July and early August this year have been suitably summery, with warm days and temperate nights, some rain but not too much, plentiful vegetables from the garden (we've been eating really well), and lots of interesting summer-time animal sightings around our property. Here are some assorted highlights from the past several weeks!
The trail camera in the woods has continued to gather some fantastic glimpses of our local wildlife, including more videos of Bobcats and Ruffed Grouse -- I'm still astonished and thrilled that these animals have been such regular visitors in our woods this year. The following video compiles a few clips from the trail camera: (1) A bobcat walking on the trail during the day (our first daytime sighting!) on July 14. (I love this big cat's beautiful colors, and those white patches on the backs of its ears; and after a Blue Jay calls and the Bobcat turns back around toward the camera, I think it even opens it mouth and makes a tiny sound!) (2) Our resident Ruffed Grouse family of an adult and two growing chicks on July 11, settled down for a grooming session on the sun-soaked path. (It's too bad this video got a little over-exposed... but I still think it's really cool.) (3) A group of Wild Turkeys -- at least two adults and several partially-downy young -- foraging along the path on July 16. (4) A family of Northern Flickers foraging on the ground and making soft noises on July 30:
Speaking of Northern Flickers, on August 3, I found one of these birds' beautiful feathers on the woods trail. "Yellow-shafted" indeed:
Our Eastern Phoebes successfully raised their second brood in their traditional (at least four years running now) spot above our front door. Here's one of the little phoebe faces appearing over the edge of the nest on July 12 (at 10 days old):
The phoebe parents did a great job of keeping these babies fed, even throughout a particularly trying few hours one day when a group of people were doing some excavation work in our yard. The phoebes made it clear that they weren't happy about people in sight of their nest, but they were very bold, and they persevered. Here's one of the parents making a food delivery on July 13:
These phoebe babies proved to be tenacious, too: A few days before they were ready to fledge, the nest suffered a major structural collapse (I don't know how this happened), yet the three babies stayed put in their partial-nest for the remainder of their nestling time. These are such good birds! Here they are on July 18:
Amazingly, we had a third Eastern Phoebe brood this year as well. I wasn't looking out for any more phoebe breeding attempts, so I was shocked to notice on July 20 that a fresh crop of fuzzy babies were jostling around in the same first nest the phoebes built this year (in the small shed on our property). These babies looked like they were about a week younger than the second brood (porch) babies, so the two nests must have been incubated at the same time, which I think must mean that we had two female phoebes nesting on our property at once. The Audubon Field Guide suggested a single male Eastern Phoebe might sometimes hold a territory with two mates, so perhaps that's what happened this year. What drama! Unfortunately, I think the third brood failed, because I wasn't able to see the baby birds again before they would have been old enough to fledge. :( Well, two broods of phoebes -- and eight new birds total -- is still pretty great!
In other nesting news, an American Robin built her nest in a tidy nook on the front of our house, making her next-door neighbors with the phoebes. This nest also failed, but it was nice to have a robin family nearby while it lasted. Goodness, nesting is rough! Here's the mama robin on her nest on July 18:
More happily, a pair of Gray Catbirds successfully raised a nest full of babies to fledging in the thicket of forsythia that monopolizes a corner of our property, and Cedar Waxwings have an active nest in the maple tree above the small shed. The House Wrens also have a second brood in the same nest box they used earlier this year. This place does a good job of producing baby birds!
This male Common Yellowthroat was keeping a close eye on me on July 20 while his young family foraged nearby:
Eastern Garter Snakes have been hanging around our yard quite a bit this summer, including this beautiful reddish individual who was lounging on a flat rock next to the house on July 13:
This has been a great summer for Red Efts (juvenile Red-spotted Newts)! Several times in the past couple of weeks, I've seen one or more of these awesome amphibians hunting in the flower bed right next to our front porch, where rain plus compost seems to attract a nicely eft-appropriate buffet of insects. I'd never seen efts actively hunting and eating before -- I usually come across them just walking from one place to another -- and I tried to capture this activity on video but ended up with footage too shaky to share. Oh well! Here are some still pictures of two efts in our flower bed on July 23 instead:
On the night of July 27, I noticed a small frog on the railing of our back deck. Expecting a Spring Peeper, I went to visit the little creature up close... and it wasn't a peeper, but rather a very young Gray Treefrog! Ahhh, so wonderful!! The two adult Gray Treefrogs who showed up on our porch this past May were the first of this species I'd ever seen, and it's so cool to get to see how small these creatures start out. I love this little frog's green patches and its round clinging toes:
Here's a Common Wood-Nymph butterfly feeding on blossoms of (I believe) Wild Basil (Satureja vulgaris) on July 20 in the meadow:
And a Hummingbird Clearwing moth visiting Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) on August 3 -- these awesome moths have been particularly common this year, which makes me very happy:
On the night of July 14, I decided to see what would happen if I set up my camera in the meadow with a really long (30-second) exposure time amid the fantastic firefly shows we were getting during that part of the summer. I didn't try to do any fancy processing with these photos, but I think these haphazard results look pretty cool. I love how the fireflies and stars overlap in this picture:
And I really like seeing the dotted trails individual fireflies make as they fly and flash across the camera's view:
Finally, these strange tracks appeared in looping trails all across our pollen-covered lawn mower in mid-July. Comparing with other pictures online, the best I've been able to figure out is that these are probably marks left by a snail or slug as it fed. So weird!
It's the first day of fall already! How did that happen? Here I am still getting to know the summer birds in our yard, and fall migration is now well underway, so it's hard to know who's been here all summer and who's just passing through. Eastern Bluebirds light up fence posts:
Black-capped Chickadees are all over the place (and adorable as always):
Just like at our old place in Connecticut, the Tufted Titmice were the first birds to discover the window feeders we put up:
And now the titmice and chickadees come in for seeds all day. We're up to three feeders and these guys empty them every few days! Titmice are so brave and adventuresome, I'm glad they're around to figure out that we're leaving food in these weird plastic things:
Other birds are finding food around the house as well. I loved seeing this tiny Ruby-throated Hummingbird drinking from some hosta blossoms right near a window:
And the American Goldfinches keep coming in to feast on seeds from the purple coneflowers at the front of the house:
Acrobatics are sometimes required to get these seeds, but finches are good at that sort of thing:
Mmm, seeds:
This Northern Flicker was stretching and showing off its super fancy costume the other day; those yellow shafts on its wing feathers really are amazing:
And I never noticed the Mickey Mouse silhouettes on this bird's tail before:
It's always worth admiring Flickers from below:
We have a whole host of woodpeckers besides Northern Flickers in our yard as well. Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers are regulars, and I was very excited to hear heavy, deliberate hammering the other day and look up to see a Pileated Woodpecker hard at work on a tree next to the house. Living in the woods is amazing!
A small flock of Swainson's Thrushes has been hanging around recently, giving me the chance to admire these lovely birds with their freckled breasts and beige spectacles:
These small thrushes (smaller than a robin, anyway) have been cleaning the berries off of a dogwood tree near the house:
Yes, I'm just watching you, bird; keep eating:
I was able to admire a Swainson's Thrush up close under very unfortunate circumstances recently, when we found a dead individual under one of our windows facing the woods. It was such a beautiful creature, so small and perfect (the feathers on its belly practically glowed, they were so white), and so horribly sad. We've put static-cling decals on the windows, to try to help the birds see the glass. No more window strikes please!
With all the bird activity around here, there are many more happy sightings than sad ones. The warblers have been moving through in their kaleidoscope of muted fall costumes, but they haven't been very cooperative for my camera. Here's a bright American Redstart tail, does that count?
Huge flocks of Common Grackles -- hundreds of birds at a time -- have been sweeping over the trees around our yard in recent days:
So many grackles!
Now that fall's officially here, I'm excited to see what other creatures will show up in the weeks to come. Ohio is quite the adventure so far!
This is my third summer volunteering for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a monitor at Silver Sands State Park, where I visit once a week to look for Piping Plovers and other nesting shorebirds. Piping Plovers are in trouble (and listed as federally threatened) because they nest on sandy beaches, which is of course where people also really want to be in the summer. Incubating parents get disturbed and leave their nests, eggs and chicks get stepped on; it's just not a great situation. So a bunch of people in Connecticut (and other states, too) are actively looking for Piping Plover nests and taking steps to help these birds be successful. (Like putting up fencing around nests to keep other animals and people away, and educating beach-goers about the plovers.)
I always see interesting things whenever I visit Silver Sands State Park, and I'm glad for the excuse to get out to the beach regularly. Aside from a lone Piping Plover two years ago, however, I haven't seen any of these special birds at this park, and the last time any Piping Plovers actually tried to nest here was in 2011 (the summer before I started volunteering). So I was pretty excited when I arrived at this beach yesterday morning to find a pair of Piping Plovers wandering around on the sand. A pair! Yay! The male was striking (and adorable) with his darker markings:
The female was quite pale by comparison (she really does blend in with the beach, doesn't she):
There wasn't any nest (yet), but I watched the male work for a bit on a depression in the sand, pushing his chest into the ground and digging a bit with his feet. A shallow depression and some shell pieces is what passes for a nest for these birds, so it certainly seems like they're considering settling down here. For now, I enjoyed watching them just wander around. A tiny bird on a big beach:
I caught up with the pair a little later as they looked for food at the shoreline. This female really is quite pale and pretty!
And she's definitely picked a handsome mate:
Yay, Piping Plovers:
I heard later in the day that someone saw this pair mating, so maybe they really will stick around! I'm hoping that everything works out well for these guys. Unfortunately, the spot where I saw them working on a potential nest is right in the middle of what will become the busiest part of this beach in a few weeks (and this beach gets really busy). I can't imagine how a nest would work out with a hundred people milling around.... Well, we'll see what happens! Now that we know this pair is here, people will be checking on them and watching for eggs. I'm very curious to see if they'll still be here when I visit again next week!
The Piping Plovers were the main attraction, but there were plenty of other things to see yesterday morning as well. I enjoyed the opportunity to compare the Piping Plovers to another species of plover that's much more common at this beach (and on lawns, etc.), the Killdeer. These birds are so much bigger and lankier than the Piping Plovers, but there are definitely some family resemblances, especially in the basic costume:
A White-tailed Deer was lounging right in the middle of the marsh. Are those the tiny nubs of antlers on your head, deer?
At the water's edge, two Snowy Egrets were chasing each other and making their dinosaur calls while a third egret looked on:
It's definitely breeding season, and these birds are looking magnificent:
While the Snowy Egrets tussled, a larger Great Egret sailed by. Both of these species nest in this park (on Charles Island, just offshore from the main park) and it's always great to see them at their breeding best. I love the Great Egret's green breeding-season mask, and the way that long neck seems to fuse back onto itself in flight:
In the fields behind the marshes, male American Goldfinches were singing and showing off their bright summer outfits:
And I was happy to see that the Northern Flickers are going ahead with their nesting project that I first noticed two weeks ago. This time, it was the female flicker who was working in the cavity and came out to watch me and my camera as I passed (at a respectful distance):
These are such gorgeous birds (I can't get over those spots!) and they're so much bolder than I would have guessed. This lady stayed at her perch while another person walked by just feet away from her tree (unaware of the woodpecker right overhead). As long as the passing people and dogs don't actually bother the flickers, I guess these birds are comfortable living here. I'll look forward to seeing their fancy faces sticking out of this hole whenever I visit, and I wish them luck!
There are so many creatures starting families in this little park. Here's hoping these endeavors work out! (Come on, plovers!)
Today was perfectly sunny and decently warm. Even with the strong winds, it was a lovely day for a visit to the shore at Silver Sands State Park!
I often admire the water when I visit this beach, but I especially loved the teal-aqua-pale-blue color scheme during this afternoon's low tide. These colors were just amazing:
The sky was also awesome, with amazingly intricate (cirrus?) clouds making frost-like patterns overhead. Without my camera's wide angle lens, my phone took the best sky pictures:
One more. I love those barbed clouds on the left in this picture:
In the field/brushy area of the park, I noticed a hole in a tree right next to the path. I don't remember seeing this hole here before, and it's in such an obvious place (which I've walked by many, many times).... Could this be someone's newly constructed home?
Hey, are those pointy tail feathers in there?
Ah! A moustachioed male Northern Flicker! Hello, handsome:
I'm very impressed by the chisel-work on this cavity! I hope this guy and his mate keep going with what is presumably their nesting project, although I have to wonder why they chose such an exposed spot, right next to a path that will have more and more people and dogs on it in the coming months. Well, best of luck, birds! I'll try not to crowd you, at least, when I'm visiting again.
I'm getting practically used to seeing Wild Turkeys at this park, but that doesn't make an encounter with them any less exciting. A trio of turkeys (perhaps the same trio I saw in this spot a few weeks ago?) crossed the road in front of my car as I was leaving, and I took the opportunity for some portraits:
Are these some amazing faces or what? The light shining through this next bird's skin is particularly cool (and weird):
What a bird!
We're supposed to get a frost tonight, so the cold weather isn't completely gone yet. But early spring still brings plenty to see, and it's exciting to think of all the creatures and plants that will be showing up soon!
