012-02-08T06:00:00.000-06:00

Bluejay

2012-02-07T06:00:00.001-06:00

White-breasted Nuthatch

2012-02-06T06:00:00.006-06:00

Common Green Darner

2012-02-05T06:00:00.000-06:00

As you can tell from the pictures, this is a large dragonfly (about 3 inches). I might also add that it is also a very active and strong-flying one also. I followed this female Common Green Darner around for about half a hour trying to get pictures. The males have a blue body with a black dorsal stripe and the females and immature males have a brick red to violet-red abdomen. The males have olive-green eyes and the females are brown. Both have a bull's-eye pattern on the forehead.

Female Meadowhawk

2012-02-04T06:00:00.000-06:00

The female Meadowhawk have the same face colors as the males but the body color is a dull olive-brown. The first picture is of the female White-faced, the second is an immature female and the next two are of a female Ruby Meadowhawk.

Am. Crow

2012-02-03T06:00:00.000-06:00

I have a few crows that visit the feeders every so often. While the pictures could be a little clearer, I still like them because they give you a feel of the size/bulk of these birds. I also like how the pictures show that crows aren't really black but also have a lot of blue-black feathers.

Hairy Woodpecker

2012-02-02T06:00:00.000-06:00

Blue Jay

2012-02-01T06:00:00.000-06:00

More Red-bellied Woodpeckers

2012-01-31T06:00:00.000-06:00

Red-bellied Woodpecker

2012-01-30T06:00:00.000-06:00

Male Ruby Meadowhaawk

2012-01-29T06:00:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was the White-faced, so today a Ruby Meadowhawk. Note that the face is straw colored.

Male White-faced Meadowhawk

2012-01-28T06:00:00.003-06:00

Here are a few pictures from last summer of a male White-faced Meadowhawk. It's about an inch and a quarter long and kind of fun to chase around to try and get some decent pictures. The abdomen is red with black triangles on the lower sides and the eyes are rusty brown. The face color is variable; typically pure white in the White-faced and dull straw-colored in the Ruby Meadowhawk. I should add that I'm not that great at identifying dragonflies, so let me know if I'm wrong.

Male Northern Cardinal

2012-01-27T06:00:00.000-06:00

With the weather finally turning cold, the Cardinals are feeding throughout the day instead of their usual dusk and dawn feeding periods. I thought I had 2 males and one female but it turns out to be 4 males and 1 female. At least that's what I've been seeing at the moment but more may show up as time goes on.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

2012-01-26T06:00:00.001-06:00

Lots of RBW pictures over the next week or so. I've noticed that it's either feast or famine when it comes to woodpecker photos and right now it's a huge banquet for me. I'm guessing that this little female is a young bird probably from this years hatch.

Red (Pine) Squirrel

2012-01-25T06:00:00.001-06:00

Still my favorite squirrel especially when they are back lite early in the day.

Footprints in the snow

2012-01-24T06:00:00.001-06:00

OK...so they are not really footprints but actually paw prints but you have to admit, they do look like footprints.

I put out a bowl of food each night for the feral cats and other critters because I found that if they have something to eat each night, they tend to leave the birds alone during the day. Seems like a fair trade to me, besides everything needs to eat especially in the winter.

Anyway, I found these prints next to the dog dish. My first thought was human prints but didn't think this was even a remote possibility. I took me a few minutes of research to find out what had left these. I have to admit I have seen may of the critters around but guess I've never seen their tracks and frankly, didn't expect to see them now that's it's cold with some snow on the ground.

The prints are from the hind paws of a raccoon. Based on the size, I would say that is probably a pretty good sized one at that.

Dark-eyed Junco

2012-01-23T06:00:00.000-06:00

Red (Pine) Squirrel

2012-01-20T06:00:00.000-06:00

I heard something !!!

There it is !!!

Ignore it !!!

Black-capped Chicadee

2012-01-19T06:00:00.002-06:00

House Sparrows enjoying the sun

2012-01-18T06:00:00.000-06:00

Downy Woodpecker

2012-01-17T06:00:00.001-06:00

Last week was not a great week for taking pictures with heavy gray overcast, snow flurries and several days of 20 - 30 mph winds. I still managed to get enough random pictures for all the posts for this week. I really need some great, sunny days with lots of bird activity to build up my files since I need to send my camera lens in for some needed repairs. Not only does it need to be cleaned and tightened but I've lost the auto focus in the 50 - 125 mm range. I still have my other lens but the Sigma 50-500mm one is my favorite.

I call them Gypsies

2012-01-16T06:00:00.002-06:00

In Minnesota during the winter months, you can see these little trailers for ice fishing spread out over most lakes.

People call these people "Ice Fisherman" but I call them "Gypsies". Like Gypsies they tend to travel a lot, they always seem to arrive in small caravans (like this group), and they only stay a few days since they never seem to be satisfied on where they are at.

They arrive by various means of locomotion ranging from ATV's to trucks and I even saw one trailer being moved with a lawn mower tractor. Like Gypsies, their little houses come in many shapes, colors, and range in size from one man tents to small mini-homes sleeping 6 to 8 people. I've even seen pictures of some equipped with large screen TV's and hot tubs. (I always wonder how much fishing they actually do with this setup.)

Hairy Woodpecker

2012-01-13T06:00:00.000-06:00

Red-bellied Woodpecker on a windy day

2012-01-12T06:00:00.000-06:00

Strange Year on the Lake

2012-01-11T06:00:00.001-06:00

This, so far, has been a strange winter. As I'm making up this post of Thurs. (1/5), the outside temp is 55 and there isn't a bit of snow on the ground. Last year at this time we had 41 inches of snow. As much as I dislike the snow, we need it badly for moisture since we had little or none in the fall months. The lake level is about 2 feet lower then last year at this time. Last year everyone (not me) complained about high water levels, so that means this year they'll complain about low water levels.

The lake froze over around the 6th of December and the weather stayed cold long enough to build up 6 to 8 inches of ice. Then I warmed up and all the ice next to the shore melted. Next, a strong north wind blew for a couple of days and the whole ice sheet on the lake moved toward our side of the lake. The cooling, warming, and windy days has occurred 3 or 4 times so far this winter. You can see the results of this weather pattern on what has built up on our shore.

And as you can see from the last picture, nothing will keep them from ice fishing.

Nuthatch

2012-01-10T06:00:00.000-06:00

POLITICS...Bah, Humbug !!!

2012-01-09T06:00:00.005-06:00

Just a warning before you start to read. This rant has been building for over 3 years. It's my opinion, so take it or leave it.

Last week was the official kickoff of the political year (even though it's been going on for months now if not years). All I can say is that I am officially sick of politics already and we still have 10 more months of it to go.

I'm sick of every two bit pundit who thinks they know everything there is to know about politics, telling me who I should be voting for. I'm sick of every left-wing and right-wing nut job taking up my time telling me what I should know with a little research on my part. I'm sick of how this country has let the lobbyists and unions take over control of our government and even our daily lives all because we have gotten just plain lazy about so many things we should be involved in. I'm sick of professional politicians in Congress.

Three years ago, I tried to warn people about our current President. I have to say that I wasn't the only one. "Hope and Change" were the buzz words back then. Yep, we were all hoping for a little of that. And those of you that voted for Obama got what you asked for. But the bigger question is "Did you get what you thought you would?" The only thing I got was hope that we could survive four years as a nation before we could replace the "Bower-in-Chief". And change, I don't even want to get into that because quite honestly all the change I have seen was downhill and exactly the opposite of what the people wanted.

I found it quite interesting that President Obama classifies himself in the top four presidents of this country. I classify him in the bottom four along with Woodrow Wilson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Jimmy Carter particularly when if comes to the direction he has taken this country. He has set this country back further then any president when it comes to energy and foreign policies. But then what do you expect from someone who came to us via the Chicago political machine, who had or has no experience except voting present while in the Senate, who has as his advisers Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers, and the heads of SEIU and AFL-CIO.

Why did he get elected??? Because we got lazy and didn't do any research. So many fell for his method of speaking (yep...he said all the right things to the people who voted for him) but nobody took a close look at what he was truly saying or his background because the media and others told us that those things weren't important. We set back and let someone else (main stream media) do our thinking for us. So I think we got what we deserved. I have to add here that the other choice (McCain)was (I think) just another version of our current President.

So, this year I hope everyone does their research and takes a really close look at all the candidates. So far, I have done that and have already eliminated 2 (if not 3) after a couple of debates and I think the majority of people have done the same.

Now is the time the candidates are defining or redefining themselves. I actually have seen only two that have not changed the stance that they started with. While I like one of them, only time will tell if he stands up to the next few months. I actually wish I could take a little of each of their policies and put them into just one candidate but I know that will never happen. There is no such thing as the perfect candidate.

Needless to say, I have not yet really picked out one person that I would vote for. But I do know two things, no one else is going to make my mind up for me and I'm voting for a different type of "Hope and
Change" then we got three years ago. There are many issues of policy and character and experience that voters need to consider in choosing a President. I sure hope everyone will take the time to really look at them closely this time.

This mini rant was not intended to get you to vote the way I think but rather to get you to use your head for something other then a hat rack. I could care less on who you vote for... just think and get the facts before you do and don't let someone else and their agenda make up your mind for you.

Great-Grandson #3 and Rocking Horse for #2

2012-01-06T06:00:00.001-06:00

Here is a picture of Great-Grandson #3 "Sylus". He is three weeks old in this picture .

This was also the year to build another Rocking Horse. Great-Grandson "Korsen" is in the one and a half to two range, so it's horse time.

I get one Christmas off from horse building, then it's 3 more in two years. I think there is something in the water...lol.

Bluejays

2012-01-05T06:00:00.000-06:00

Not much to say about these birds except they add some color to the winters drab colors. Only have about 10 hanging around so far but I'm sure that number will increase.

Female Pileated Woodpecker

2012-01-04T06:00:00.001-06:00

As you can tell, this is the female Pileated Woodpecker because she doesn't have the red line along the jaw. As I said yesterday, I noticed that the females head was stained/covered in sap on the front of the head. It really shows up in these pictures.

Male Pileated Woodpecker

2012-01-03T06:00:00.000-06:00

Just after the Sharpie from yesterday's post left, a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers showed up at the feeders. They do love the suet and visit at least once every day. The male was first to the suet. One thing I have noticed with the Pileated Woodpeckers is that the front of the males head always seems to be clean, where as the females always are stained dark brown from wood sap. I wonder if she is already digging out a new nesting site.

Sharpie

2012-01-02T06:00:00.002-06:00

On one of my earlier morning breaks out in the garage, I noticed there was no bird activity around the feeders. This normally means one thing...there's a Sharp-shinned Hawk around. Even with some light snow in the air, it didn't take long to spot it setting on top the brush pile just daring all the sparrows hidden there to come out. A combination of low light, light snow and having not used the camera in several weeks, gave me some not so great pictures. But this time of the year, I'll take just about anything.

The first two pictures are about 60 feet away on top the brush pile and the last two at long range of about 200 feet while it was setting in a tree above some heavy bushes where the sparrows like to hide.

Time For Christmas Vacation

2011-12-23T06:00:00.000-06:00

I've hit to wall for blogging. No pictures to share, no inspiration, my mind seems to have turned to Jello.

So, I guess it's time for my Christmas vacation and heading south a little way to spend Christmas with the family for a few days. I'll be there as long as I can stand the noise and drama, 10 dogs, one cat, 4 Grandkids, 4 Great-Grandkids, and one noisy bird. (Don't think I've missed anyone but you can see what I mean by noise and drama...lol.)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Everyone. Be happy and stay safe.

I should be back in the new year....hopefully with some pictures, some energy, and a good positive attitude. But I won't guarantee any of them.

Common Grackle ?

2011-12-22T06:00:00.002-06:00

I don't know if this Grackle is a Common or a Bronzed one. I won't even try to guess because it could just be the lighting. While all the other black bird types have long left the area, this one either missed the flight south or maybe is an old bird that knew it couldn't make it. It doesn't appear injured and is eating will, so how knows.

Dark-eyed Junco

2011-12-21T06:00:00.002-06:00

A couple of pictures of a couple of Dark-eyed Junco's. I believe this was the first I saw this year. I don't seem to have many of these little birds so far but then it hasn't turned really cold yet and with no snow, there is still plenty of food around for them. These pictures were taken the middle of October.

Pewee

2011-12-20T06:00:00.000-06:00

I'm scrapping the bottom of the barrel for this week. I haven't taken many pictures lately, so it's time to empty my unused file before Christmas break.

These two pictures of an Eastern Wood-Pewee were taken back in the middle of September. To bad that the branch is in the way.

Saturday Bath Time

2011-12-19T06:00:00.000-06:00

Goldfinch

2011-12-16T06:00:00.000-06:00

Brightening up my day with Am. Goldfinches. Even in their winter colors they are still pretty little birds.

Blue Jay

2011-12-15T06:00:00.002-06:00

I'm tired of looking at shades of browns and grays. But then I would rather see those colors then white everywhere. Already looking for things with color and Blue Jays fit the bill.

Downy Woodpecker

2011-12-14T06:00:00.001-06:00

This is one of the few birds that I classify as cute and also one of my favorite photo subjects.

Sharp-shinned Hawk

2011-12-13T06:00:00.001-06:00

We have had so many gray days in the last few weeks that I have hardly picked up my camera lately. I think maybe twice in the last three weeks. But when you get an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk setting on the fence about 20 foot from you you definitely grab the camera.

An adult Sharpie with it's bright red eyes is actually a rarity around the yard. I normally see the young ones with the dark eyes. I do like the way the eyes stand out in these pictures even if there is a lot of bush limbs in the way.

You Never Know What You'll See

2011-12-12T06:00:00.001-06:00

These two extremely long range pictures were taken last Wednesday. The lake had finally froze over the day before, so the ice at best is probably an inch thick. When I first looked at this animal out on the ice I thought it was a dog since the houses in the pictures are about a mile away. So out with my camera set at 1000 mm ( I need a longer range lens...lol) and a couple of pictures later run through the computer and cropped, showed that it was in fact a Coyote. It ventured out about 1/4th of the way across and then turned back.

Pine Cone Crop

2011-12-09T06:00:00.007-06:00

Bark

2011-12-08T06:00:00.001-06:00

Wood Pile #2

2011-12-07T06:00:00.002-06:00

Blowin' In The Wind

2011-12-06T06:00:00.002-06:00

Wood Pile

2011-12-05T06:00:00.003-06:00

A week of scenery.

More Ducks

2011-12-02T06:00:00.019-06:00

More long range pictures of some ducks. I believe all are stragglers and will some be on their way south since the lake is starting to ice over .

The first two pictures are of Buffleheads taken on a gray day. The third picture is of a male Common Goldeneye and the last is a male Goldeneye and a female Bufflehead.

Junco

2011-12-01T06:00:00.000-06:00

I spotted this little Dark-eyed Junco feeding and what made it stand out was that it only had one tail feather...a white one. I believe that I had one last year in the same condition. The lack of tail feathers doesn't seem to affect it's flight or maneuverability. Sorry that the pictures are not that great. They were taken through a dirty window at an angle.

Female Ruddy Duck

2011-11-30T06:00:00.001-06:00

Ring-billed Gull

2011-11-29T06:00:00.001-06:00

Mixed in with the ducks from yesterday was a couple of Ring-billed Gulls. I think the group of birds was made up of straglers since most of the other birds have left and maybe they just feel there is safety in numbers.

Common Merganser

2011-11-28T06:00:00.002-06:00

The Common Merganser is normally the first duck I see in spring and the last in the fall. We had a small mixed group of 20 or so ducks out front on one of the usual gray days. (It's probably just me, but I think we are having more of them this year.)

The pictures are all long range and fairly heavily cropped. Other ducks seen but no picture were the Hooded Merganser and Common Goldeneye.

I really like the last picture where you can see a Juvenile (first fall) female. It's the one in the center with the gray chest area. Just to the right of it is a mature female with the white chest.

Hornet Nest - Update

2011-11-25T06:00:00.002-06:00

Did you ever wondered what happens to a hornet nest in late fall/early winter. The first picture shows the nest on September 9th when it was active and full of Bald-faced Hornets. The second picture is what it looked like last weekend after the birds got to it eating any remaining larva.

Northern Shrike - Lifer

2011-11-24T06:00:00.003-06:00

I have a self imposed rule that I have to get a picture of a new bird to call it a lifer. This picture is so bad, I hate to call it but after seeing the bird 4 or 5 times without a picture, I'm going to. You can just make out the wing bar, black mask and the hooked beak to call in a Northern Shrike - Lifer #134. Some time in the future I'm sure I'll end up with pictures better then this. Again, this picture was taken with a heavy gray overcast with a little snow and long, long range.

Pine Grosbeak - Lifer

2011-11-23T06:00:00.002-06:00

I was up at Hasty Brook last weekend to pick up some tools and help out a bit. We saw a small flock of Pine Grosbeak but unfortunately for me, they weren't very close. Add to that was a heavy gray overcast with light snow. I managed to get a couple of not-so-great long range pictures of a female but none of the red male. The Pine Grosbeak is Lifer #133.

Canada Geese

2011-11-22T06:00:00.015-06:00

Photo opportunities around here are few and far between, so when about 30 Canada Geese decided to do some feeding out front on the lake, I couldn't pass it up.

Brown Creeper

2011-11-21T06:00:00.003-06:00

This little bird is one that I have had a hard time getting a good pictures of in the past. Even these pictures are not that great but a whole lot better then before. I think one of the reasons they are so hard to get good pictures of is that they stay so close to the tree that the camera has a hard time focusing on them.

Downy Woodpecker

2011-11-18T06:00:00.001-06:00

Squirrels

2011-11-17T06:00:00.001-06:00

Just a couple of pictures from my unused file. I really like the second one where you can see all the fine hairs of the tail with the back lighting.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-16T06:00:00.001-06:00

Horner Grebe

2011-11-15T06:00:00.001-06:00

Another one of the fall birds that can be seen is the Horned Grebe. These are extremely long range pictures and heavily cropped, so they are a little on the fuzzy side.

Since the Hormed Grebe does it's molt from late Feb. through April, I'd guess that this is a first fall bird also called an adult non-breeding one. The red eye sure stands out.

Female Redhead Duck

2011-11-14T06:00:00.001-06:00

I was a bit surprised that these long range pictures turned out so will. They were shot at 1000mm, handheld and through a window. I really like to watch diving ducks dive. They get their whole bodies out of the water on the way down.

Greater Scaup - Lifer #132

2011-11-11T06:00:00.001-06:00

Mixed in with the raft of Coots, I talked about yesterday, was also some Scaup. I looked at these ducks for a long time and even sent them to my birding mentor HAP for conformation that they were Greater Scaup. (Lifer #132 and Yard Bird #122). The males are easy to see with their greenish/brown heads that also can look black depending on the light. The females have a large white patch at the base of the beak.

Redhead Duck

2011-11-10T06:00:00.001-06:00

A large raft of Am. Coots was feeding out in front of our place. But mixed in with the Coots were a bunch of ducks. The Redhead duck is easy to spot mixed in with Coots even in it's eclipse plumage.

In the first picture, you can see the male in the right and in the center. The eclipsed male is on the left. The second picture shows the female on left center. The third is of an eclipsed male and the fourth is diving.

Hairy Woodpecker

2011-11-09T06:00:00.001-06:00

Fall woodpeckers really seem to stand out. Having new feathers before winter makes them all nice and clean and refreshed looking. This little female Hairy Woodpecker was getting a little bite to eat.

Am. Coot

2011-11-08T06:00:00.001-06:00

I can't believe that these are the first pictures I have taken of the Am. Coot this year. They are starting to bunch up in flocks for the upcoming migration. They seem to hang around longer then most migrating birds. I have even seen them swimming around on open spots of a frozen lake.

Common Loon

2011-11-07T06:00:00.001-06:00

I'm probably wrong on this, but I think this is a first winter Common Loon. The pictures are really long range and heavily cropped, so not the best to tell from but the plumage looks like one.

Northern Leopard Frog

2011-11-06T06:00:00.002-06:00

This year has been a bit of a strange one. A really wet spring and summer led to about the largest population of frogs I have ever seen. It was really a challenge to mow the yard and not run over any.

Toward the end of October, I experienced my first frog migration that was easily seen. Literally dozens and dozens of frog all over the place and all on a heading for the lake. A little surfing provided me with first an identification of the Northern Leopard Frog and second that the Northern leopard frogs pass the winter at the bottom of deeper lakes, far beneath the ice. They settle quietly on the lake bottom in deep water. They stay concealed behind a log or other debris to escape predators.

The Northern Leopard Frog varies in color from green to brown. The pictures below show both colors and one that's in between.

Red-bellied Woodpecker (Close ups)

2011-11-05T06:00:00.001-05:00

Juv. Red-bellied Woodpecker

2011-11-04T06:00:00.001-05:00

The juvenile Red-bellied Woodpecker is one of my most favorite birds. I think it's because they are so noisy...like a little kid on a sugar high they never shut up. You always can hear them before you see them. The only time they are quite is when they are in flight but the minute they land they start the noise. Sure would like to know what they are saying....maybe it's "Looking, looking looking" or "Here bug, here bug, here bug".

I noticed after adding the pictures that all were of female RB's. Maybe that explains all the talking...lol.

Harris's Sparrow

2011-11-03T06:00:00.001-05:00

This is undoubtedly one of my favorite sparows particularily in the spring. The first picture is one with the spring breeding colors.

This year is the first time I have seen it in the fall in it's nonbreeding colors. What a change in appearance.

As most of you that follow this blog knows is that I'm always on the lookout for the differences you can see in birds. Below are three pictures of one of those variations. I sent these pictures to a couple of long time birding friends and they both said they have never seen a Harris's Sparrow with this much black on it before. Interesting...

Fox Sparrow

2011-11-02T06:00:00.002-05:00

I do love spring and fall migration periods. While this year was kind of a let down in the spring mainly due to high winds, the fall has started out to be about usual with the numbers of migrating birds seen. I will admit that I really haven't gone out looking for birds but just have taken pictures of the ones in the yard.

The Fox Sparrow is one of those birds that I normally see only during the migration periods but last year it did hang around till after the first snows. I also admit that I have trouble getting a good picture of this bird. Perhaps the coloring and leaves that blend has something to do with it.

Big Stinker

2011-11-01T06:00:00.005-05:00

This was the second night I saw this Skunk. (Sorry the pictures are so bad but they where shot through a window with only the yard lights for illumination).

The first time I saw it was the night before when I let the dog out for her nightly business before bed. I normally open the garage door and then look to the left to make sure there are no raccoons around. As I looked, the dog scooted out as I saw the skunk. The skunk looked at the dog and then at me and just walked away. Whew...

The second night I saw it, I did things a little different. I turned on the lights and then looked out the window just before letting the dog out. There it was again, cleaning up around the bird feeder. Since my camera was handy I tried for a couple of shots through the window. Cranked the camera up to ISO 3200 and used the little light that was available since I knew the flash were just white out the picture through the glass.
I wasn't about to walk outside and try for a flash picture (Mama may have raised a fool but not an idiot). Anyway, this is the best I could do.

A Little Fall Cuteness

2011-10-31T06:00:00.009-05:00

This little Red (pine) Squirrel is probably one of the late summer brood. It sure is a small little thing but already with an attitude. You can judge it's size by the first and last picture.

This is one of three new little squirrels. All are the same size and all have attitudes. I wonder if they are from the same litter or different ones. Since there are three of them, I know you will be getting more pictures of them in the future.

Am. Goldfinch

2011-10-30T06:00:00.000-05:00

I can't tell if this is a young bird or one that is going through it's molt to winter colors. I suspect it is the latter. Still, it's a very pretty little bird.

Badger

2011-10-29T06:00:00.002-05:00

Again on the last trip up to Hasty Brook for the season, I figured photo opportunities couldn't get much better then all the Wild Turkeys I saw.

We were finishing up the installation of the tubing for the heating system when Lynne came downstairs to let me know that there were lots of Kinglets in the bushes, so when we finished I grabbed the camera and went upstairs to find Lynne with her finger to her lips going "Shhh". Figured birds were close by, I walked quitely over to the balcony to hear her whisper Badger and point downward.

Sure enough there was a Badger digging around in the underbrush looking for larva. As we watched and tried to get some pictures, it started to dig and dig and dig. I knew there was a chipmunk hole in the area and figured it had got the scent. After about 10 minutes of digging, it came up with the chipmunk and think it ate it in about three bites.

Here are some not to great pictures of a mammal you seldom see.

Wild Turkey (Pt. 2 of 2)

2011-10-28T06:00:00.002-05:00

After my first encounter with the Turkey's, I went back to work and actually finished up early on that Saturday. Was sitting in the garage trying to get something to come up on the computer when I heard more gobbling which sounded like it was coming from up the driveway. Since I didn't have a good view, I took the camera and walked over to the corner of the garage. As I rounded the corner, I ran into 8 turkeys in the yard. They didn't spook as I thought they would but just ignored me as they wandered around the place. Managed a few pictures but not great ones since it was heavy overcast.

About two hours later just before dusk, I heard them again but this time I walked over to the garage door and saw 15 young turkeys in the yard. Both of the large groups were all young birds from this years hatch. While they were pretty good size they didn't appear to have much meat on them yet. (Look at the Part 1 pictures to compare size).

Wild Turkey ( Pt. 1 of 2)

2011-10-27T06:00:00.002-05:00

When I was taking my noon break on my last weekend up at Hasty Brook for the year, I heard some Turkey's gobbling. I figured there were in the woods that surround the building. I grabbed the camera and went over to the garage door hoping they would be there. I was not disappointed. They were four big ones wandering around the yard...two adult Toms and two Jakes (year old males). In the pictures, the ones on display are the adults and the other two are the younger birds. You can also get a good look at the beards (all of them have them). The beard is that bunch of fine feathers seen in the middle of the chest. All males and 20% of females have a beard and no one knows what it is for.

Heating (Pt. 12)

2011-10-26T06:00:00.002-05:00

The last project for me this year was to assist in getting the heating system for the upstairs installed. Actually turned out to be a lot easier then I thought just time consuming. Art still has to do the final connections to the boiler, install thermostat, and charge the system along with some minor plumbing changes on the first part of the system he installed last year. When it's working, should keep them nice and toasty with winter. Now that they will have heat, I may be forced to go up some weekend for some birding.

Just a couple of pictures of some of the heaters. We install one 5 footer and four 8 footers (actually hooked two 8 footers into one 16 footer in the bedroom area. We slide on the end caps to see how it would look but left the ends off the others until system is charged so Art can check for any leaks (I'm predicting no leaks since we did such a great job...lol). The last picture shows the boiler (that's the small thing hanging to the wall on the left side of the picture) and the piping that needs to be straightened up for more efficiency.

Well, that brings you up to date on Hasty Brook. Still left to be done in it finish installing baseboards, finish the bathroom walls and paint them, tile floor, install new vaniety and mirror, kitchen countertops and plumbing, install laminate flooring in closets and door knobs to all closet doors and carpet. But for now, on my end that will have to wait. Art will be working on some of those projects over the winter while Lynne looks out her clean windows at the birds. Sounds like a good division of labor to me...lol.

Update: Art got everything hooked up last weekend...it works...so now Lynne has heat for her winter birding and visitors.

Golden-crowned Kinglet - Lifer

2011-10-25T06:00:00.005-05:00

You would think after all the Turkeys followed by a Badger (sorry, this post is out of order), things couldn't get any better but they did. After the Badger left, the birds came back into the bushes. The birds were what I was actually looking for...Kinglets.

After a few minutes of watching with Lynne saying there's one and me not being able to find it, I finally spotted one out in the open enough to get some long range pictures.

These pictures are heavily cropped which makes them a little fuzzy but I am very happy getting pictures of Lifer #131 the Golden-crowned Kinglet.

Floor Tile (Pt. 11)

2011-10-24T06:00:00.001-05:00

We also added some floor tile the weekend we installed the kitchen cabinets. The first picture shows the tile we laid in front of the balcony doors. The grouting will wait until the bathroom floor is laid and can all be done at once.

The kitchen tile went down quite rapidly with one cutting and/or pealing off the back paper and aligning and handing them to the other guy to stick down one. The first picture I over processed to show the texture of the tile and the others show the kitchen and area in front of the bar.

Cardinal

2011-10-23T06:00:00.001-05:00

Why is it that on rainy, heavy overcast days, is when I see the most birds that I would like to get some pictures of? Lousy photo days like this, pose many problems when it comes to pictures as you can see below. But this was the first juvenile Cardinal I have seen this year, so had to try.

The next day, I saw a second juvenile Cardinal. I actually saw them both about the same time along with the parents..one juvenile with each parent. Notice the chest markings are different.

Rain Garden

2011-10-22T06:00:00.001-05:00

They call it a "Rain Garden" but what it actually is is a method to cut down on erosion and make use of wet areas for growing plants. An added feature (if done right) is to add a good mixture of plants to attract birds and butterflies. This project was done the first part of October.

We have what I call the "Creek" the other side of my neighbors house. It actually is a ditch that leads from the wetlands across the road. In the spring it carries large amounts of run off from the melting snow and each year the erosion has gotten a little worse.

Here is the only picture I could find to give you an idea of what it looked like before they started.

The first thing they (the County) did was to remove three large trees that would partially blocking the flow of the water out of the culvert under the road. This was done to straighten out the channel and slow erosion. (Sorry...no pictures but I did supervise...lol.) Then a local landscaping company came in and spent four days of adding rocks and tons of plantings. All the plants are native plants not only to Minnesota but those that grow in our county. Below are some pictures along the creek/ditch. It will be interesting to see how many of those planted close to the water will survive the spring floods. Total cost was around $16,000 with over $3,000 in plantings. (I should add that it was tax payers dollars that paid for over half of it.)

One nice thing for the owner is that he doesn't have a whole lot of grass to mow now.

Kitchen Cabinets (Pt. 10)

2011-10-21T06:00:00.001-05:00

One of the bigger projects that we were looking forward to was the installation of the kitchen cabinets and the flooring (at least I was since it was showing we were getting closer to the end).

We still have the countertops, plumbing, and light over the sink to install but that may be a winter project for Art.

A Whale of a Tail

2011-10-20T06:00:00.004-05:00

Bookcase (Pt. 9)

2011-10-19T06:00:00.002-05:00

I also talked Lynne and Art into a rather large built in bookcase along one wall. This is one project that took me quite a while to complete but turned out nice in the end. I call it the "Ark" because it is as big as a boat, will float, and like the original Ark took over a hundred years to build (at least it seemed like it did).

First a couple of pictures during the construction phase.

And then a couple of pictures of the finished bookcase. It is about 11'6" long and around 40" high. The box you see in the wall above the bookcase is wired for Art's new big screen TV.

Compton Tortoiseshell

2011-10-18T06:00:00.001-05:00

Another butterfly to add to my seen list. The Compton Tortoiseshell has a wingspan or 2 1/2 to 3 inches. All wings have several black spots and are rusty brown near the body. One white spot is found on all four wings. It has jagged margins on the wings with a small tail projection on hindwing.

Beam, Lights, and Divider (Pt. 8)

2011-10-17T06:00:00.003-05:00

Making a nice beam across the ceiling turned out to be a fun project and really didn't take as long as we thought. We originally had the living room wired to only one fan/light but changed our mind and decided to do two instead. That necessitated a little extra wiring but it fit nicely within the beam itself. First a picture of what the beam looked like when we started.

And this is what we ended up with for a beam with the light added.

We also added boards to the divider between the living room and the kitchen area. I know this is a little out of order since you can see the end results in other pictures. We also hadn't completed it when the pictures were taken due to a calculation error on my part on how many boards we needed.

On the top of this divider will be added an 18" serving/eating bar.

Door Building (Pt. 7)

2011-10-14T06:00:00.001-05:00

Since none of the door openings would handle a standard prefab door, we decided early on to build the closet and storage area doors and give them a somewhat old fashioned look. There was really nothing hard about doing this except that it was really a time consuming project with each door taking a full day to complete having to wait for glue, stain, and poly to dry seemed to take forever.

Tiger Salamander

2011-10-13T06:00:00.001-05:00

You never know what you will see until you open your eyes. I spotted this little 6-7 inch Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) crawling along the side of the driveway. It's a common salamander in the state of Minnesota but this is the first one I have seen. This one is medium sized since they say that they can get up to 13.5 inches.

Woodworking/Trim (Pt. 6)

2011-10-12T06:00:00.001-05:00

Now I get to the fun part. It's fun because I like to work with wood and also that light at the end of the tunnel keeps getting brighter.

I think one of the first things we did was put the cap on the top of the stair divider.

The next thing was to work on all the window casing and trim. I'll just show you a few of the windows.

And the last thing we did was to sand, stain, and poly the sliding pocket doors and add the trim.

Woolybear Caterpillar

2011-10-11T06:00:00.001-05:00

Woolybear Caterpillar are starting to be seen more often now that we are getting into the fall months. The Woolybear will turn into the Isabella Tiger Moth when mature. It is a bristly caterpillar with a variable orange band between When disturbed (second picture) they drop and curl up head-to-tail into a ball and remain motionless.

The Woolybear is said to be a winter forecaster with the wider the brown band the milder the winter but are no better than the National Weather Service at long-range predictions. I'll leave it up to you to decide whether it will be a mild or severe winter but it looks pretty narrow to me (severe winter).

Combine the narrow band and the super heavy acorn production this year, I'm going to say get ready for a bad one (my prediction).

Painting (Pt. 5)

2011-10-10T06:00:00.001-05:00

Following the application of 10 gallons of primer and 5 gallons of ceiling paint, we finally got to the walls. Lynne picked out a nice shade of blue that really brightened the place up. At this point both Art and I could begin to see the results of months of hard prepartion work that paid off. What was interesting about the color of blue picked out was that it really would change color depending on the light. Please also note that this is the cleanest the place has looked in months...lol.

Mudding (Pt. 4)

2011-10-07T06:00:00.002-05:00

When I left last fall, I left the hard part for Art and Lynne to work on over then winter whenever they went up to visit....."Mudding" or applying drywall compound (in many layers) over all the seams. Now I don't really mind mudding....it's the sanding (particularly the ceiling) that I dislike.

After a couple of trips up this spring and around 60 gallons of compound, the walls and ceiling were finally done most of which was done by Art. So here are a few pre-painting pictures. The ceiling has already been textured.

Fall Colors Starting

2011-10-06T06:00:00.001-05:00

Fall colors are starting to pop up but still are a couple of weeks away from their peak. Here are a few shots of some of the early color.