Third Week in March

Amazing! We had another  ice storm just last week.  Anxious to hang the new trail camera before the animals started moving in ernest, I strapped on a pair of "ice walkers, " grabbed an old walking stick and followed the snow mobile trails  up to a point where  tracks of deer, coyote and fox crossed.  I followed the animal tracks for a bit, then veered off deeper into the woods.  The snow was quite deep.
This is the time of year the Cougar passed through our area of the Country in past years. Some day there will be an image of him on my camera, and that will be the last day I hike alone. :-)

End of February

Cold! 2 degrees..and the weatherman is promising more "Plowable snow" later in the week.
This extended cold may be just what we need to kill off the ticks in the woods.  In the meantime, a nice pot of tea by the wood stove is in order! (I just read..the COLD doesn't kill off the ticks!. Oh well. )

Teapot collection at the Salem Cross Inn

No School Today

I ordered a replacement Bushnell Trophy Cam 8 mp trail camera ..a Valentine's gift from Himself.. Bought this one on eBay and should be arrive  in a week or so…Time to dust off the snow shoes!!!   I'll be ordering a cable lock, this time around. 

Walk in The February Woods

The deer began to move
After the Storm..

After the Ice Storm

Deer Tracks: Looking for food….

My Trail Camera has Gone Missing

With a break in the weather I hiked up into the woods to check the trail camera, change the batteries, and change out the image Card.  With the deep snow, ice, and deer hunters, December 18th was the last time I could safely hike into that area of the woods.  January 12th brought rain and a thaw.  The deep snow had melted, and I was anticipating a nice set of wildlife images. Was Coyote still tracking the deer?  Had Fishercat harried the squirrels?
When I arrived at The Grove

The  Camera was GONE!!!!

All of us had gotten used to seeing the  little black Bushnell camera attached trustingly to the tree in the south-west corner of the Grove.
The bears, the foxes, the coyotes..and the larger coyWolf..the deer…the fawns, does and the five bucks…all had become accustomed to the camera, where it has hung for the past 2 years.

Now it's gone.

When I return from vacation I shall order a new Bushnell camera, along with a strong locking cable.

Yes, as the days go by, I still feel a bit sad. Having the camera in the woods always gave this "Grandmother" the motivation to get up off the couch and hike in the woods.

Blue Jay and Woodpecker Tag

Woodpecker would pick up a sunflower seed from the Feeder. Blue Jay, not happy with just keeping Woodpecker away from the feeder,  chased the  Red Head up  into the trees, among the branches,  forcing him to drop the seed…..

Ice skating on the pond

White Tailed Buck in Snow

Click THE LINK here to : Watch Him on You Tube:  CLICK HERE

Three Night Visitors

Seven Point Buck: Notice that he has only one tiny point over his right eye..none on the left:
   Link Here: Watch him on YouTube

Eight Point Buck:  Link Here: : Watch Him On Youtube!

Four Point Buck: Link Here:  Watch him on Youtube

November Colors

Milk Weed,  and Bittersweet

Bittersweet: A surprise, bright and  unexpected. We've never found bittersweet growing on this side of the lake in over 40 years; a volunteer, like the milkweed  found several years ago, growing in the strangest place, not once, but season after season.
Weeds in a garden,  jewels in the woods.

Eight Point Buck with short tine on left antler

This is the first 8 point buck which passed my trail camera. The tine on his left antler is shorter than the one on his right. The 2nd 8 point buck had more  symmetrical antlers. 

It's the time of year that a Buck visits the grove...He ate a few of the apples that I left under the tree….
Watch him on Youtube

Lovely Doe

This is the first day of Bow Hunting so I dug out an old Orange Hat.  The old apple tree provided a bag of Drops to leave for the deer and raccoon. There weren't any spider webs across across the trails as I walked,  so I knew there would be new images on the trail camera. Yes!  Night visitors: Two grey squirrels, one fox, two large Tom's and several deer. And this Lovely Doe.

Spike Horned Buck

A late night visit to The Grove...the first for this young buck....

Young Spike Horn Buck

Autumn! No bugs! Blue skies!

Fawn Comes out of Hiding

Three Racoons

The Fox Returns

Bob Cat September 2013

This is the first Bobcat I've seen on the trail camera.
Click HERE for a link to more information about the BobCat.

Two Boys and a Dog

S. & K. found my camera in the Woods.

Great Blue Heron

Using our raft to fish from...a beautiful bird....

Great Blue Heron 

Gray Fox

CoyDog, or Gray Fox?   The Gray Fox has shorter legs, a shorter muzzle and a pointy face...and is much smaller.  This was taken in the middle of the night, but the infrared camera didn't miss the tell-tale  black stripe down the length of his bushy tail...

I continue to be amazed by the variety of wild animals which travel through so close to our house.
Curiously,  since the first appearance of Bear Cub, CoyDog and Gray Fox, our Doe and Fawn have not passed this way.

Bear Cub

This morning the woods "smelled" of Bear. Did he pass by the Trail Camera?
 It was a Bear Cub!  He visited The Grove several times Sunday, July 28th, in the evening, and again on Monday, July 29th, 8:45 am....just one hour ahead of me.

Bear Waymark

There are a lot of old Blowdowns harboring grubs for the Bear to "harvest'l

Night Visitors

The night of July 19th was a busy one in the woods: Early-on, two fat raccoons, followed by Mamma Deer and her fawn, at 8 pm, followed by a Black Bear at  9:15 pm  and finally by a Coyote at  10:15 pm. !  These images are still clips from the trail camera set to take videos.

Tail end of the bear cub. He came back later in the week and I have a better video of him. 

While the night videos are difficult to see,  and to judge size, I've  learned that Fox carries his tale horizontally, and Coyote let's his hang down. 

Dutchman's Pipe

We walked early before the heat drove us indoors. These popped up overnight along the woodland path.

Wildlife Activity

My trail camera is working again, however, the wildlife is somewhat illusive; most of the images are in the darkest hours, and while I  know what I'm seeing, nothing is clear enough to bother uploading.

Sorry about that!

On July 6th the Fawn was captured by the camera for the first time since it's birth a month ago; it is seen dashing past in a blur.  He let's us see about 3 seconds.  On July 7th a fat raccoon jiggled the camera on the tree while either a wary doe or a hungry coyote...I'm not certain which it was..watched from a distance; we've had a lot of rain, and most of the story of woodland life is told in the wet areas and sandy places, by the tracks...doe, fawn, yearling deer, and a very large "coy wolf", whose track at run measured 3 1/2 inches wide by 4 1/2 long...I'm guessing it is the "coy wolf" I spotted only once, three years ago; a canine much larger than the coyote we've seen on camera this entire spring and early summer.

July: The sun is starting it's relentless path back to autumn; thunderclouds form to the north and to the south.  I spotted a wash tub size Snapping Turtle in the water just off shore, and a 3 foot long water snake; both keep the Duck population well under control here on the lake, I'm afraid.

June

The lull before summer. Thunderstorm last evening. Fresh tracks in the woods this morning of the mother Doe and her fawn...he's out of hiding and traveling with Mom.

Problem is, my trail camera hasn't taken any photos for 10 days now; have tried new batteries and new media cards, to no avail. Guess I'm in the market for a new trail camera. 

Doe Discovers the Camera

This doe came through several nights before noticing the camera; In the meantime, there is no sign of the new fawn....but nightly visits by it's mother suggest that it has survived the first couple of weeks.

New Fawn

White Tailed Fawn: Hours after birth. The mother doe  led it to a safe hiding spot,  away from it's birth location. It navigated through the ferns and branches on wobbly legs.

The following leads to an interesting discussion of a fawns
early hours and days.
Click here:
North-American-Whitetail

Laying In

Staying Alert 

The Coyote is Nearby

The Flying Squirrel at Midnight

May Morning

View from my Window: 7 am

Coyote in the Woods

A rainy morning...
According to the video camera two pregnant does in the area were very uneasy during the night.
The cause is made obvious by this video..Apparently the coyote is hanging around the area as well.

Here is a video of the doe. She is using her sense of smell...and the fawn is kicking up a storm...

Two visitors Before Dawn May 23rd

The Doe came through around 1 am, and the Coyote passed by around 6:30 am, in the rain. He's hard to spot..in the upper left corner of the screen....

The Curious Yearling

Because of snow in the woods, and vacation, I didn't put the camera out until early May.
This is the first video clip: A doe at the salt block and her yearling....
There are about 5 other deer in the area including a very pregnant doe...in another month or so we should be seeing the new fawn...

Spring Sunset

Sunset Reflections

Pieris japonica and Shadblow

 The Shadblow growing near my house has not bloomed for over 15 years...so you can imagine how delighted I was to find it covered with blossoms!

What changed? A mature Hemlock growing nearby blew down in an October Storm two years ago.

The Pieris japonica is also loaded with blooms.

Happy Spring!

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle in the Morning Sun 

Snowmelt Trilliums

A Welcome Volunteer
Beside the Car Park
Snow piled up by the plow melted  in mid April
And Revealed Snowmelt Trilliums.

Wayward Swans.Strange to See

One of three Swans
April 24th, 2013
This is the first time Swan's have  graced our Lake..
Imagine!
Update: The swans stayed about 2 weeks, then flew away.

April Fools Day 2013

Moose Tracks in Snow: April 2013

There is still a lot of snow in the woods;
The tracks indicate three or four moose of various sizes  being stalked by a couple of coyotes.

My trail camera was in the wrong place, of course, to catch the real action.

Fire in the Sky

Nor' Easter 2013

Sitting out the Wind

Frozen Lake

Snow Shoeing in a Snow Storm on the Frozen Lake

Fisher, Hunting

Fisher from trail camera video 1

Fisher from Trail Camera Video
You can see the video on Youtube by clicking on the link below. 

 I hiked into the woods to bring in the trail camera for the winter...there is at least a foot of snow in the Grove, and no animal tracks. One last surprise on the video camera, however...taken Dec 22nd...a "Fisher."

 Fisher on youtube

Eagle Hunting

Sunday, January 6th, 2013: A young eagle visited our yard this morning.  The lake is frozen, so expect Eagle is waiting for the squirrels at the bird feeder.
Here is his "snow Angel." Can you can spot his foot prints?

Mink

This morning when Al was filling the bird feeders he spotted a mink on the stones by the edge of the water.    My father told me he only saw one live, wild mink in all his 98 years.

Cardinal Red

A flash of red on my deck...
A quick photo through the window...
He heard the shutter

and....


  A poem posted today by craig cornish    

Cardinal Red
On barren branch, in gray skies cheer
Cardinal red
A drop of hope that Heaven bled
And spread on feathers now appear
To brighten skies and dry a tear

The Eagle

The Eagle rocketed  down on a squirrel at my bird feeder this morning at 9:15 am.
A huge blur, past the window, between me and the feeder. This photo was taken by someone else but is identical to what I saw....You can imagine my excitement!