Baseball

I was going to write a post about how the Mets have to stop getting 3 runs in the first inning. Every time they have done so this season, they seem to struggle to score any more and their starter gives up more than 3 in the first five innings of the game. Then the Metsies had to pull Friday night's game against Milwaukee out of a hat by coming back to tie the score at 4-4 on 40-year old Gary Sheffield's 500th career home run and then accepting a gift wrapped win 5-4.

(Today's game was a humdinger of a pitchers' duel that saw Johan Santana get his second win in a 1-0 thriller.)

Then there was the Yankee vs Cleveland game on Saturday. The Yankees scored 2 in the bottom of the first to jump out to a 2-0 lead. From then on is was Custer against the Souix. Cleveland scored 14 runs in the top of the second inning. The final? 22-4 Indians. Ouch!

Heading up north

I'll be heading up to the Bolt Hole bright and early tomorrow (Sunday) morning. The weather is supposed to deteriorate considerably on Monday and showers are being forecast for much of the week up there. Still, there are things to do both in the cabin and in the garage's back room.

If the weather breaks I might be able to go for a walk in the woods to see what winter has wrought. Regardless of what the weather is, I'll be on dial-up so don't expect many pictures!

Saturday at Hills Creek State Park

This morning's bird walk was exceptional on many fronts. We had a dozen participants (not one of them camping at the park, however), we saw 35 species of birds in just two hours of walking, and we all had a great time.

There were a myriad of water fowl on the lake and, with the wind virtually nonexistent, each bird stood out. Even though they tried to pull that old trick of always being on the far side of the lake, we still got a good look through the spotting scope of Double-crested Cormorants, Horned Grebes, Lesser Scaup, Common Loon and more way, way out there. And spotting the Barred Owl resting in the hemlocks and fir trees as we walked underneath...again and again, was a real treat.
Only a few springtime species are starting to show up in the fields and thickets so things can get much better before the summer doldrums arrive.

Any way, here's my report for the day's outing:

Location: Hills Creek State Park
Observation date: 4/18/09
Notes: Beautiful morning with 12 participants for the Hills Creek bird walk. Spotting the Barred Owl across from the host campground was the highlight but close behind were the Hooded Grebes and Double-crested Cormorants out on the lake.
Number of species: 35

Canada Goose X
Wood Duck X
Mallard X
Ring-necked Duck X
Lesser Scaup X
Bufflehead X
Common Merganser (North American) X
Wild Turkey X
Common Loon X
Pied-billed Grebe X
Horned Grebe X
Double-crested Cormorant X
Turkey Vulture X
Broad-winged Hawk X
Killdeer X
Barred Owl X
Belted Kingfisher X
Northern Flicker X
Eastern Phoebe X
American Crow X
Black-capped Chickadee X
Red-breasted Nuthatch X
White-breasted Nuthatch X
Ruby-crowned Kinglet X
American Robin X
European Starling X
Magnolia Warbler X
Field Sparrow X
Song Sparrow X
White-throated Sparrow X
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) X
Northern Cardinal X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Pine Siskin X
American Goldfinch X

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Two walks are better than one!

Especially when the second is a very, very short one.

So I drove west of Wellsboro this morning to the eastern terminus of the Pine Creek Rails-to-Trails Bike Path just off Rt.287 and walked westward from there for over a mile. Lots and lots of birds despite not yet having the full migration take place. Going out from the parking lot took an hour and forty-five minutes because of all the stopping to spy on the feathered fauna. Coming back took just 35 minutes of non-stop (mostly) walking.

The highlight of the walk was seeing an American Bittern tucked in among the grasses of one of the creeks and a Northern Harrier soaring overhead with a kettle of Turkey Vultures. Once again, I'm sure I under-counted the song Sparrows, Robins and Red-winged Blackbirds as they flitted from one side of the trail to the other, were flying ahead of me, behind me and over me.

Still, 24 total species is not to be sneezed at this early in the spring. The list:


Location: Rails-to-Trails Rt 287 W
Observation date: 4/17/09
Notes: Clear, crisp morning with little breeze. Temp 38-45 degrees. I walked from the eastern terminus of the Pine Creek Rails-to-Trails about 1.5 miles counting birds as I went. The return trip on the same path yielded no new species.
Number of species: 24

Canada Goose 11
Wood Duck 4
Mallard 3
American Bittern 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 6
Northern Harrier 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Killdeer 2
Mourning Dove 4
Belted Kingfisher 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Eastern Phoebe 6
Blue Jay 4
American Crow 11
Black-capped Chickadee 3
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
American Robin 19
Song Sparrow 20
Northern Cardinal 6
Red-winged Blackbird 17
Common Grackle 12
American Goldfinch 14

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Being close to noon when I got back to my vehicle, I stopped at PagoMar's (a nifty little shop right at the entrance to the trail) for a sub and soda (I passed on the ice cream--which took a lot of will power) before heading up to The Muck to see what waterfowl might be hanging about. Sitting in the parking area, eating my sub, I kept getting interupted by birds! Before I even finished my sub I had spotted seven species including the first Common Yellowthroat of the season.

Despite being the middle of the day, there were still lots of Canada Geese and Wood Duck on the water as well as a few Mallards, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Ducks, and Buffleheads. I only spent an hour yet between the parking lot and blind, I saw 21 species. The list:


Location: Marsh Creek/The Muck IBA
Observation date: 4/17/09
Notes: Mid-day observation from the parking area to the blind at The Muck. Some breeze, temps around 55-60 degrees. Clear.
Number of species: 21

Canada Goose 20
Wood Duck 16
Mallard 2
Green-winged Teal 2
Ring-necked Duck 4
Bufflehead 2
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 2
Killdeer 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 2
American Crow 2
Tree Swallow 5
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
American Robin 3
Common Yellowthroat 1
Song Sparrow 2
Swamp Sparrow 4
Northern Cardinal 1
Red-winged Blackbird 7
American Goldfinch 3

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Gorgeous day at the Aerie!

It's another beautiful day here at the Aerie. Yesterday afternoon the sun, shining from the west, drove the temperatures up both inside and out. Outside it reached 63 degrees at 3:00 PM and, upstairs in the master bedroom it was 67 degrees when we went to bed at 10 PM. The thermostats are set at 63 degrees in all zones of the house--two in the basement, three on the main floor and the one in the master suite. The radiant floor system in the basement and the first floor make even that low setting very cozy. (Although when we have company stay over, we usually jack the zone the guest bedroom is on all the way up to 65 or so.)

The fireplace can really heat up the first floor and the loft when it gets going. It's gotten up to 74 or 75 degrees on the first floor when the fire has been going good. It's a bit warmer in the loft under those conditions. Since the master suite's door is always closed to keep the cats out, it's still relatively cool in there.

The major glass front of the Aerie faces west northwest so it captures much of the late afternoon sun to both light up and warm up the interior. The eight inch thick log walls on the main floor, the poured concrete (sandwiched between styrofoam) foundation of the walk in basement and the R-38 roof insulation do an excellent job of retaining the heat. Luckily, when things finally do heat up during the summer, the near constant breezes here on the hillside at 2100 feet can keep things pretty comfortable. Only the master suite lacks sufficient cross ventilation and requires the use of either a fan or--when things really get warm--a couple of hours of window mounted AC. The AC, applied for two hours or so just before bed, is usually sufficient.

Okay, why all the talk about HVAC systems? We are coming up to the close of the heating season, believe it or not. Only several overcast, drizzly, depreasing days in succession will cause a major use of the heating system. That means we will be getting less and less propane delivered. The April delivery was a third less than the March delivery which was a third less than the February delivery. (All deliveries took place in the first week of the month and, therefore, reflect usage on the previous month.) The bill paid on April 8 was fully half of what was paid on February 8. And that is very, very good! Last year our last delivery of the season was on May 8. That held us until November despite using propane to heat water for laundry and washing and for cooking on the range.

So, as I said, it's a beautiful day here at the Aerie with goldern sunshine promised for the next day or two and temperatures in the 60s forecast. I do believe I'll head out for another walk. Later.

Winnie, the Red-bellied Woodpecker

I mentioned Winnie our resident Red-bellied Woodpecker in a previous post and even presented a photo or two of her way back in the winter (a couple of weeks ago). At first she would come in take a seed and retire to a skinny dead snag on the other side of the yard where she would hull the sunflower seed and eat the interior. But she became more comfortable with the nearness of the house and also became brassy as hell. Now when she swoops in, it's to chase everyone away and hold them at bay. Then she'll settle down and eat seed after seed.

The way she swoops in is reminiscent of Errol Flynn in Captain Blood swinging from one ship to another to appear on the deck rail from below, survey the deck proper and then lay waste to those present. (Or when Flynn, as Robin Hood (The Adventures of Robin Hood), appears on that massive oak limb in Sherwood Forest and says to the Archbishop, "Welcome to Sherwood, my Lord.") But her attitude once on the tray is all Jack Nicholson in The Shinning ("Here's Johnny!")

"I'm baaaaack! Now scram!"

"Okay, now...Nothing to the left of me."

"Nothing to the right of me..."

"Time to eat!"

Short walk at Colton Point

Terry and I dropped my Tundra off to have it's bed spray lined (Rhino) this morning over west of Wellsboro and instead of heading home right away, we continued west bound to Colton Point State Park and the west rim of the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. The place was completely empty when we got there. There were no cars at any of the parking areas and it stayed pretty much that way the entire 1.5 hours we walked around looking for birds.

Turns out that birds were pretty sparse, too. Even counting the Tree Swallows (down at the bridge over Pine Creek on the entrance road) and the Wild Turkey (along the side of the same road about a mile or two from Rt. 6) we were able to find only 14 species. Some, however were quite abundant. Turkey Vultures, for instance, were taking advantage of the sun striking this western slope and the fine breeze that blew up the slope to soar and soar and soar. I'm sure I under-counted them as they moved mback and forth up and down the gorge; sometimes high above the trees and sometimes way, way below the lip of the canyon.

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers were also abundant. They could be heard hammering on dead snags, tapping lightly on living wood, screaming at one another and generally having a grand old time in the woods.

No sign of any warblers yet, but that isn't surprising. The trees haven't yet burst their buds so there's no insects for the warblers to feed on. A week or so of weather like we had today (sunny and a high of 61 degrees) and the tree flowers will be present followed by the leaves. As it is, there's an increasing hint of red (maple) and green when you look at the forested slopes.

Anyway, here's the rest of a rather unremarkable list from today's walk:

Location: Colton Point
Observation date: 4/16/09
Notes: Cool (42-45 degrees) morning on the west rim of the Canyon. I'm sure I under-counted both the Turkey Vultures and the Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers as both species were all over the sky and the forest respectively. The Turkey and Tree Swallows were seen on the way up the road from Rt. 6.
Number of species: 14

Common Merganser (North American) 2
Wild Turkey 1
Turkey Vulture 9
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 6
Northern Flicker 1
Eastern Phoebe 3
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 3
Common Raven 5
Tree Swallow 6
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 7
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 5

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Blue Jays

Blue Jays are frequent visitors to the tray feeder on the deck. They are also proud bullies that come swooping in and terrorize all the other birds with their raucous calls. They are pretty good mimics, too. Sometimes the Jays will sit in the trees and give off the cry of a Red-tailed Hawk sending all the smaller birds into a panic. The Jays then come in to the feeders and enjoy a quiet meal.

Yesterday morning, this fella showed up pretty much by himself. (He came back later, I'm sure, as part of a group of five Jays that sent everyone running.) He came in, scared all the little finches away and terrorized a Mourning Dove, and then hopped on the tray and started to feed.

"And stay out!"

"Yum, sunflower seeds! And they are all mine, I tell you, MINE!"

As I shot one picture after another, he looked up at the sound of the camera. (Even a digital can make a clicking sound, if you want it to---or are too lazy to read the manual and learn how to turn it off.)

"Did you hear something? I could have sworn I heard something?"

As I wasn't making a great deal of movement on the other side of the glass, I can only assume he heard the camera and turned to see where the sound was coming from.

"I was right! There's some guy in there with a camera!"

"I'm ready for my close-up, DeMille!"

I'm telling you, with a head tilt like that he could become President!

Soon after this photo was snapped, he got his comeuppance when Winnie, our resident Red-Bellied Woodpecker came to get some sunflower seeds. She's about the same size, more belligerent and far better armed than the Blue Jays. And she tolerates NO other birds on HER tray!

Trapeez Act

This morning dawned (if you could call it that) with a fine misting rain falling. Prospects were not good for a walk in woods and fields and I had determined my blood pressure didn't need to have me attending any "tea party", the closest of which would have been in New York State which needs more of an enema than a tea party. Anything to clean the a$$holes out of Albany.

Anyway, I decided to play around with the camera a bit and see what could be seen from my windows and porch. I ended up with over 150 pictures about a quarter of which were squirrels. Squirrels are like government free loaders. Their nose is always in the trough and they never even say thank you to those of us that provide. Like this guy on my deck tray feeder.



Occasionally, the squirrels do provide something in return. Sometime it's in the form of meat. Sometimes it's entertainment. We've had as many as 14-15 Eastern Grey Squirrels at the feeders at one time during the winter. Today there were "just" six plus a Red Squirrel. (Normally I try to play "Navy SEAL and Pirates" with the Red Squirrels but not today. I was feeling magnanimous. I also need to practice more. The darn things wear kevlar vests under the red fur. I'm sure of that!)

One Grey Squirrel must have strayed for the circus. While it's not unusual to find a squirrel hanging from the telephone pole that serves as a feeder support and reaching out to grab sunflower seeds from the feeder, this guy had something else in mind. First he leaped up onto a hanging feeder and then the fun began.

The lip of the feeder is juuussst about wide enough for his hips. Maybe.

But that's okay because he's gonna hang by his back feet from the perching rail.

Once he's hanging out, he realizes that the snacks are at the wrong end!
Time to exercise those abs, my friend!

It's uuuuuppppp to grab a seed and then
doooowwwwn to eat it.

Uuuuuppp and dooowwwn.
Dooowwwn and uuuuuppp.

That sh*t can wear you out pretty fast!
Better to just let the blood rush to your head!

"Hey, look! I'm a bat!

I must be 'cause I'm starting to see stars."

My Eagle Encounter

I mentioned yesterday that I had spotted a couple of Bald Eagles over at Ive's Run/Hammond Lake. The first was an immature bird that flew overhead as I was getting out of the truck. The second was a mature adult bird sitting on a snag just ten or fifteen yards off the road back to the campgrounds. When I stopped the truck and backed up to snap its picture, I could see it was getting nervous. It leaped into flight a split second before I snapped the photo. It wasn't until I looked at it today that I saw the crow that must have been sitting in the pine to the right.



The Eagle didn't go very far. It flew down the coastline to land at the top of another snag just behind the pumping station. I managed to snap a couple more pictures at a range of about 120 yards. This one came out best, in my opinion. I especially like the house hidden on the hill in the background. I didn't even notice that when I was taking the picture.




The third Eagle was soaring over Rt. 287 near the road cut through the rocks. It, along with a Red-tailed Hawk, was a beneficiary of a breeze blowing from the south and up the slope. I do love to see the big birds soaring. Such an effortless means of flight.

More Bird Walks

I went on not one, but two bird walks today.

The first was along the bike trail in the Lambs Creek Recreation Area. I started at the same spot as yesterday but took the trail south back toward Mansfield. That meant crossing the fields, run north-south and walking along the east side of the fields...between the fields and Tioga River. Not much in the fields (except Robins, Canada Geese and...well, that's about it. But on/in the strip of woods along the river and in the river itself was a different story.

The highlight of this walk was the presence of the Belted Kingfisher. There were three of them flying about the river near the old/closed bridge that linked up with Lamb's Creek Road. My report to eBird:

Location: Lambs Crk Rec Area
Observation date: 4/14/09
Notes: Cool and overcast with light breeze. The temperature was around 42-43 degrees. I started at the porta-potty on the road to the boat launch off Route 15. Followed the bike trail south toward Mansfield (crossing the open fields to get to the west side of the fields near the old, closed bridge to Lamb's Creek Road). When the bike trail came out at the boat launch road again, I followed it back to my vehicle.

Number of species: 25

Canada Goose 12
Wood Duck 2
Mallard 1
Common Merganser (North American) 2
Great Blue Heron 2
Turkey Vulture 2
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 1
Belted Kingfisher 3
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue Jay 6
American Crow 8
Black-capped Chickadee 8
Tufted Titmouse 3
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
American Robin 34
Song Sparrow 20
White-throated Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 2
Northern Cardinal 5
Red-winged Blackbird 20
Common Grackle 1
American Goldfinch 4

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
_____________________________________________

The second walk was over at Ive's Run/Crooked Creek. With the Belted Kingfishers present at Lamb's Creek Rec Area I wanted to see if the Ospreys were back, too. I parked at the bridge just inside the entrance from Rt 287 and walked the Railroad Grade Trail for about a mile until I reached the fields maintained by Fish and Game as food plots. Oh, and the Ospreys are back. I saw three of them over Crooked Creek. They may have been staying away from Hammond Lake because 1- the water level is only now back to bank full after being drawn down all winter, or 2- that's where the Bald Eagles hang out. (I saw three of them too.) The report on this walk:


Location: Ive's Run-Crooked Creek
Observation date: 4/14/09
Notes: Cool (43-45 degrees) and overcast with light breeze along the railroad grade trail.

I parked at the east end of the Railroad Grade Trail and walked westward to the fields managed by Fish & Game. The Eagles were split: one immature flew over as I parked, then one mature adult and one immature were seen as I was leaving on Rt. 287.

Number of species: 24

Canada Goose 14
Wood Duck 2
Mallard 9
Ring-necked Duck 9
Osprey 2
Bald Eagle 3
Mourning Dove 2
Belted Kingfisher 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue Jay 7
American Crow 3
Common Raven 1
Tree Swallow 2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 8
Black-capped Chickadee 8
Eastern Bluebird 3
American Robin 9
Field Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 5
White-throated Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 2
Red-winged Blackbird 15
Common Grackle 15

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)



The total distance of both walks was around 4 to 4.5 miles.

And I got the onion sets planted when I got home. Not many. I put in just 48 little sets.

Gardening report from the Aerie

On the way back from my bird walk today, I stopped at Arnot's Building Supply and picked up half a dozen or so 2" x 4"s and some two foot wide hardware cloth. (That's galvanized wire mesh for the uninitiated.) The idea is to construct covers fro the onion sets I want to put in. I want to make sure there's no chance of squirrels, turkeys or other critters helping themselves to the young onions before they get a chance to grow.

When I got home I used two of the 8'-long 2" x 4"s to built two frames measuring 32" by 24" and covered each with the hardware cloth. I took them outside and started to open the bags of top soil I had stacked at the planting bed with the idea of creating several rows of rich soil in which I could place the onions. Unfortunately, when I opened the plastic bags, I found the top soil to be extremely wet...too wet to plant anything in. So, I changed my plans.

I opened all the bags of top soil at each of the three planting beds and scattered the wet soil about the surface. In most cases, it created a 1 to 2 inch deep cover. Raked smooth like it is, it should dry out pretty darn quick and I'll get the onion sets in the ground tomorrow afternoon...before the predicted showers arrive. (The morning will be for another bird walk. I'll start at the same spot but walk south along the bike trail.)

Oh, and I stopped at Cooper's Sporting Goods and picked up my fishing license and a couple of boxes of ammo. Trout fishing season starts here on Saturday so I might bring a rod with me when I lead the bird walk at Hills Creek State Park.

Morning Walk

I took a little walk this morning along the bike path at Lamb's Creek Recreation area just north of Mansfield. Parking along the road to the boat launch, where they have the porta-potty set up, I walked north along the bike trail some 0.75 miles to where the trail intersects the boat launch road and then walked back along the road. This is the area I wanted to walk yesterday but the wind kept me away. Today there was no wind to speak of and the sky was mostly clear with only a few mare's tails moving south.

I managed to spot 21 species and made an effort this time to actually count the numbers of each. I'm sure I've under-counted the Song Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbirds and the American Robins. Some that flitted ahead of me along the edge of the trail may have ducked behind me when I wasn't looking and I assumed the ones in front of me were birds I had already seen. In any event, the three species were all over the place.

By the same token, to have seen only one Black-capped Chickadee, one European Starling and one Goldfinch seems odd. They are the three species most likely to hang around in sizable groups.

Here's my report:

Location: Lambs Crk Rec Area
Observation date: 4/13/09
Notes: Cool, clear morning with only a slight breeze. Temperature was between 34 and 38 degrees.

Number of species: 21

Canada Goose 8
Wood Duck 2
Turkey Vulture 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2
Downy Woodpecker 3
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 3
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 5
Black-capped Chickadee 1
Tufted Titmouse 1
American Robin 27
European Starling 1
Cedar Waxwing 8
Field Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 17
Northern Cardinal 1
Red-winged Blackbird 15
American Goldfinch 1

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

These are punny!

Are you a Star Trek fan? If so, you might find these Star Trek Groaners over at Miss Cellania's to be worth the time.

An example:

Question: What did Picard say as Data struggled to repair the Marclosian Stitching Machine?
Answer: "Make it sew."

Clean-up crew

Here's another good reason to keep the area under your feeders clean. Not only will it prevent bird diseases, rodent infestation, raccoon and opossum visitations, but it might discourage the ultimate clean-up crew from making your place a nightly visit.

This fella showed up at 8:45 PM and stayed around for three hours. The flash going off and my pointing a million candle power flashlight at him made him a tad spooky but after retreating to the hillside for a few minutes to assess the situation, he would come back down and start licking up the seed hulls and whatever else he could find.

Evening report

A quiet day here at the Aerie.

We spoke to our son (Eugene, OR) and daughter (Linden, NJ) wishing them both a Happy Easter. You might say it was a coast-to-coast moment as Rick was on the phone while I was IMing with Jessica.

Terry made a nice ham with scalloped potatoes and asparagus for dinner. Side dishes included deviled eggs, farmer's cheese and home made apple sauce. The left over ham and asparagus ended up in a dinner omelet.

The temperature got above 41 for about 30 seconds at 2 PM before retreating again. It'll drop down to the very low 20s overnight which is why I spend a little time moving more firewood into the garage and why I'm currently sitting before a fire in the fireplace. The cats are enjoying the warmth as well.

Oh, our night visitor is back---and I'm not talking about Ahmal. I did mount a game camera outside that is aimed at the bird feeder area. It started flashing before it got full dark. When a few flashes went off in quick succession, I assumed we had more than just a mouse triggering the camera and, sure enough, the flashlight revealed the bruin had returned. By the number of flashes I've seen, I should have quite a few pictures of him in the morning.

It would be nice to know where he holds up during the day. It can't be too far away if he's here so promptly after sunset. Then again, black bears can travel 10 miles in a day just searching for food. I know I can protect the garden (once I get around to planting things) from rabbits and perhaps deer, but to protect it from raccoons and especially bears would be a monumental task.

A story in the paper today about the start of trout season next Saturday which reminded me that I have to purchase my license. I also want to look for some ammo as well so I'll probably go to Cooper's Sporting Goods down in Mansfield tomorrow to look around. (Turkey season starts on the 25th and I'm hearing them in the back field most mornings. Of course, they won't be there after the 24th. Damn flock of literate turkeys!)

Easter Morning

Happy Easter all!

I--not being the church going kind any more--had planned to take an early morning walk along the bike path at Lamb's Creek Recreation Area outside of Mansfield this morning, but when the Chester, the alarm cat, went off at 6:30 AM it was a mere 24 degrees outside. With the promise of 15-25 MPH winds out of the NNW,the prospect of walking a trail that borders the eastern side of wide open fields suddenly lost its appeal.

Still, it's a gorgeous morning here at the Aerie. Our feathered friends have come to partake of our bounty and I've already seen nearly a dozen species from the comfort of my living room chair: Mourning Doves, American Crows, Blue Jay, Dark-eyed Junco, Black-capped Chickadee, American Goldfinch, Pine Siskin, Purple Finch, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Robin, Downy Woodpecker...the usual suspects.

It sure beats the furred company we had last night. I now bring in all the feeders and take the tray feeder off the front deck rail and put it on the deck itself. It hasn't stopped the raccoons. Last night one was on that tray feeder sucking up the few seeds that were still there after the birds finished and the wind blew away most of them. I heard the tray rocking a bit and noticed Shadow and Chester were interested in something out there. When I flicked on the outside light, the 'coon was undeterred at first but then moved off under the Adirondack Chairs and down one of the deck support posts. (How it got his rotund body under the bottom rail--only 4" above the deck is a mystery.) As I watched, I saw him peek over the rail from the outside as if to see if the coast had cleared. He returned when the lights went out and I moved away from the window.

I was curious as to why the 'coon was on the deck when there's an ample supply of seed on the ground where the feeders hang. Thinking there may have been more raccoons over there, I shinned my million candle power flashlight in that area. Nope, no raccoons, just a black bear laying sprawled out over the seed. I thought earlier this year that it was a small bear. Now I'm not so sure. It might have seemed small after a winter of sleeping, but stretched out on the ground, it seemed big enough to have been our visitor from last year. He stayed in the spotlight right up to the time I slid the door open and then beat a hasty retreat up the hillside. He came back an hour later to snack some more.

Well, that's the report for this morning. I'll be back later. Right now there's a melee going on outside with Goldfinches, Siskins, Juncos all fighting over the sunflower seed. I must go out to negotiate a peaceful settlement.