After the Rains

Our windows need washing, but I have the perfect excuse. It's been raining for 4 days and nobody washes windows in the rain. Besides providing excuses for all sorts of things, rainy nights are great for fires in the fireplace and popcorn with good movies. In the long range forecast, there was one sunny day, and it was today. Somehow, there wasn't time to wash the windows. Instead, I laced up my waterproof hiking boots and headed down to the hollow.

The GPS would designate this as the same location I've hiked on many occasions, but to my eyes and ears this morning, it seemed a very different place. The path was soggy underfoot, and before I reached the bottom, I could hear a chorus of streams.

Last year's flood altered this valley into an extension of the lake. When the water receded, things had changed. Where in former years one wet-weather creek flowed, 3 smaller, parallel streams now do summersaults over rocks and cut trenches in the sand. After wading across the streams this morning, I followed a deer trail north through a blanket of new green to see the dry creek bed I hiked in a couple of weeks ago. In its place, a small river now cuts through the valley. Some things are always changing.

With a boulder for an easy chair, I sat down and watched the churning water. Small waterfalls and eddies danced feverishly, catching the light in an ever changing display. Farther down, the stream slowed, exhausted by its exertion.

The hands on my watch moved quickly in the hollow. A gnawing stomach reminded me that it was time for breakfast. I got up reluctantly and made my way back. Rue anemone and toothwort littered the uphill path.

Back home, we watched a wild turkey gobbler dance slowly, the iridescent light shining off his feathers. So far, the hen is unimpressed. Some things never change.

Ten Seconds

There will be plenty of people counting down the seconds to the new year tonight. 

Since I hope to be sound asleep by then, here's my own countdown a little early--

10 of my favorite animal sightings of 2016:

10. Fox Kit

Little Foxes

9. Wood Duck

Woody in the Tree

8. Eastern Chipmunk

Generation Z

7. White-tailed Fawn

Once in a Lifetime

6. Eastern Wild Turkey

Trapped

5. Raccoon

Co-inhabitants

4. Monarch Chrysalis

Morning Metamorphosis 

3.White-tailed Buck

Morning Fog

2. Male Cardinal

Mountain Lion Hollow

1. Golden Retriever, Barley

Co-inhabitants

Happy New Year!

Linking with Saturday's Critters

King of the Forest

This little fawn, with a glint in his eye, is a feisty one.

He came out with his mother this week, late in the evening. 

There was a short stand-off with a turkey, until the turkey stood his ground...

and the fawn scampered away.

When the doe was tired of babysitting, she gave the fawn a kick, 

and the little one responded by kicking back, and almost climbing on his mother's back. 

The turkeys were polite enough to pretend not to notice.

                                      

We'll be watching this one.

One of these days, we expect, he'll be ruling the forest.


Linking with Saturday's Critters

Wild Morning

Some days just seem to be full of animals. Take this morning. Before dawn the only sound that broke the silence was the distant chant of a whip-poor-will, but four does, their bellies heavy with fawns, grazed at the edge of the north woods. By the time bird song filled the air, the turkeys arrived, just over the brow of the hill to the east, where they preened and fanned out their feathers in perfect symmetry. They were joined by crows, two rabbits and a chipmunk.

The bravest of the rabbits made his way to the front yard, where he preened himself...

 cleaned up a few dandilions...

 and helped himself to clover.

But then, there was the flowerbed, and how could he resist? 

"Not a good idea, you say?"

"I'm really just looking..."

"...until tonight!"

 Linking with Rurality Blog Hop
and Saturday's Critters

Food Chain

It's cold out.

Fat snowflakes drift aimlessly to the ground.

As the flakes descend, the creature's appetites rise.

The birds can't get enough of the suet.  

This one is composed of lard and peanut butter, cornmeal, oatmeal and sunflower seeds, with a few raisins mixed in.  

Yum!

High in a tree, crows weigh their chances of getting to the food.

Wild turkeys have staked their territory over the corn on the ground, 

and when the crows try to encroach, one bold turkey keeps pushing them back.

Early in the afternoon, a regal red-shouldered hawk swooped in to check out the birds on the deck.

They scattered, and he came up empty. This time.

As he left the deck, he grabbed at the suet but couldn't get it loose.

He'll be back.

With all the creatures around him eating,
the carpendar ant on our deck doesn't even pause for a snack.

Talk about work ethic-- this guy wrote the book!



Linking with Wild Bird Wednesday

Survivors

Since Thanksgiving, 

wild turkeys have been emboldened to come around close to the house.

I heard a soft clucking this morning, 

and glanced up from my desk to see two hen turkeys

on the patio outside my studio window.

This one looked a little accusing,

 and I wondered if she could possibly know about all those leftovers in the fridge.

The red squirrel seemed to think it was no big deal.  

But then, when's the last time anybody's had squirrel for Thanksgiving?

Linking with Wild Bird Wednesday

Peaceable Kingdom

It was hot yesterday morning, and as I hurried to fill the bird bath and feeder before work, there was a surprise waiting for me. From just behind the bird feeder, a bobcat sprinted a short distance away and laid down.

We watched each other warily at first.  I was ready to run for the house at one false move. These creatures are extremely fast, and a rabid one should not be taken lightly.  Then the bobcat settled down to his business, and I to mine.  He stayed when I went in the house, came back with my camera, and took some shots.  

After a small yawn, he thumped his short tail on the ground several times, then settled in for a good cleaning up.

I got out the hose, scrubbed the bird bath, filled the feeder, and watered the raspberries while he was cleaning up, then turned back to wrap up the hose.  When I looked again, he was gone.

My first guess, of course, was that he was sick, though he appeared to be well fed; bobcats are very nocturnal and have a natural fear of humans.  We're not excluding the possibility, however, that, since we were gone much of last week, he got used to this place when we weren't around and considers it part of his hunting grounds.  I can only speculate how often he may have watched us from the shadows.

We impact our surroundings, sometimes in ways we don't intend.  We feed the small creatures, who congregate, and at times, by this, become more available to predators.  And though we always root for the smaller ones, we have no illusions that we have any control over the outcome.

A wild hen turkey has been coming around lately with one darling poult, a far cry from the average hatch of twelve.  This bobcat may have warmed his belly with some of the eggs, or the small poults.

Such is life on our beautiful planet, and things like this remind us that there's something broken about this world, that, as hard as we try, we can't fix.  As Christians, we anticipate the day when Jesus will reign as king and all of nature will be at peace.  

The wolf will live with the lamb,

the leopard will lie down with the goat, 

the calf and the lion and the yearling together;

and a little child will lead them.

The cow will feed with the bear,

their young will lie down together,

 and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

The infant will play near the cobra's den, 

and the young child will put its hand into the viper's nest.

They will neither harm nor destroy 

on all my holy mountain,

for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.

Isaiah 11:6-9

Linking with Tuesday Muse
and Camera Critters

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Spring Turkeys

The perfect days of spring have finally arrived; the air is fresh and clear, coaxed across the countryside by a gentle breeze, and the green, galloping across the landscape, has won its race against winter's brown.

Eastern wild turkeys frequent this area and this year 2 gobblers have been entertaining 3 hens (and us, from behind the windows).  From one side of the house, we'll see the dominant gobbler strutting for the hens...

...and then we'll hear a gobble from the other direction, and see the sub-dominant gobbler all puffed out, practicing his dance with the mincing steps and fanning tail, until the larger bird will come and chase him off.  Then he'll fold down his feathers and slink away, only to strike up again when the boss has left.

The big guy has been absent the last couple of days, probably off with his harem of hens, but junior is hanging around near the house, eating clover and still practicing his steps, hoping something might happen to his opponent.  Turkey fights can get pretty nasty.  He'd better watch his back.

Wild Turkey Dance

We awoke early this morning to lightning flashes and rumbling thunder followed by sleet pelting the window.  Barley, who usually sleeps on his pad in our bedroom, huddled up against my side of the bed, and I reached down to pat him.  Outside, the chilled air was a bit of a shock to the system after several balmy days, but it didn't deter the Carolina chickadee from singing its sweet 4-note song, nor did it stop the scheduled dance of the wild turkeys.  Several turkeys have been frequenting our fields, and 3 gobblers were displaying for the hens today, dragging their wing tips and rotating slowly, inviting the light to catch every glimmer of their iridescent feathers, while moving their feet in the slow, mincing steps of a dance they knew before they were born.

There is a time for everything, 

and a season for every activity under heaven...

Ecclesiastes 3:1 

Deep Freeze

Monday afternoon, there were lines at the gas pumps and at the grocery store, as if we lived in the city.  Most everybody in town has been taking the weather predictions seriously ever since our big ice storm 2 years ago.  This time we skated.  A small layer of ice now covers the landscape with a light snow on top.  Most noticeable, however, is the cold.  Even Barley, the snow dog, is happy to get back inside after our brief excursions out of doors.  

Wild creatures have been stocking up, too.  Our regulars, 7 deer and 4 Tom turkeys, are coming around more often, looking for corn, and scores of birds hop and peck around the feeders. Yesterday afternoon 3 pair of mallards dropped into our pond for a little swim. They must have found something good to eat, because their heads kept bobbing under the water while their ruffly backsides tipped straight up in the air.  They were gone before dark, undoubtably on to larger waters that wouldn't freeze overnight.

At the pond this morning, mourning doves flew away as we approached, crying the high pitched trill that signals distress.  I felt like an apology was due for displacing them from their shelter in the willows, but by the time we had rounded the pond, they were already flying back.

The open spaces are mostly vacated on this cold night, and the roost trees, bedding areas, and dens have already filled up.  At dawn, it will start all over again.

Woodland Neighbors