Heh. Saturday we had to keep an eye on the dogs all day. A robin fledged and its parents were feeding it on the ground. Meanwhile, the dogs discovered a rabbit nest with newborns that we then protected, putting up a little border fence around the area.
I see you’ve been to Nebraska.
Mama woodpecker feeding baby woodpecker.
Ha! I thought Minnesota was the winner in the unpredictable weather category - especially us close to Lake Superior, which pretty much controls our weather. I would have thought you’d have moderate weather all the time. Nothing too extreme.
More about weather (though not so extreme). According to Reading University stats, and assuming that the data from our nearest weather station also applies to us, in April we had 9% of the expected rain for the month. Thus far in May (noon on the 25th) we have had 181% of the expected rainfall. Which leads me to note…
Today in nature I saw spring growth of mushrooms. Not just today, either - spring growth of three different types over the last couple of days. I assume this must be due to our freaky turnaround in rainfall.
j
You mean like the difference between today and tomorrow? I think it is happening because Minnesotans thought they could turn the A/C on for summer.
Yep. I haven’t even walked over near the corner of the dining room where the thermostat is yet. Don’t want to anger the gods.
Sorry for the crappy quality of the pic, but all the hawk activity we’ve seen recently seems to have resulted in a fledgling (looks like you need to click on the pic to see the whole thing):
It was standing in the driveway when we pulled up after dinner today, and my husband was reluctant to pull up farther lest in run in front of the car, so I got out and slowly walked toward it until it ran up beside our shed. I snapped a photo of it with my cell because I’d sure never seen such a little one before.
Oh. My. Goodness.
Thank you.
It’s parents must be so proud!
There were some pretty agitated sounds coming from the trees above - we looked but the tree cover is thick there and it was getting dark so we couldn’t see them. I assume mom and dad are either red tail or red shouldered hawks based on previous sightings of adults.
Awwwwww, how cute! I’m glad you managed to get a pic to share.
!! That is amazing !!
Yesterday I saw the third live coyote I’ve ever seen. It crossed a very busy 4 lane road, dodging traffic, at about 5:00 PM.
Not sure what it was doing out and about at that hour.
Why, playing “Frogger” with live traffic, of course!
Do you remember where you got that suet feeder? That may solve my blackbirds eat a block of suet in an hour problem.
I used to get Orioles from May thru September. For the last few years, they have become transient, and I only see them in May and sometimes in September. Makes me sad, they are my favorite birds.
I sure do:
LIFELONG® RACCOON PROOF SQUIRREL PROOF SUET BIRD FEEDER (lifelongfeeders.com)
The paint has started to peel off mine, but that’s easily remedied - I’ve had it for years. It comes apart so you can wash it, and I’ve put it in the dishwasher, too.
Thank you! I think that’s going to save me a lot of suet buying in the future. I must have tried 20 different kinds of suet feeders but nothing keeps the blackbirds off them. They even ate off the feeders where they had to hang upside down!
Today in nature I saw… a stork. (But don’t get your hopes up too much).
Last May a reintroduction project on the Knepp Estate in Sussex saw the first stork chick hatched in the wild in the UK for (they say) 600 years. There are now several pairs on the estate (this is all part of The White Stork Project) including one pair nesting on a chimney of the castle building, which is visible from a public footpath.
With field glasses we were able to watch mamma (or perhaps papa - very modern thinking birds, storks) on the nest, looking around. The building is private, and they want to keep you on the public footpath, quite a distance from the house, so that the birds are not excessively disturbed. That’s a good idea, so we obeyed. We hung around as long as we could in hopes of the spouse turning up, but no luck.
Knepp is in the process of rewilding at the moment.
We saw herds of deer, woodpeckers, birds of prey (including a buzzard being mobbed by crows), more herons than a sturdy man would care to shake a stick at, swans and cygnets, an Egyptian goose…
Access is limited as they want the wildlife to remain undisturbed, but it’s still a fine day out.
j
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