Turtles on Ice

Mother Nature can be a little cruel sometimes. Spent a few hours out at Huntley Meadows today and saw four turtles crawling over the ice- all Red-bellied Sliders (thanks to Kevin Munroe for ID help), three large ones and one smaller one. Normally turtles are down in the mud, hibernating over the winter (they absorb oxygen through their skin, and the heartbeat drops down to a very low rate) and come up through an open area in the ice for a breath of fresh air. One of them found another open area of water and plopped back in, and two of them made it into the same area with a little help. The last one was seen slowly heading out towards the middle of the frozen marsh. As the temperature is supposed to go down to the twenties tonight it probably won't survive. I know it's natures way of weeding the species out, but still not something I like to see. Turtles are sometimes seen crawling around underneath the ice in the winter, but this was a bit unusual.

White Throats, Red Feathers, Mourning Doves

A heavy wet snowfall has led to the usual crowd of feathered folk on and under the feeders. Counted 15 Mourning Doves, 4 pairs of Cardinals (I don't always see both the male and the female, but if I see four females I usually assume the same number of males are present or at least close by), 10 or 11 Juncos, the pair of Red-bellies, a Downy or two, several White-breasted Nuthatches, White-throated (pictured), Song and House (not really a sparrow- they're a weaver finch and an import) Sparrows, up to ten Blue Jays and a few Carolina Chickadees. There's also a Carolina Wren- the Red-bellied's sloppy eating habits benefit it as the wren scavenges up the little bits of suet the woodpeckers and Starlings drop. The doves and the Song and White-throated sparrows as well as the Juncos feed on what the House Sparrows drop out of the seed feeder. The Blue Jays get the sunflower seed on the deck- it appears that they eat them whole, which implies they've got a pretty good digestive system.

Starlings Will Inherit The Earth

A cold dreary slushy day- clear weather is out for today. We're due for a few inches of snow and slush later this afternoon after this morning's 1/4" of wet heavy snow. Suet feeder was empty this morning, so a new cake went out in the cage. The local pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers usually discover it pretty quickly, as do the Starlings. Most of the time the woodpeckers drive the Starlings off as shown- but the Starlings sometimes prevail by weight of numbers. I noticed that the Starlings were taking baths in the small pond this morning when the temperature was only about 35 degrees or so, getting pretty wet in the process. The water in the pond can't be much warmer than freezing- the only reason there's any open water is that there's a pump circulating water from the big pond into the small one to keep an open area for oxygenating the water.

It's Spring!

Well, no, actually it isn't, at least not when it's January 24th and the temperature at first light at home is hovering somewhere around 14 degrees or so. But there's a Robin? Doesn't that mean it's spring? No, it means the Robins that are normally hanging out in the denser parts of the parks around here in Winter here have discovered that the Cleveland Pear trees in our neighbors yard were loaded with fruit, most of which has fallen to the ground now. They've been feeding on it for a few weeks now, joined by flocks of Starlings. This is also what the Cedar Waxwing I rescued late in the afternoon a few days ago was feeding on with the rest of its flock. Just as a sidenote, one usually doesn't see Waxwings in the same place two days in a row. This flock was here two days in a row- maybe they discovered they had a missing member and waited for it to show up before they left?

Drunken Visitor?

Found a Cedar Waxwing today that might have been drunk, probably by eating fermented Cleveland Pear fruit. I thought that sitting in the neighbors driveway was probably not the best place for it to sober up, so I moved it to our backyard. Spent a few minutes taking pictures of it until it was recovered enough to fly into a tree and recover. One of the signs that it may have been inebriated was that it bit me when I put it on the tree branch.

Getting Warmer

Bit of a thaw today- all the way up to 49. Ice that had been on the trees and bushes all melted off in the morning when the sun came out- it felt good this afternoon just to stand in the sun's warmth. Pond actually thawed out enough to clean the filter and scoop some dead leaves out. Seized the opportunity to replant some bulbs that I dug out of the front flower plot last summer in the spot where the Yoshino Cherry used to be- had to take the pick and break up some of the permafrost before I could put the bulbs in. This is the same plot that has the Joe Pye Weed and various other butterfly attracting plants in it. As I was rooting around in the plot I discovered some Spring bulbs that were starting to sprout, including a crocus or two. Female Downy Woodpecker on the suet was busy even though I was only about six feet away, occasionally giving an alarm call.

Huntley Meadows

Back from an hour at Huntley Meadows. Marsh has been frozen over since early December, so waterfowl except for Canada Geese have been mostly absent. Did see what I'm thinking were a pair of Black Ducks, which are fairly rare these days as the Mallards interbreed with and displace them. About 200 geese out on the ice and what looked like several hundred crows scavenging for whatever the dropping water level has exposed. Apart from a few radio towers looming over the trees, Huntley Meadows always feels like some much wilder place out in the woods somewhere, especially in 31 degree temps with a gray cloudy overcast. Lots of people out on the boardwalk today.

Feed Me!

Carolina Wren sitting on the fence this morning making lots of noise. Stopped seconds after I put a new suet cake in the holder- it was on the holder as soon as I went inside, followed by a female Downy Woodpecker. The other day a Red-bellied Woodpecker (we have a pair hanging around- this was the male) was on the suet feeding and stabbing at Starlings that were attempting to get on the holder at the same time. The Starlings gave up after a few attempts. One of the funny sights on the suet is watching a Blue Jay try to feed on it. They peck at it a few times but can't quite get the hang of staying on the feeder and getting the suet at the same time for more than a few seconds.

Thursday Morning

Cold and a little sun this morning. Usual culprits around- flock of Blue Jays waiting for their peanuts- they land on the deck seconds after I throw some unshelled peanuts out, grab one, and fly off to a branch to hack one open. Their numbers appear to have increased since the Avian Flu was around a few years back.

A Start

This is a start- what I see every day in the backyard, seasonal changes, what I've been catching in the camera, and other stuff. I think it's a good time to start as the back yard is mostly sleeping now except for the birds and squirrels, and I always like seeing the seasons change. Follow along and see what can be found!