Mid July - Early September, 2023

2023 is almost over, so it's time to finish catching up with this year's sights from around our property! In the previous post, we got up to the middle of July. Let's take it from there! This post shares some highlights from the rest of summer in our yard, meadow, and woods; and then I'll finish up the year (fall and early winter) in another post.

Late in the afternoon on July 29, I heard some strange noises and saw flashes of a small long mammal darting between clumps of brush in our yard. The daylight was fading, but I grabbed my camera anyway, because I'd never seed a weasel-type creature in our yard before. (All previous sightings on our property have been courtesy of the trail camera in the woods.) Sneaking around the area, I must have accidentally ended up in the creature's intended path, because a Long-tailed Weasel came directly toward me, suddenly found a human blocking its way, and dropped the baby rabbit it was carrying at my feet. I guess we were both surprised! I backed away a bit, and the weasel came back and snatched up its meal again:

The weasel carried the rabbit to a spot behind our shed, and then it came back along the same route and repeated the process at least five more times (I lost count) while I watched from nearby. That's a lot of baby rabbits! I was wondering at the time whether the weasel could have been gathering food to feed its own young, but I've also read that weasels sometimes cache food -- more than they can eat at one time -- so maybe that's what was happening here. In any case, it was pretty amazing to see this confident and capable little hunter at work! All my picture attempts were blurry, but this gives an idea of the action at least:

While all this was happening, a Mourning Dove was watching from its nest in a tree right over the weasel's path:

Yikes, being a nesting bird sure seems perilous. Here's another picture of this Mourning Dove the next day, in better light -- this nest didn't ultimately succeed, and I don't know whether that was because of the weasel, or another predator, or some other hazard:

I had a lot of fun this summer trying to take pictures of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds as they visited the various hummingbird-friendly flowers in our yard. I don't keep hummingbird feeders, but it turns out that many of the (mostly native) flowering plants I've added to our property over the years (and some of the annual flowers I grow, too) are great feeding stations for these lovely little birds. It seemed like we had hummingbirds around pretty much all the time this summer, so there were lots of opportunities for pictures.

The big orange flowers on our Trumpet Creeper vine are always a big hit with the hummingbirds (and there are always many big black ants on these flowers, too) -- here's a hummingbird visiting these flowers on July 30:

I've noticed that hummingbirds visiting Trumpet Creeper flowers tend to leave with white foreheads, thanks to a generous dusting of pollen:

The Scarlet Runner Beans I grew in my vegetable garden this year were also popular with the hummingbirds, and I so loved having these birds come visit while I was in the garden. Here's the same bird from the above pictures again, now shifted to Scarlet Runner Bean flowers (also on July 30):

And here's a closer picture of another bird on August 13:

After visiting the bean flowers, this hummingbird perched for a bit on top of a post in the garden (I wonder what all that white stuff is along the top of its beak):

Look, a hummingbird tongue! Wow, what a cool little bird:

Ever since I planted Cardinal Flowers in our yard back in 2017, I've been hoping to get a good picture of a hummingbird visiting these flowers, and I finally managed it this year by peeking through our living room window and using our house as a blind on August 13:

Ah, I love these flowers, and it's so awesome to see them with their primary pollinator. And this was the first time I really got to see this flower's pollination mechanism at work! While the hummingbird drinks, the flower gives it a little pat on its head -- soooo cool:

The Coral Honeysuckle I planted in our yard last year bloomed for the first time this year, and the hummingbirds were very much into these flowers, too. Here's a bird visiting these flowers on September 4:

This bird was even able to perch on the honeysuckle's vine while feeding from these flowers:

What a sweet bird:

And here's one more picture from September 4, since this bird's feeding route also included the nearby New York Ironweed flowers:

There are always tons of flowers around here during the summer, and here's a small selection of some other blooming plants that caught my attention this year. Enchanter's Nightshade (Circaea canadensis) grows in our woods, and I love its dainty flowers and its whimsical name; this picture is from July 21:

Narrow-leaved Meadowsweet (Spiraea alba) -- also pictured here on July 21 -- produces its puffy sprays of white flowers at the back edge of our meadow:

Pokeweed grows abundantly in our yard and meadow, and birds enjoy its purple berries in the fall; I admired these Pokeweed blossoms on July 26, with white spheres opening to reveal green globular structures:

And a bee was also enjoying these pretty Obedient Plant flowers in our front yard on August 13:

And here are a few more assorted sights!

A juvenile (pink mouth) and adult (dark mouth) Blue Jay making a noisy scene in the yard on July 20:

A very puffy Black-and-White Warbler that let me approach unusually close on July 21 -- I hope this bird was OK! It moved along soon after I took this picture:

A couple of Red Efts (juvenile Red-spotted Newts) ambling over the ground in the woods, this one on July 21:

And this one on August 13 (I have a hard time resisting an opportunity to hang out with these little creatures!):

Bunches of abundant Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) berries on July 21:

A young American Bullfrog at the small pond in our woods on August 13:

A fantastically strange female American Pelecinid Wasp (Pelecinus polyturator) in our yard on August 23:

Here's another view of that same wasp:

A Chestnut-sided Warbler in its muted -- but still beautiful -- late-summer costume on August 24:

A young White-tailed Deer starting to grow out of its spots, seen in the woods on August 29:

Another view of this same deer, as it tried to figure me out:

A sleepy bee underneath an aster bud in the late afternoon on September 1:

And a view on September 4 from beneath the Black Cherry trees covered with Virginia Creeper vines at the edge of our woods:

Finally, here are some assorted clips from the trail camera in the woods during July and August. This video features a young White-tailed Deer browsing along the trail, two Coyotes, a Ruffed Grouse (possibly a male, with those dark feathers on the sides of its neck), a deer sniffing the camera, and a family of American Crows taking a stroll down the path:

Summer is such an abundant time, and this year was full of fun and interesting sights, as always! Next up: sights from fall and early winter. :)

March and April, 2021

Here we are, already on the first day of summer as I write this! Spring is always a busy time, and this year's spring was indeed busy, but it was also wonderful. Unlike last year's chaotic spring (oh, 2020), this year's past few months have been relatively smooth, at least around here. We've had a fairly even transition from snowy frozen winter into warmer weather and rain and sun. And I've been able to wander outside and keep up with a lot of the plants and animals in our yard, meadow, and woods as their populations have grown and shifted. I played a game where I tried to know the name of every plant (native and non-native alike) as it flowered on our property this spring, and I made it all the way to the end of May before I had to admit defeat! (Maybe next year I'll make it even further.)

I have a bunch of sights to share from the past few months. This post will cover only the months of March and April (May and June will come later). It's time to go back to snowy days!

We must have had a big boom in our population of Meadow Voles over the winter, because the melting snow in March revealed lots of these rodents' nests in the meadow (and later, extensive tunnels across the ground, damaged plants, etc.). Here's one of the Meadow Vole nests and its perfect melted circle in the snow on March 11:

Big flocks of migrating Snow Geese and Canada Geese crossed the sky -- heading North -- fairly frequently in March. This flock of Snow Geese passed overhead on March 9:

Also on March 9, I saw this Red-tailed Hawk with what looked like a very full crop (I guess somebody found a big meal):
 

On March 21, I was surprised to see a Pileated Woodpecker clinging to our little suet feeder! I'd never seen one of these big birds at our feeders before, and I guess this setup doesn't look super comfortable:

April 11 was a big amphibian night (it was rainy and warm), and we saw Spotted Salamanders and Red-backed Salamanders galore (but no good pictures of those awesome amphibians), plus a couple of big Pickerel Frogs that I didn't recognize at first because I'd never seen them during breeding season before:

Lots of Spring Peepers were also out and about on the night of April 11, including this little peeper who perched on our doormat:

And this peeper who posed nicely on the blue background of our front door:

This was a great spring for flowers! Here are several pristine Bloodroot flowers in our front yard on April 14:

And female Spicebush flowers on the same day and only a few feet away:

Here's American Golden Saxifrage (Chrysosplenium americanum), also on April 14, and a totally new plant for me. These flowers are no more than tiny rings of orange dots, and I only thought to look closely at these plants in the pond in our woods after I read about these flowers in another blog (thanks, Saratoga Woods and Waterways!):

I found this next flower in the protected public land across the street from our house (which I've learned is especially rich in spring wildflowers!), rather than on our property. But I was so thrilled to see these Sharp-lobed Hepatica flowers, which I haven't seen up close in many years! Here's one of these beautiful purple flowers on April 19:

This patch of the woods had lots of white hepatica flowers, too, and I thought these were just as beautiful as the purple ones:

Back in our woods, I was super excited to find our first Red Trillium blossoms (after noticing what I thought looked like trillium leaves in previous years), right next to the path. This picture is from a rainy April 29:

To round out a few more April sightings, here's a very handsome White-throated Sparrow on April 19:

And here's a quite early Garter Snake (also on April 19) who sat perfectly still on the forest floor while I pulled up an invasive honeysuckle bush nearby (notice the large red Velvet Mite on the right as well):

A Common Raven stopped by several times to pull chunks off of a road-killed Raccoon across the street from our house, so we had front row seats for its shopping trips (perhaps it was feeding a family nearby?). Here's the raven visiting on April 22 (yes, that's snow):

Throughout March and April, our trail camera let us see some goings-on in the woods. Here's a compilation of a few video highlights from those months:

1. A Raccoon feeling for critters in the small pond in our woods.
2. Two Virginia Opossums walking together.... I've never seen two opossums at the same time before, so I wonder whether there might have been some thoughts of mating.
3. For a few days in April, I happened to set up the trail camera in what turned out to be a White-tailed Deer's bedroom, and I ended up with many, many videos of deer sitting around and chewing. Here's one of those videos.
4. Also from the deer-bedroom set, there's this video of the sleepy deer standing up, walking next to the camera, and audibly yawning. I think it's really cool to get to hear a deer's yawn.
5. At the fallen-log spot that was so productive last summer, a Long-tailed Weasel.
6. A beautiful Gray Fox.
   

 

And that's March and April! May and June are up next!

Catching Up with 2020, Part I: Trail Camera Mammals and Birds

Wow, what a blur these last few months have been. I've had very little time for outdoor wanderings since September, let alone time to share sights here. Sigh. But I have indeed been watching out for nature around our house over the last few months as best as I could, and the holiday break means I can finally catch up with sharing 2020 wildlife happenings here. Hooray!

Our trusty trail camera captured plenty of interesting animal activity in our woods even while I was stuck inside (mostly tethered to my computer), so we'll start there! Throughout most of August, the trail camera was watching a tree trunk that had long ago fallen across our woods path, and this turned out to be an incredibly productive viewpoint. A large variety of birds and (mostly small) mammals made an appearance on these mossy logs during that time. Here's a compilation of some of the best videos from this spot, featuring:

1. A Raccoon (one of several that wandered along this path in August, usually stopping to sniff the logs).
2. An Eastern Chipmunk perching on the log for a thorough grooming session.
3. The Ruffed Grouse family who showed up on the trail camera several times this summer. Here, the adult female keeps watch while the two now-nearly-grown chicks snatch up nearby seeds. I can't believe I get to see grouse foraging in our woods, and I love the soft sounds they make here!
4. A Long-tailed Weasel -- the first one we've seen on our property! -- slithering along the log in what I feel certain must be scent-marking behavior. (Mmm, weasel-scented log!)
5. A White-footed Mouse (or Deer Mouse) with its tail held high, possibly also scent-marking?
6. A White-tailed Deer munching on nearby shrubs.
7. A Virginia Opossum moving across the logs and stopping to scratch an itch.
   

At the end of August, I moved the trail camera among a few other locations in the woods, which resulted in some other interesting animal videos, including our first sightings of Flying Squirrels! (These could be Northern or Southern Flying Squirrels, but I'm not sure which.) I already knew we had Flying Squirrels on our property because I found the remains of someone's Flying-Squirrel meal in September of 2018... but this is the first time we've seen these fancy arboreal rodents whole and alive. :) White-tailed Deer were (as expected) the most frequent visitors on the trail camera during the last couple of months. This last compilation video shows a brief Flying Squirrel clip, and then three clips of deer -- a male with tiny antler spikes, a male with impressively big antlers, and some deer foraging in deep snow on Christmas Eve:

I have a bunch more sights to share over the past few months, beyond these trail camera videos -- Part II is up next!

Long-tailed Weasel

I met a new mammal at the Arcata Marsh this morning! While walking down a path lined with piles of large rocks next to the bay, I thought I saw a small furry thing dash across the path ahead of me (and just behind a passing bicyclist). So I waited for a bit, watching the rocks, and wouldn't you know it, a beautifully auburn animal popped out:

It's a Long-tailed Weasel! What a lovely, pointy, weasely face it has:

This is the third time I've come across a creature in the weasel family among piles of large rocks next to water, although the previous two times that creature was an American Mink: I met the first mink at Naugatuck State Forest in Connecticut and the second at Sheldon Marsh State Nature Preserve in Ohio. And I've never seen these creatures in any other habitat. So as far as I can tell, weasels and minks live in piles of large rocks next to water, and that's it.

Big rocks, little weasel:

In any case, this weasel spent the next several minutes working its way along the rocky stretch, popping in and out of crevices as it went. I wonder what it was doing in there. Hunting? Checking on a burrow? Just getting from one end of the area to the other? The weasel seemed remarkably unconcerned about me and the several other people (and dogs) that passed right by, although my camera clicks briefly drew its attention:

It paused for only a few seconds at a time before continuing on its way. Sometimes its path took it over the rocks rather than under them:

I kept walking when the weasel was out of sight, and it would always pop back up again, sometimes just a few feet away from me. Ah, you beautiful creature!

I can't believe how bold this weasel was. It must have been at least little wary, but it just wasn't interested in hiding. It certainly gave me plenty of time for pictures. I love this charismatic face:

And again! Note also the lovely little brown spot on its chin:

That extra long and thin body must be helpful when you're sliding between rocks:

In case you haven't had enough of this wonderful creature yet -- these pictures don't even show its black-tipped tail! -- here's a brief video of this weasel moving along the rocks. Of all of the people walking by, was I really the only one to notice this small but bright dash of red and orange fur? Or maybe I'm the only one who'd never seen a Long-tailed Weasel before.


 
So that was amazing. I left the weasel to its business. On the other side of the path, a Song Sparrow sang in my direction:

And a couple of big Caspian Terns dove after fish in the bay:
 

In a meadow, a Yellow-breasted Chat sang loudly from the very top of a tree and then did a weird, halting, half-hovering/half-falling dance in the air. I didn't get a video this time (and I haven't been able to find a video of this weird display online), so I'll keep an eye out for this behavior again when I'm next at the marsh. I'm sure I won't be able to stay away from this place for too long!