Today we drove past the Tomales Bay in northern California. It was a gorgeous day, looking more like April than February. Everything was vivid green and bulb flowers everywhere were at their peak.
In the bay, but close to the road, we saw a mass of gulls and cormorants congregating in great excitement, so we pulled over to see what was up. There were dozens of sea lions thrashing around just beneath the surface of the water, porpoising up to the air, and diving down again. The surface of the water was torn with mobbing gulls and cormorants. There must have been a big school of fish, maybe sardines, and the sea lions and birds were hunting them ferociously. We saw gulls tearing fish right out of the beaks of the smaller cormorants. The whole feeding frenzy lasted about ten minutes, and then it all dissipated.
We’re still locked down in the UK, and golf courses are closed. Today I was cycling along a road which runs past Manning’s Heath golf course, when I saw a herd of deer on an unused fairway - this fairway, in fact. They were just beyond the tee area (the raised circular-ish thing in the foreground), standing looking at me as if it was me who had no business being there. I watched for a few minutes - four or five trotted off, then then the rest followed single file, up the hill and along the fairway. I counted 16 of them.
There are a lot of deer around here, but you don’t usually see that many that close.
Yesterday it was 68F. Today it is 70F. I’ve already got a pollen warning after only two warm days! And sure enough, checking around the yard shows stuff is starting to come up - my chive plant is sending out new shoots, the daffodils are just coming up, and the million bells plants in my hanging baskets have a few tiny new leaves on them.
I put the hose in the well of a tree to give it a nice long drink and when I went back to look, the water was boiling with wrens bathing and splashing.
March 5 on my deck I encountered a butterfly! Alive!
Did not have my camera handy, but it was a Painted Lady butterfly very much alive, it’s legs gripping the rough wood surface and with wings a little tattered but otherwise looked great.
I gently scooped it up and relocated it to a windless sunny side of the garden. It clambered about a bit in the leaves and weeds then ducked under a leaf and continued fluttering its wings.
How odd to see a butterfly right now, there’s piles of snow everywhere. Surely they re not migrating this way yet?
I just saw what I think is a brant on my pond. A pair show up every year around this time, but they’re super spooky and hard to get a look at. I’ve set up my trail camera and if I get a pic, I’ll post it.
It got to 61F here in suburban Minneapolis/St. Paul today. I’m quite worried about the wildlife hatching or returning before food is available for them (I live near a wildlife refuge). Butterfly populations are already hurting. An early spring isn’t going to help if the plants aren’t ready or if we get another freeze, which is certainly still possible.
Since I’m now keeping bees, this spring I’ve started to make a note on my phone calendar when I notice different plants start blooming. Researching those plants has been interesting. One plant I have a lot of, and saw my bees working today is Cedar Glade Cress. Apparently it only grows in this area in the TN basin. Very small geographic region. Not blooming yet, but I also have the very regional Nashville Breadroot.
If you come across wildflowers you don’t recognize, I have a good website for IDing plants. You put your region in and a pick list for the plant (color, size, number of petals, etc) and it shows you pics of possibilities. Very handy.
I had to look them up too! Ain’t none of those birds gonna show up here, LOL.
There is an eagle nest in the outback, has been for years. Usually they arrive later than now and spend a few days fixing the place up before having sexy fun times.
I’ve seen them hovering around looking for prey to take home to the nest which worries me. We haven’t had a winter here, pickings are slim for herbivores so I’m worried about the chicks, if they happen.
I also can’t help but notice that Nextdoor posts are all about “Oh, my cat/my small dog is lost, please help!”
Not today, but over the weekend I do believe I saw a snowshoe hare.
It was large, white, quick, and rabbity, and as I (appropriately enough) was snowshoeing up a mountain it crossed my path not far below the summit.
I had poles in each hand and my phone was in my pocket and by the time it had registered what I was seeing it was way too late to snap a picture, oh well.
It’s possible it was an ordinary rabbit, but as I say it was large and white, and it sure moved fast. I’d prefer to think it was a snowshoe hare. And I checked–they do live in the area where I was, at least in the “higher elevations.”
My gf took me down to the barn to show me the mouse village. When it was cold/snowing mice moved into our house, as they do most winters. My gf insisted I live trap them, but I didn’t want to trap and release, then have them come right back into the house.
My gf set up a mouse area in a corner of the barn. Lots of hay, a wooden crate turned on its side, little feeders and waterers, etc. There are 5 mice “living” there. By providing for them, she thinks they’ll stay. What I didn’t point out is that soon the snakes will be awakening and those five mice will be gone.
