I LOVE SNOW!!!! - Guest Post by Mac Dog

 Introduction:  I told Mac Dog he could write a guest post about winter, because Dr. Ruby, PhD did.   Ruby's post about how to enjoy winter has been one of the most popular on this blog.  So of course, in the spirit of good old family competition, Mac wants to see if he can outdo her.  (Is there such a thing as dog-cousin rivalry?)  
Okay, take it, Mac...

"Hhhhaa - Rrrrr-OH!"

(Translation: "Hello")*  

I am Mac Dog.  My family calls me Mac Dog because that is who I am, plain and simple.  (No fancy letters after my name!) My family calls me other things sometimes, too, and all my nicknames are fine with me because I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my family!

I also LOVE, LOVE, LOVE snow!!!

It is SO fun to play in!

 It is fun to WALK in!

It is FUN to poke my nose into and see what smells I can find!

It is FUN to run back to Grammy and get a treat!

She always has treats in her pockets.  I LOVE that!  I will LEAP thru the snow to come to her! (even if she didn't have a treat).

I always keep my eye on my family (because I LOVE them SO much!).  Even while having fun in the snow, I am watchful.

In conclusion, I, Mac Dog say--  walk, run, and play in the snow and you will love winter, too!  Also, make sure your family knows you LOVE them.  

After a winter walk, it is okay to take a little rest, as long as you are still watching over your family.

 The End. 

(Oh, and even though I LOVE my cousin, Ruby (I really DO), I want my post to get more 'hits' than hers.... so click on mine, and share it, and DON'T read Ruby's..... THANK YOU VERY MUCH)

*Yes, Mac Dog can say hello.

PS - from Nancy: Mac Dog does use a lot of capital letters and exclamation points.  That's his style.

PPS - Mac would not let me put a link to Dr. Ruby's post.  He says please do not click on Ruby's -- only his.  Thank you!








 

The Big Picture and the Big Owl

I counted.  It's 105 steps from our front door to the spot where I took the four season photos that are on the top of this blog page.  (And actually, I don't have to walk outside at all to see the beauty there, I can look out our front windows!) 

 (Update: Since I changed the header photo at the top of my blog, I've added this Four Seasons photo to show the scene I'm writing about).

What a blessing it is to have a beaver swamp so close!  Close-up is  how I usually try to show you what I see there, too--  zooming my camera lens in on the ducks, bald eagles, and herons.   Lately, I've been thinking I should also include the 'big picture'!

Yesterday was a gorgeous day.  Sunny and warm... there was not even any ice left on the swamp after a couple of above freezing days.  However, the day length is getting pretty short and by quarter of four, the sun was already low in the sky. 

I walked those 105 steps and stood quietly to enjoy the last sunlight of the day hitting the tops of the mountain.

It was so calm, the reflections in the water were almost perfect.  I'd like to say it was peaceful, and for the most part it was, except for the occasional car going by on the road.  Then-- a different sound!  "hoo-h’HOO-hoo-hoo"  Deep, and fairly loud.  A Great Horned Owl! 

A neat thing about the mountain behind the swamp is that it makes kind of a curve, forming a bowl-shape that directs sounds toward us.  (Peepers in the spring are almost unbelievably noisy for that reason!)  So, while the owl was out of sight, I could hear him plain as anything.  (click here to listen)


The owl had stopped calling but I kept listening, just in case.  I walked a little farther, to one of my other favorite places.

Looking the opposite direction from there, toward the 'heron tree' is pretty, too. 

 The swamp was very quiet now.  Time to head back to make dinner.

First, one more photo of the trees.  I knew it was the calm before the storm, as the weather forecast was calling for 4 to 8" of snow.  And sure enough, this morning, it began.

The swamp still looks beautiful with the falling snow...

Somewhere back in the woods, maybe the Great Horned Owl is sleeping the day away in a hemlock or a white pine tree.

Though the morning light is different from yesterday afternoon, this is still a pretty spot--

The owl has a safe place... if he is there.  I hope he is!

As I write this, the snow is already piling up.  I hope you all stay safe and have a wonderful, white Thanksgiving, too!

A Somewhat Strange Week of Birding

Birders have a language all their own.  They 'pish', do a dance for joy when they get a 'life bird', look for 'vagrants' and 'rarities' and watch for bird 'irruptions'.  This week I got to do the 'lifer' dance (first ever sighting of a new species)-- right in my kitchen... for this bird:

As soon as I looked out the window and saw it, I knew it was something different.  I looked in my field guide and thought it was a Rusty Blackbird, and then confirmed it with an email photo to another birder.  I don't want to make a mistake with a 'life' bird!

That rusty color (especially when the late afternoon sun was hitting it) and yellow eye were pretty conclusive.  Also, it was the same size as a Red-winged Blackbird who was also taking advantage of our bird food.

Here's another shot of it (lower right) with a couple of Blue Jays, a Mourning Dove, and a Grackle for size comparison.

 

Rusty Blackbirds migrate thru our area, and their numbers are in decline (they are one of the most rapidly declining species of birds), so I was really excited to see it.

Another bird that is in decline are Evening Grosbeaks.  We had one of those visit this week, too!  I'm not sure if it would be called an 'irruption' (defined as "a dramatic, irregular migration of large numbers of birds to areas where they aren’t typically found, possibly at a great distance from their normal ranges") because it was only one bird. Maybe it would be a 'rarity' (that term is pretty self-explanatory).

 This female Evening Grosbeak came on the 17th, showed up again on the morning of the 18th.  She was not a life bird for me, but she was very rare for our area. The last one we had here was in April 2008.  Unfortunately, she didn't hang around long enough for another birder who came, hoping to see her to put on his 'county list'.  The first day she was here was very rainy and cold...

She gets her name, 'grosbeak' from her very large beak... a good one for cracking hard things to eat.

...then the next day was sunny so maybe she moved on with the better weather.

After that came the Rusty Blackbird (it got top billing on this post, out of chronological order, because of its 'life bird' status).  But, soon after the Rusty Blackbird came another unusual sighting.... a Killdeer in late November in North-east PA.  Now, we've had Killdeer on our property list most years, but not this year.  I had given up 'getting' one.  They nest right down the road from us in a church parking lot so we do get to see them and even their babies.  (They were featured in a previous blog post -- click here if you missed them!) 

I was not at all expecting to hear and see one on Wednesday but that's what happened.

I was outside for a few minutes in the afternoon doing something when I heard a bird 'crying' over in the swamp.  I ran inside for my camera and binoculars... sure enough, a killdeer!

I felt sorry for it-- the water was frozen almost everywhere and the poor bird kept taking short kind of 'hopping' flights and landing.  It didn't seem very happy with its circumstances!  As I stood in our driveway watching, it rose again and starting flying.... directly towards me!  It flew right over my head.  I watched it fly towards the pond behind our house.  I hope it found the open spring that feeds the pond.  That would be the only wet area left.

That seemed like enough unusual birds for one week, but the next morning when I looked out at the feeders, there was a Pine Siskin with a small flock of American Goldfinches.

Pine siskins are 'irruption' birds for us, and typically when they come, we have lots of them.  So having just one seems a bit strange.  This is the second time this fall that we've had one!  If you have goldfinches, keep an eye out for them, as they tend to look similar.  In the next photo it almost looks like the siskin and the goldfinch are checking each other out!

"Oh yes, I see you have a yellow feather on your wings and a stripy breast.... very pretty!" says the goldfinch to the siskin.

Okay, the next thing isn't really that strange but it's pretty unusual for me to look out the window and see two American Crows strutting around in our lawn.  Guess they wanted to join the rest of the birds.

That was also on the 20th.  The 21st passed without any strange or rare birds.  This morning (the 22nd) I went for a walk and didn't really expect to see anything 'special' either.  When I heard two Crows and some Blue Jays 'mobbing' something down by the swamp, I figured I'd try to see if I could see what they were so upset about.  Usually, it's an owl (which would probably be hidden from my sight in a tree, or a maybe a hawk).  Well! This time it was a mature Bald Eagle.  Even though they aren't that rare anymore, it's always a great sight to see one!

A splendid end to a great week of birds!

November.... Blah, blah... ah ha!

Hi there dear reader,

How are you?  I have been fighting to not come down with a virus called the 'November blahs'!

First, I am banishing the line from an old John Denver song that sometimes runs thru my mind, "So you speak to me of sadness and the coming of the winter..."  Yep, that's not very uplifting.  Switch that to, 

"Great is thy faithfulness, oh God my father.... 

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above;
Join with all nature in manifold witness,
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love".

That's better.  

Things do slow down in the natural world this time of year.  It's easy for me to look at that as a sad thing.  I need to remember it's not sad, it's just different.   

When I was looking thru the photos I've taken-- starting November 1st, I realized there are still wonderful things happening in my Father's world.  What's happening, you ask?  

Well, there are birds, of course.  Not as many as in the warmer months, but lots of them are coming to my feeders.  Chickadees, woodpeckers, finches, titmice....

I'm still trying to get a good photo of a tufted titmouse.  They are so bouncy and constantly on the move that while it is fun to watch them, they're a challenge to photograph.  Even though there are lots of them right outside my kitchen window, I wasn't really happy with any of the numerous photos I had taken.

I started thinking they are one of those birds that you have to watch in action to see their full cuteness!

Then one did this while I was snapping his picture:

Cute!  (He was scratching an itch, not laying down to go to sleep.)
Next on my November list of wonderful happenings is another thing I see right outside my kitchen window.  That is watching the red-bellied woodpeckers defy the 'large-birds-cannot-eat from-this-feeder-rule'.

It's no problem for a smart bird like him.  The next two photos are from a different day (did you notice it was raining in the last 3?)  After he takes a seed from the feeder he flies over to the apple tree to eat it.  

See the seed in his bill?  Now, in the next photo, you can see his tongue.  Woodpeckers have pretty amazing tongues.  (but that's not what this post is about, so if you want to read about them, click here).

Okay, dear reader, I changed my mind.  I have to show you another photo of the red-belly's tongue, even though it was taken October 28th and I was only going to use photos from November.  Hey, it's my blog and I can do what I want, right?  Thank you.

Alright.  The next thing that happened in November (getting back on track) was that it snowed.  Yay!  It is so pretty.  Well, definitely prettier than a gray, rainy day, right?  We're trying to think positive here!

 The mourning doves didn't seem to mind.

So why should we?

I can see lots of things from my windows, but not this:

He made it worth going for a walk on the cold morning of November 8th.  He and I watched each other for awhile!

He may not have a trophy rack, but he was gorgeous to my eyes.  (I only 'hunt' with my camera.)

It's a little harder for me to get motivated to go out for a walk this time of year, I admit.  But I still try to, no matter the weather.  The doggies in my life enjoy it, so why not me?  

Although, some days I think Ruby would just as soon watch out the window!

And I have to admit, that often, the most activity this time of year seems to be happening right outside the windows.  

The following photos were all taken from our bedroom window.  It had snowed overnight, and the next morning our little flock of bluebirds appeared about 8 a.m.  So, it was not very light out yet... hence some of the photos are not the best-- but I enjoyed watching them so much I thought you, my readers might enjoy them, too!  

First, a bluebird finding a magnolia berry (seed?) on the ground to eat.

Then, the siblings... I think, being curious about their first snow (the three that fledged from a nearby box this summer)? That's what I think anyway.  

Perhaps one of them is going to be cranky in the winter time?

Too bad I can't invite him to come into my sunroom for a little while and enjoy the flowers on my geraniums.

Yes, that's snow outside the windows.  It's a very pretty way to set off the greenery, right?

I'm feeling more happy about November now, how about you?

Sincerely,
Nancy
PS - I am heading out now to see what other wonderful things I can see in November.