the naked duck

I've mentioned before about all the variations of the mallard ducks that come here.

Here is a typical male mallard.  Note his large brown "bib".

Note all the brown bibs.

 Of course the dark duck, has a white 'bib'

Another...brown chested mallard.

But take a look at this! He's naked without his brown bib!

Very noticeable isn't it!

this girls trying to see if there's anything on the table she could eat.

I wonder what she's telling him.

chasing the mole

It's rare to see a mole above ground.  But recently I saw this guy skittering across the yard and diving below some leaves.  I MUST see him, MUST get a photo. So the chase was on.  Poor thing was probably so traumatized.  But it was amazing. Amazing how fast they can tunnel underground.  At one point I had him trapped between my feet, but he just started digging under my shoe!  Impressive!  Did you know they SQUEAK when provoked? I didn't but I found out. It startled me...then sent me into a fit of laughter.  

I'm hoping this video will work.

Here is the one decent still photo I got of him above ground.  He was quick!

Here he is trying to burrow under my left foot.

We've been enjoying some mild weather recently. A little colder today but still tolerable as long as the sun keeps appearing.  Oddly enough what's missing is the birds.  I don't remember ever it being this quiet in the yard in November.  Maybe a new feeding spot opened up. Maybe the hawk is unnerving them, but it hasn't had that effect other years. I shouldn't complain, they can be costly to feed when they are at their full numbers.  But I do miss them.  The blue jays have been making their daily stop, making a racket if the peanuts aren't out yet.  But it's only once a day, if that, rather then hanging around.  I seem to be a stopover for now. 

I was looking out my kitchen window, that faces my hoarder of a neighbor.  The front of his place looks like a junk yard. So how is it that there's a wren over there, merrily hopping around all the debris and chaos when I have full feeders here for them :D  We just had some rain, so I'm sure there are plenty of bugs hidden among all the junk. The Carolina wren would find that enticing.

The number of ducks has been fluctuating greatly. I know that will change as it gets colder. Some days there's been more ducks then I can count. And they try to get me to feed them a second time. (yes once in awhile I succumb but not always!) Other days there's only a few here when I get home, with a few more arriving after me to make for a dozen or so ducks.

The other days wind and rain knocked most of the leaves off my tree the other day.  The wind has kept them all pushed onto my porch and against the house. It is starting to look a bit drab out there.

A few random photos.

I took the two tree photos leaving work the other morning.

Cardinal with a wind blown crest.

It really is fall isn't it!

It was only a matter of time.  The frost has come and it's killed off the annuals in short order.  Amazing how a plant can be surviving, even thriving one day, and by next morning it's wilted and withered.  It was fun to see what plants were hanging in there so long.

But now I know if I'm to plant moon flower vine, I have to do it much earlier in the season so I see more then two blooms. Poor thing worked hard, climbed the pole not once but twice, reached out to the surrounding plants, put out so many buds...only to be killed off before it reached it's potential.

The one tree in my yard is finally turning color and shedding it's leaves, though most others seem to be nearly finished.  Not sure why this one is late. Guess there'll be some cold weather raking going on! Being into energy conservation, maybe I'll just wait till the wind blows, as it invariably will, and pushes most of the leaves onto the corner of my patio. :)  With so much rock in my yard now, the colored leaves make it much more pleasant to look at. 

I am pleasantly surprised to see how pretty my gro-low variety of fragrant sumac is in the fall.  Next year I hope to plant more along the stream to help save whats left of the bank.  Though the plant is still very small, I can better envision how a few more will look. Sounding very hopeful for someone that doesn't know if she'll still be living here in a year, and who's overtime at work has been cut.  Love that my OT allows me to splurge on some plants!

Speaking of saving the bank, a young lady from the county conservation office did come and look at the problems here, and took some photos.  Unfortunately her office takes care of farm run-off, and building issues as it affects streams, creeks, etc and this is more of a water run off and drainage problem. (though I disagree a little since it there is more to it then that) However, she understands that it's a real problem here and will pass on the photos and info to someone that may be able to help.  Though she's not sure what can be done, since grant money has dried up.   

So talking about dying plants, bare trees, falling temps and eroding banks seems so sad doesn't it?  But it seems that mother nature doesn't take away without giving something back.

After a couple slow days at the feeders, today was much better and has brought some of our winter visitors back! As I think I mentioned in the last post, I hadn't seen any dark eyed junco's yet. That's changed and I saw one today.

But the best thing I saw was a white throated sparrow. Two of them actually.  Not great photos but I was taking it from inside the house. The striped crown really got my attention when I looked outside.

Right after I saw them the first time, I saw one dark eyed junco.  When ever I see a bird I'm not familiar with I like to look it up on the Cornell lab of ornithology's site, all about birds, and it came up with this interesting little tidbit.

"Although they look nothing alike and aren’t particularly closely related, the White-throated Sparrow and the Dark-eyed Junco occasionally mate and produce hybrids. The resulting offspring look like grayish, dully marked White-throated Sparrows with white outer tail feathers."

Who knew!  (OK I guess real bird experts know...but I didn't know and you probably didn't either!)

Another upside to the changing weather is that birds become more visible. As their natural food supply dwindles more birds to the feeders and not as skittish since eating becomes more important then flying off every time I so much as open the door.

An interesting list (I like lists!)

Pennsylvania’s Top Ten: Birds Most Commonly Observed at Feeder and

Percentage of Species feeders visited

Dark-eyed junco              97
Mourning dove                94
Tufted titmouse                93
Northern cardinal             91
Blue jay                            89
White-breasted nuthatch   89
Downy woodpecker         88
House finch                      88
American goldfinch          87
Black-capped chickadee   77

I've been putting out some peanut butter in a log feeder. The Carolina wren really seems to be enjoying this as well as the woodpecker and chickadee.  Seeing as peanut butter isn't cheap I should make this recipe to make it go further...and the winter birds do need their fat!

Recipe for Marvel Meal

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup vegetable shortening
4 cups cornmeal
1 cup flour
1 handful of sunflower seeds
(optional)


So I've been seeing more of the Carolina wrens. They are one of my favorites. 

The titmouse seems to be much quicker getting the peanuts I throw out, rather then hanging back timidly and watching the blue jay get most of them.

I like these seed bell holders.  When I hang the bell openly the birds tend to peck near the top and before the bell is half gone it falls to the ground and you get a better view then those plastic mesh covers some bells come with.  They were reasonably priced ($6.95) for something that you can use over and over again.  Plus, even when the squirrel does manage to shimmy up over it, they can only get a bit at a time with their paws, instead of biting big chunks off.

 

Speaking of squirrels, they finally seem to be getting fat and fluffy in their winter coats.  This squirrel though doesn't seem to be one of my regulars, and I've not seen them for a couple days. Yea I know they all look alike, but this one freaks out and takes off when I'm around, even when I'm offering peanuts. And my usual ones will stop in their tracks and come running if I ask them if they want peanuts. Anyhow, I find this a bit unusual.

Maybe some of it is because the hawks have been a little more active lately. I haven't seen them as much as hear the birds and ducks in particular squawk and scatter all at once.

That and the crows have been around. I LIKE crows.  They are the early warning system for every other creature when it comes to a hawk.  Plus they are intelligent.  I recently watched a show on Nature, on PBS about crows.

They have the full episode available at

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/a-murder-of-crows/full-episode/5977/

Lately the goldfinches have been eating more sunflower seeds then the nyjer seed. Which is nice since they are less expensive!

Last but not least, a mourning dove.

have to get through a rant first...

We've had amazingly mild weather until recently. I didn't take full advantage of it though. I've been in a state of inertia after finding out that the park where I reside is up for sale.  I had plans to put a new place in here next year and was really looking forward to it. It was fun to look at all the possibilities available to me.  Now it's not feasible.  A nearby, larger park is for sale, or sold (can't get clear answers on that, heard it was sold for $2mil)  A few months ago it was on the news that residents got eviction notices and were to be out by mid-November, which is fast approaching. At that time they said the park was for sale and the owner felt it would sell better with all the homes removed.  Interestingly, the park owners actually owned a few of the homes and would sell and rent them to people...right up to the time they sent out the notices. I've heard rumors from two sources that say a bank and a restaurant are to be built on the site.

ANY how, my point is, it makes me nervous.  There's no way to know if this will remain a park or not.  There are limitations to what can be done with the property since it's in a flood zone and across from the airport.
But I see they are dumping a lot of dirt on a property across the road to put it out of the flood plain, to put in a car dealer lot. UGH! 

And all the building that goes on with the other park and the car lot across the street, will impact us either way because of drainage.

Some feel the odds of this remaining a park are better then 50%, and that it won't sell quickly because of the price. 

I understand that this is an investment, and it's all about the $$. But when I ask the landlord straight out about the property as far as placing a new home on it and he says to go for it...it just seems, wrong.  I know he doesn't have to tell us anything.  But to put people in such a position just seems mean.

On the other hand I'm suddenly glad that I am so indecisive and a procrastinator.

I'm not too worried about my home...it's old, paid for. Not really worth anything. If I was forced to move, I'd be OK, where as many of my neighbors will have greater difficulties. 

My issue is the yard :D  And the fact there's no where else I could move (that I could also afford) that would have a stream on the property as well as the feeling of privacy I have facing a wooded area. Add to it everything I've been doing to the yard. Trying to go more native, spending a lot on plants, etc. If this went to something more commercial, you know they'd cut everything down, right to my 3 paw paw trees!   That is the worst.  Losing the paw paws. And losing them after having attracted Zebra Swallowtails.

It's all very frustrating just not knowing what will happen.  I had the near future all figured out.   So in the meantime I do have work I'll have to get done on this old place, since buying new would be too risky.  It's old, drafty, etc.  My ex hubby even gave me some good advice on how to go about it.  It at least gives me some things to think about, keep my mind occupied.

Now for my yard.  As always I've had a lot of concern for all the erosion, and the issues contributing to it.  My ex-husband also gave me the name of a woman that works for the county conservation office. He had a bit of a run in with her over some property he's building on, when there was a question about wetlands there.  But at least it showed she was diligent in her job and may finally be the right person to talk to about the issues here.

I called the office this morning, and though she wasn't in, I was told that she would probably want to come up and assess the problem herself.  Very cool.  She's to call back this afternoon.

maybe I'll get motivated once again. 

I did have a nice weekend, complete with a nice fire in the pit with some friends from the firehouse.  Looks like more of the same this coming weekend, as work has informed me I will be off this weekend.  Bummed about the loss of OT, but....a yard party will be more fun.  Planning another one later in November.
Guess I better soon shop for some gloves!   There will be a snow party this winter too. LOL   Looks like I'll be making some chili for the one on the 20th, since it may be even chillier by then.   This Saturdays high is to be 44F.  Though now we might get some showers, instead of the sun they promised yesterday.

Despite last weeks mild sunny weather, the groundhogs seem to have already gone into hibernation! I haven't seen any of them for a week or better and the opening to the burrow under the shed is filled with fall leaves now!  I will miss Little Dude!! The chipmunk is still making daily rounds. Seems like another one has opted to winter here, and was digging a hole under the Cleveland pear tree.

While my guests were here Saturday we watched one confused chipmunk run across a downed tree branch, and back...numerous times. Here he comes...there he goes...here he comes! oops there he goes.  I think the sight of a group of people in the yard really threw him for a loop.  He eventually came over and used the weeds for protection till he got where he needed to go.

Apparently the chipmunk coffers are getting filled up, as he's closed off one hole that leads under the patio and opened up two more.

Here he is leaping out of the ground.

The ducks were a bit reticent about coming up to the yard, but hungry won out and they finally made it up to eat with everyone looking on. 

Speaking of the ducks, about 3 dozen had been a consistent number for them until Sunday morning when I counted no less then 50 of them.  A high number this early. I counted 21 females as they were scurrying about, pushing each other around to get the feed.   The ducks have seemed a little confused as we'd moved some rock around to lessen the impact on the bank. They don't seem to have settled what area of the yards here to nap during the day, and it's changing daily. I guess I interrupted their routine.

I'm still waiting for the dark eyed junco's and pine siskins to return. They are being spotted throughout the state the past few days. I'm hoping to get more nuthatches this year instead of the occasional visitor, along with more then one white throated sparrow.  I need to become more diligent in watching the birds this winter.

The cardinals are now in their full red color, while the goldfinch has toned down their colors for the winter.

I again got a look at a belted kingfisher! Too fleeting for a photo, since the camera was not in hand.  Each time I've seen it, it's been first thing in the morning when I get home.  He's noisy, but shy.  He's probably on his way to the southeast part of the state, or further south, for the winter.

There's been a red tail hawk hanging around here on the colder days. I've seen him a few times, but more often I hear the panic of the birds as it swoops down. As it gets colder I'll see him more I'm sure. The only shots I've gotten of him lately are distant, as he flies off if he sees me. I'm wondering if the red tail is the reason why I haven't seen the cooper's hawk lately, since he was becoming a regular visitor.

It always seems odd to me, when I see a mourning dove in a tree.  I'm used to seeing them on the ground to begin with, but their bulky shape and movement doesn't lend any grace to them landing and perching in a tree.

Some random recent duck photos

Seeing him reminds me that white duck hasn't returned yet.