Natural Notes II

We've Moved!

2006-11-30T09:39:00.000-05:00

Well its finally happened. After writing a long post this morning, then not being able t o upload photos in Blogger, my patience came to a swift and long-contemplated end.

I have transferred Natural Notes II to Wordpress, and I'm done here. It was a painless transition. I still have to learn the little do's and don'ts of Wordpress, but hey, it just imported my entire blog with most of the pictures in just a few minutes. Can't beat that in a month of Bloggers.

Hope you will all stop by. Thanks for the support and the comments.

Find Natural Notes 3 Here

The Wonders of DSL

2006-11-29T10:33:00.000-05:00

I'm BACK! It started innocently enough - some static on the phone lines. A little slow on the internet, and the Blogger screen sitting quietly without moving on my monitor. Frustration led to my hitting the "end task" button more times than I can count. I gave up entirely and swore I was ditching Blogger forever. I chalked the problems up to holiday internet traffic.

Then came Monday morning. Same problem, but less static. Then a weird thing began to happen. The DSL would go out whenever my phone rang. The internet was slower than the proverbial molasses. Finally, I got smart and called the phone company.

An hour after the service/repair tech arrived, my computer is moving so fast it's smoking and I'm dizzy from the screens flying by! The culprit - something the size of an AA battery called a modulator in the box outside. Apparently it had "grounded" and the moles were getting my DSL signal - or something like that anyway.

How pathetic is it that I can't survive a week without blinding speed internet without being on the verge of a nervous breakdown?

Fisher Find!

2006-11-20T07:37:00.000-05:00

Our local paper yesterday had a front page story that finally got my attention (most other times, not so much).

A fisher (member of the martin family) has been discovered and photographed in Stokes State Forest - parts of which are right across the road. The area in which the fisher was photographed is a few miles away by car. By fisher? Who knows.

This is not the actual photograph taken - this is one borrowed from Wikipedia, so you can see what a fisher looks like. Think gigantic mink.

The photograph was set up by a graduate student from Montclair State College, who thought that a particular area of Stokes was prime fisher habitat. He rigged a motion-sensored digital camera to a tree, used some fisher-attracting scent bait, and was rewarded with a shot early in October of a fisher investigating the bait.

This is big news for the area, as fishers were extirpated from this area more than 100 years ago. The thought is that this one (and if there's one, there's probably more) are migrants from either New York or PA (um, now that's a logical assumption. I'm sure they didn't just fall out of the sky!).

Rob was incredulous, having never heard of a fisher before, which in itself pretty much amazed him. I suggested it was because they aren't found in NJ. Well, not until now anyway. He said, "we don't have polar bears here either, but I've heard of them. Why haven't I ever heard of a fisher?" Good point. No clue.

He got on the internet and looked at the pictures of fishers, which can weigh up to 15 pounds and reach a length of more than three feet from nose to tail. His comment was, if he'd come across THAT while alone in the woods, he would have thought it was the Jersey Devil.

Relaxation

2006-11-16T08:19:00.000-05:00

Long time, no blog. I've been spending time writing other things - working on my NaNoWriMo project (which of course, I'll never finish by Nov. 30, but I'm having fun anyway and finding out I really can write fiction) and with my Mom, who will be 90 years old in February, and who just underwent major surgery. She's fine now, but needs someone with her all the time. She's staying with my sister, who needed a bit of a break yesterday, so I went there to be with my Mom. We had a really nice day together.

Blogger wouldn't play nice earlier in the week, so I gave up trying. It put me in one of those "maybe I'll keep this going and maybe I won't" moods. Still undecided. Need more coffee.

And since I've got nothing else intelligent to say, I'll close with another raccoon picture from Rob. He calls this one "Relaxation."

Really Nothing

2006-11-11T07:16:00.000-05:00

I think I have nothing interesting to write about this morning. Blogger was wonky again yesterday, when I was trying to post and now, whatever inspiration I had then is long gone. I spent some time yesterday taking the 100s of pictures I had stored on this computer, and saving them to CDs. Not that I needed the drive space - this computer seems to be monstrous as far as what it will hold - but it seemed like a good idea anyway. I spent some time looking for an online photo storage system, because it would make life easier with Blogger, or so I've heard. I have one freebie account at Picturetrail, but it's full. I like pbase (not free) and of course there's Flickr, which I haven't really researched yet. Any suggestions?

I did come across this photo I had stored in Picturetrail. This was taken last summer in Kentucky. It's Tucker, asleep in the what used to be a flower bed, before the puppies dug out all the flowers. You're looking straight down on an upside down and obscenely sprawled sound asleep cat in the dirt.

And here's one of the diggers - Joe Dirt - asleep under the porch steps after a rampage of tearing out the flowers. Just your typical summer afternoon in the south.

Blogger was super-fast at uploading these photos from Picturetrail, so maybe an online storage system is the answer. I'm just a little leary of trusting all of my pictures to some outside site that could go away, taking my photos with them. Guess I just need to buy more CDs.

See? Told you I had nothing interesting to say this morning!

Coming to Times Square

2006-11-08T08:21:00.000-05:00

This is Rob's photo that will be shown on the big screen at Times Square on November 17. It's very simple - just his wife holding a bouquet of daisies, but apparently the people at Kodak liked it well enough.

I like it too, but I can't say it's my favorite of the ones he has in his collection right now. I love the barn pictures he does, and of course the wildlife.

He has a gift for artistic composition, and he does a lot of nice things with lighting.

Of course, he has inherited all of this talent from his mother...

Zowie!

2006-11-05T11:12:00.000-05:00

Just got an email from my son Rob. He just received word from an editor at Kodak that one of two photographs he submitted to them was chosen to be the Picture of the Day for Nov. 17, and will appear on the big screen in Times Square in NYC every few mintues throughout the day. Zowie!

2006-11-02T08:19:00.000-05:00

A walk around the pond yesterday morning....

On the Back Porch

2006-10-31T09:08:00.000-05:00

Photos from my son, Rob. This shot was taken a few nights ago, from the back door of his house. As I've mentioned in a previous post, these are descendents of raccoons we released years ago, when we had a wildlife rehabilitation center there.

The house sits on about 20 acres of woods, surrounded by suburbia. The back porch overlooks a swamp - and also happens to be where the bird feeders are. They hang from the porch rafters - sheltering the birds from winter snow and rain - and sometimes in very bad weather, seed is placed on plywood feeders on the porch floor.

Of course, the raccoons know when the bird feeders are up. And they have no shame.

Fox Sparrows

2006-10-27T19:43:00.000-04:00

Fox Sparrows...aren't they just gorgeous?

Spelunking - Sort of

2006-10-25T07:45:00.000-04:00

I was wondering what to write about and at the same time, sorting through my huge file of pictures, and came across this one. Aha!

As I've mentioned here before, I lived in Kentucky for almost two years, in a place called Cave Creek. There are hundreds of miles of caves through KY, and I was fortunate to live in an area where caves were commonplace. We even had one in our back yard.

Though I never got seriously into spelunking (I'm not quite that adventurous and the thought of getting stuck in a dark cold cave really creeps me out) I did poke around the bigger ones, as well as the more open rock shelters and caverns. They are simply awe-inspiring. So, back to the photo. These are stalactites, 'growing' from the ceiling of one of the larger limestone caves.

As the water drips down on the ground, the limestone deposits will build up and form stalagmites, which then 'grow' up from the ground. After a few million years, if the water continues to drip, they meet in the middle. These are just 'babies' and have a few million years to go before they reach that point.

This cave doesn't look so large from the outside (that dark hole in the center of this next photo (wherever Blogger chooses to deposit it in this text) is the entrance. Once through the opening, there's a short scramble over rocks in an area only about four feet high, and then suddenly the ceiling vaults to 12 feet on a giant slab of tilting rock. A trickle of a stream runs through it, and the sound of dripping and gurgling water echoes from the back of the cave. The ceiling slab comes down in the center, and there is a passage on either side large enough for a small person to squeeze through. The amateur spelunker who was with us on this day went in one side while we waited, and promptly came back out. He was thoroughly spooked and refused to go any further - we respected that. I don't believe in vampires, but I do believe in Spirits....

You would think that nothing can live without sunlight, but caves are home to a lot of critters that never see the light of day. This is one of the common cave crayfish that live in the complete, total, pitch blackness. You can't imagine how dark it is inside a cave. Since there's no sunlight and therefore no way to see in the dark, most cave critters are blind.

Since there is no need for pigment to protect them from the sun, or to protect them from predators (camouflage) many cave critters are either white or transparent. We brought this little fellow out just for a photo, then put him back where he was. He's probably still telling his friends about his journey into the light....
The larger caves (and some are huge) were used as shelters and homes since the beginning of time. Most have been robbed or excavated, and there are artifacts of all kinds gathering dust on the shelves of a lot of native Kentuckians, and others. Some of the larger caves are now tourist attractions, with their own brochures.

I used to love to sit by the entrances of the larger caves, or spend time in some of the shelters, and imagine what went on there thousands of years ago. I think life was incredibly hard, but also incredibly beautiful for our Ancestors. Think of what the place must have looked like - the woods filled with ancient trees, birds, animals. I often find myself trying to imagine what a deep breath of fresh air must have been like back then, without a trace of any of the modern-day pollutants. And I often wonder if one of those people would even be able to take a deep breath today. Oh, for a time machine!

Well. Blogger has decided to stop uploading photos, but I'm not done yet. So maybe there will be a part 2, later.

Blog Challenge and Writing

2006-10-22T10:39:00.000-04:00

I'm getting back to writing fulltime, which I will do when I'm not banding birds. It's the writing that pays the bills, the birds that allow me to do the other "work" that I do. Not a bad combination, really.

But this time, I'm also trying something different. I've been a nonfictin writer since I was a teenager practically. And trust me, that's a very long time ago. I've been thinking about trying fiction now for a few years, but never have taken that first step. Well, I have now! I've got a writing blog going, and I've taken a gigantic step: I've signed up for the NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month challenge.

The goal is to write a novel - good, bad, or indifferent - in 30 days, beginning Nov. 1st and reaching the 50,000 word goal on Nov. 30. What have I done?

In browsing around the writing boards this morning, I came across another challenge - this one for blogs. The challenge is to post to your blog every day, and here's the link for those who are interested: NaBloPoMo. No, I'm not crazy enough to sign up for both! But it's there for those of you who want to give it a try.

Happily Ever After

2006-10-21T09:47:00.000-04:00

I love where I live. It's a Camp/Conference center, and there's going to be a wedding here today. Last night, a knock on the door (the house I'm staying in for the winter says "staff residence" on the door, so there will be a few interruptions now and then) as friends and I were having coffee and fresh apple pie. It was one of the wedding guests, asking permission to park his car at the bird observatory building, so the wedding present to the bride and groom wouldn't be visible from the dining hall. He pointed to his car - and there on the roof, was a beautiful, dark green, brand new canoe! Not your run-of-the-mill wedding present, to be sure - but then again, how many people choose to be married in the woods at a Camp? My kind of people. Permission was granted, of course.
This huge leaf was waiting for me behind the Observatory door this morning when I went down to fill the feeders. You can't get a good idea of size here, but the leaf measures 14 inches across at the widest part, and 12 inches from stem to tip. It was on the gravel, just outside the library door, a gift from the sycamore tree on the front lawn.

The duckweed is coming off the pond now, and instead of the total green scummy look, there is a small area of open water. The wood ducks are still here - peeping and whistling and flying into the trees if they are disturbed. But they never go far, and come right back to the pond. It's a good place for them - there are downed logs near the shore that provide shelter; cattails and other reeds. And plenty of duckweed. If you look hard in this picture, you'll see the little bit of open water, right behind that bare tree in the middle of the photo. That tree sits right near the shore, so the green stuff behind it is the duckweed.

It occurred to me that I probably never actually put a picture of the bird observatory building on this blog, so here it is. The wishing well out front is an actual well, but a recessed cover and grate protects anything from getting inside. It makes a great place to hang the feeders, and a piece of plywood over the top is a good place for the chipmunks and squirrels.
It does cause the heart to flutter a bit the first time you see a chipmunk dive into the well. I was waiting for the plop! but there he was, safe and sound on the cover, climbing all over the stones, his cheeks all puffed up with stashed sunflower. Now its commonplace and I don't give it a second thought.

I used to bring the seed in at night, but then started leaving it out, using it as a 'bear barometer.' I figured if the feeders and suet were undisturbed in the early morning when I came down to open nets, it was a pretty safe bet there hadn't been any bears during the night. Not so. The momma bear that tore up the shed never touched the feeders or the suet. So much for a bear barometer.

This is a new building, so it's kind of bare yet, but we will be planting a butterfly garden and other flowers come spring. Can't wait!

OK - I'm starting to ramble so I'm headed back to the writing project. Later....

Sparrowland

2006-10-20T08:10:00.000-04:00

Sparrows everywhere. It's interesting how our skills become rusty when we don't use them. Back when I used to band here all the time, I knew every sparrow because we handled a gazillion of them. After 10 years in Florida (would you believe, we never caught a sparrow there?) and two years in Kentucky (just song sparrows) it seems I'm back in sparrow-land. Oh, I had no trouble with the basic white-throats, song, field sparrows. But we did catch a few that warranted breaking out the books, at least once.

Chipping sparrows are relatively easy to ID in the hand - that gray rump is distinctive in almost any plumage. The hatching year white-crowned sparrow, as you can see in these two photos, doesn't have the black and white stripes of the adult birds. Take away the distinctive markings, and suddenly a lot of sparrows begin to look alike! This particular species has five sub-species,
although most of them have more western ranges.

Then there's this swamp sparrow, with the gray hindneck and rusty wings. This one can be easily confused with a Lincoln's sparrow, which is similar but has more buffy streaking on the breast. Sorry, we've banded a few Lincoln's but for some odd reason, I didn't take any photos. Must have been when the camera batteries were dead.

Song sparrows are also similar, but have the distinctive central breast spot. But then, so do tree sparrows - but without the streaking.

When we're banding sparrows that are similar and confusing, the definitive ID comes from plumage and wing morphology. By measuring certain primaries and matching to a predetermined formula, we are assisted in ID-ing difficult birds. For instance, a hatching year swamp sparrow may be separated from a hatching year song or Lincoln's sparrow by its wing morphology: primaries 8, 7, and 6 are all the same length, and primary 5 is longer than primary 10 by 2-9 mm. In comparison, on a Lincoln's sparrow, primaries 8 and 7 are the same length, and they are longer than primary 6.

Too bad birders can't see that in the field, because it's really helpful in identification. But then again, banders must rely on different ID techniques. Having the bird quietly in the hand takes away song, movements, flight patterns, and flash marks that birders use for identification. You'd be surprised how different some species can look in the hand.

Native or Not?

2006-10-18T08:47:00.000-04:00

A few times now the subject of native species vs. 'invasive species' has come up - and I've been pondering writing about this for a long time. My thoughts and opinions are probably vastly different than most naturalists, but that's just the way it is for me.

First, let me say up front that yeah, there are probably some species of plants and animals that are 'invasive' and harmful to Native species, that contribute little to the ecosystem, and maybe should be controlled (fire ants - kill 'em all!). But I'm certain there are others that are beneficial in one way or another, and shouldn't be labeled as noxious or 'shot on sight' so to speak.

I suppose my outlook on things comes largely from my background - spending many, many years with American Indians (most who don't care for the term "native Americans") and being married to a Cherokee for many years. Don't get them started about "non-native, invasive species!" From the American Indian perspective, the USA was built from non-native, invasive species.

I look at everything on the Earth as being related to everything else - as part of the ecosystem, part of the way things work (whether it's to our liking or not) and ultimately, part of myself. I see the Earth as a living being. Science is beginning to understand this concept, albeit a bit too late perhaps.

Who am I to say that one plant or animal has a right to live, and another doesn't? Especially when my race has created the "problem." We destroy habitat by altering water courses and vegetation - then complain when 'scrub' species invade. We create Canada goose habitat with manicured lawns and ponds, then complain about goose poop. We harvest or destroy millions of acres of forest, heap up our garbage by the tons, and then complain when bear and deer and cougars concentrate in populated areas. We cut down dead trees, then complain about raccoons in the attic. We put up street lights and floodlights, then wonder why the hatching turtles run to the parking lot instead of the ocean. We process our foods with chemicals, then wonder why so many people have deadly diseases. You get the idea..

There was a discussion among bird banders recently concerning cowbirds, and whether it was legal to destroy them (No!). Everybody hates a cowbird because they are allegedly causing decline in songbird populations. For those that don't know - cowbirds are parasitic nesters - they lay their eggs in the nests of smaller birds, which raise the young as their own, usually at the peril of their own offspring, which are smaller and seldom survive.

My question is, are they really causing that much harm, or are we just paying more attention because with the destruction of habitats and rain forests, there are fewer neotropical songbirds and more cowbirds, which are more adaptive to different habitats? Have the cowbirds altered their behavior over the decades, or have we caused massive songbird habitat destruction, and now need a scapegoat?

Autumn olive, also called Autumnberry - another 'invasive' species. Question is, is it doing more good than harm? Yes, it prevents some other 'native' species from growing. But again, we have destroyed and continue to destroy wildlife food sources at an alarming rate. That's one of the reasons it was introduced in the first place. Autumn olive is a good source of food for wildlife, and the edible berries are rich in vitamins A, C and E, flavonoids, essential fatty acids, and the big one - lycopenes (yep, this 'invasive' species just might help fight prostate, cervical, gastrointestinal cancer, and heart disease). Maybe we can learn something from the animals, who eat this stuff like crazy.

Blogger won't upload photos today. I am so very tired of this....

Iced (No - not that!)

2006-10-16T18:46:00.000-04:00

This morning brought the first noticeable frost. We started "work" late - I didn't open the nets until nine. I could have opened just a little earlier, but I was having too much fun admiring where I "work" and thanking Everybody that I didn't have to jump in a car and commute to an office or some other indoor zoo and stay there for eight hours or more. This is infinitely better.

The goldenrod flowers, some browned, some still holding their color, wore a thick layer of ice crystals, making them look much larger than they actually are (gee..wish I could say the same for me).

The nets, which are closed and furled when not in use, also had a layer of hoar frost on them. Hoar frost happens when dew or moisture comes in contact with a cold surface (nets, plants, etc.) and instantly freezes. I don't know, however, what makes the ice crystals stand up like they do. The nets don't actually freeze solid, they're just a little frosty and once opened, they dry quickly. We only opened the ones that would get some sunlight and be dry and ready to go in minutes.

Even the Autumn Olive berries and leaves were covered with a thin layer of ice. There were birds everywhere in spite of the cold - the sun was up by nine and the sky clear blue - promise of a good day in the making. About 75 cedar waxwings were feeding on the Autumn Olives and on the cedar berries. About another 50 were perched at the top of a now-bare maple tree, taking in some sunshine. We later banded four, all immature birds.

One of the prettiest sights was the different grasses in the field, all covered in hoar frost. This photo doesn't do it justice.

We found some coyote scat under one of the nets. A red-tailed hawk made a pass over another, but kept on going. There were a lot of kinglets around today, as well as white-throated, swamp, and song sparrows. And wood ducks on the pond.

What really amazes me, more than anything else, is that Blogger actually allowed me to upload these photos without giving me a major headache or taking four hours to do it. Life is good.

Morning Drivel

2006-10-14T11:31:00.000-04:00

I'm back online this morning, and you didn't even know I was gone. Spent the last two days moving from my little summer cabin into the "big house" next door - which is much newer, much nicer, much bigger, and - has HEAT! Just in the knick of time, too, as the temperatures fell into the 30s here. Nice as this place is, it's a temporary fix until spring - then it's back to my little cozy cabin. Because of the move, I've been offline as the phones and internet connections were switched. It amazes me the amount of wire that goes with a PC and wireless and internet connections. There's nothing to do with it but coil it up the best I can and try to ignore it. Oh, for a laptop. I think Santa Laura may have to put one under the tree this Christmas.

I have to say, this was one of the easiest moves I've ever made. The two houses are only about 100 feet apart, and I don't even have to empty the cabin. Just bring the stuff I want with me over the winter, and leave the rest. Simple. But how did I accumulate so much stuff in so little space in so little time? It's a puzzlement, for sure.

Haven't banded any birds the past few days either - first rain, then wind - so I decided to take a few days off anyway and tend to the moving and writing. Also took time for a walk by the lake. It's really looking pretty this time of year. There's a beaver lodge on the far side - I haven't seen the beavers yet, but I really haven't sat still and quiet here in the early evening to see them.

The bears haven't been back either, at least I haven't seen them. We did move the seed to a different building, so the shed is now empty.

Mike was hunting the other side of the Lake and said he saw them there - they passed under his tree stand. He said Momma is tagged in both ears, and one cub is tagged in one ear. He didn't see tags in the second cub, which is strange. Usually if they're tagging one, they tag all of them. Maybe they ran out of tags.

Well - I've babbled enough here. Time to fill the feeders and get some work done....

Bearly There!

2006-10-11T12:12:00.000-04:00

So I'm fast asleep last night after a long, hard day - and I awaken to the sound of distant thunder. No, wait a minute...that's not too distant, and it isn't thunder. It's the sound of bending aluminum, just on the other side of the bedroom wall, where the storage shed housing about 50 bags of sunflower seed sits. Uh oh.

There's no window on that side of the house, so I go upstairs to the loft and look out that window, which lucky for me, is right over the storage shed. I already knew what I would see - I just wasn't ready for the number. Between the moonlight and the security light, I had a pretty good view.

Momma bear was busy ripping the door off the shed (or so I thought) while two cubs about the size of a German shepherd waited nervously on the lawn, running for the nearest tree when the aluminum really shrieked.

One more good pull and Momma was now inside the shed, the two cubs following right behind her. It had to be crowded in there. I didn't want to think about the three of them somehow getting stuck in there...

I opened the window and clapped my hands - a sound that is supposed to scare bears. One cub came out and ran for the tree, but didn't climb. The second one followed, and out comes Momma. She looked up at me and I could hear her breathing - but she obviously was not scared. Annoyed maybe, but not scared.

The damage was done, so I confess - I watched them for about ten minutes. I could hear the sunflower seeds crunching below me, and beary woofing and breathing. I imagined a colossal mess to clean up in the morning.

I made more noise. This time Momma came out of the shed and stood on the lawn, and deposited a nice pile of poo. She had no intention of leaving. I shouted - she retreated into the woods, but it was also obvious she was coming right back as soon as this pesky human went away. Nothing to do but return to bed, and hope for the best.

Morning revealed a few interesting things. She couldn't get the sliding doors open (they were tied shut and would not slide) so she dug her claws under the frame and simply pulled the front of the shed off until she had enough room to get inside. The sight of it made me respect a bear's strength.

Surprisingly, only one bag of seed was opened, stuck in the doorway and about one third of the seed gone. My guess, after seeing the pile of poo, is that this family just wasn't that hungry. They had dined well on cracked corn somewhere - the pile deposited on the lawn was filled with it. They never disturbed the bird feeders or suet, and they surely didn't take as much seed as they could have.

Today, Mike will spend some time repairing the shed and attempting to make it bear-proof. I think this family will surely return this evening, having discovered an easy meal. In spite of the damage, I feel fortunate to have been able to observe these animals so close - but from a safe vantage point.

Raccoon Fatty

2006-10-09T12:32:00.000-04:00

My son sent me this photo last night. This is one of the 20 or so raccoons that come by his house. They are the descendents of raccoons we rehabilitated and released there years and years ago.

Those raccoons were brought to us by one of the conservation officers. There were five babies in a paper sack, removed from someone's chimney. We lost one, but the others thrived. It was one of the most memorable experiences - and apparently left a lasting impression on my son, who absolutely adores raccoons.

He calls this photo "Ridiculous."

Ocquittunk

2006-10-07T13:42:00.000-04:00

Took a break yesterday and went for a walk at nearby Lake Ocquittunk. The weather wasn't very cooperative for sunshine and good lighting for photos, but Boomer had fun sniffing out squirrels and I had fun just observing different things.

Lake Ocquittunk looked cold and dreary yesterday, but the trees across the lake promised some bright colors next time the sun pokes through these persistent clouds.

There used to be beavers on this lake. Haven't seen any in a long time, but signs of their passing are still on the shore. An old stump from a long-felled tree, now home to some very nice fungi.
Nearby, a dead tree - one that had been completely girdled by the beavers.

There was also this ground-clinging fungi, not necessarily related to the beavers, but pretty nevertheless. I don't have a fungi field guide handy, so I have no clue what this is, but it reminds me of the turkey-tail fungi that grows on rotting logs. Maybe underneath this one, there's a scrap of old tree.

Wrens

2006-10-03T13:07:00.000-04:00

Caught a little winter wren today. Smaller than a house wren (if you can believe it!) and although at first glance they look very much alike, the winter wren has some subtle differences.

The barring on the flanks of the winter wren extends further up the belly, beyond the legs; and the undertail coverts are much darker than those of a house wren. This picture also doesn't do justice to the buffy eye stripe and small size of this little wren - especially the much shorter tail.

The house wren (photo at right) is a little larger than the winter wren, and lighter; the barring on the flanks rarely goes far up the sides, and the house wren lacks the dark brown and dusky undertail coverts of the winter wren - none of which are visible in this photo!

It was the house wren that got me into birding in the first place. It's a bird my father loved - and though he wasn't what you would call a 'birder' in that he never went looking or kept lists and records, he knew the birds that frequented our 120 acre farm. He especially liked the wrens singing from the garden.

One day when I was maybe nine or ten years old, I was asked to retrieve my brother's jeans from the clothesline. The jeans were old, and torn at the knee. When I got out to the line, I noticed that one leg looked very strange - it was swollen and stiff. I went and called my father to come look.

A pair of house wrens had entered the leg of the jeans through the hole at the knee, and had stuffed the pant leg all the way to the bottom with twigs and sticks, so that the sheer volume and tangle of sticks kept them from falling out the open bottom. My father folded up the bottom of the pantleg and secured it with a clothespin - declaring the jeans off-limits to my brother until the wrens had finished nesting.

That two little birds could accomplish such a feat fascinated me, and I was hooked.

Blue to Blue

2006-09-30T15:09:00.000-04:00

I thought I had a new favorite bird this morning when I really looked at this gorgeous blue headed vireo. This particular individual was really in fine plumage and brilliantly colored.

There were four today, but this one was exceptional. I couldn't help but admire the colors and patterns and thought that this is probably a bird that is often overlooked when birders are seeking out the more dramatically patterned warblers - but then again, few birders actually get to see them up close and personal, like this.

And then along came a small flock of bluebirds, which had discovered the autumn olive berries. No doubt about it, this is one gorgeous bird too!

Of course, everyone loves a bluebird, and I've got a soft spot for them too, because a bluebird was on the cover of my book. But I just don't know - I think I'm in more of a vireo mood today. Gotta love those spectacles!

Golden Moments

2006-09-28T17:53:00.000-04:00

What do you mean, "what the heck is that?"

It's a honeybee and a goldenrod, of course. Ok, ok, so the wind was blowing and the goldenrod wouldn't stand still. Neither would the bee. At least the background is in focus, so you know I was doing my part.

The honeybee (small orange blob to the left of the goldenrod) was collecting pollen off the goldenrod and was oblivious to the wind and the camera. It's legs were so heavily swollen with pollen it looked like it was wearing bee-sized leg warmers (you know, the ones that were the rage when the movie "Flashdance" came out?) I thought a photo of the bee would be nice to share on this blog, so here it is.

Foxy Fall

2006-09-25T14:05:00.000-04:00

Today is the first day that really feels like fall - and looks like it, too. There is an incredible amount of leaf litter already on the ground near my cabin, and the tree leaves haven't completed their color changes yet.

This photo is the view of my driveway from the front door. There's a road down there along the stonewall - somewhere.

It's impossible for anyone to walk quietly past my cabin - shuffling leaves announce even the most careful of critters. Last night, I knew the deer were walking past the bedroom window, even though I couldn't see them for the darkness. A bear I can always see; their black fur always blacker than anything else around. Smaller shuffles give away the presence of squirrels, or chipmunks, or the fox quickly trotting by.

I saw a red fox the other day, trotting down the side of the highway. They are foxes of more open habitats. In Kentucky, the house is in the woods, and gray foxes were frequent visitors to the bird feeders. This photo isn't the greatest quality - it was taken through the kitchen window with a film camera and then scanned into the computer - but its one of only a few I have of the Kentucky gray fox.

There was a pair that would come to the bird seed and cat food (put out for stray cats) spread on the rocks in the back yard. Before long, we noticed they were picking up as much as they could carry and trotting off with it.

We continued to put out food, and one day, they brought three pups. We finally caught the cats, so gradually stopped feeding - a good thing, because one night there were five foxes, three raccoons, and two opossums in the yard, all at the same time. Oh, and the skunk. A big, mostly white fellow the neighbors said had been around for years.

Here in NJ, I am feeding the birds and have feeders and suet spread around the place, but I take the suet in at night to minimize attracting bears. I haven't seen any gray foxes, but the light shuffle of leaves and a slim, quick shadow along the stone wall let me know when they are passing by.

I'm BAAAAAAACK!

2006-09-24T13:36:00.000-04:00

What a long, crazy, ordeal this blogging thing has been! To bring you up to speed - shortly after I switched over to Blogger's new and improved (???) "beta" system, the ability to upload photos just went away one day. I read the faqs, I searched for directions, I made sure my photos were web-ready, I tried on numerous occasions to upload photos - and even though Blogger said my photos were uploaded and "Done" I can tell you - they were NOT! So - I went blog-service exploring...

I found a nice free trial site on Squarespace - and I have nothing but praise for them - except it seems you can't upload more than one picture in your blog body. Instead, you use a photo gallery - nice touch, very easy to use. I wasn't thrilled with their template formats, but if you had the time and energy and knowledge, you can probably restyle them any way you want to. The downside - it's not free, and although I'm not cheap, I don't always have spare change and started to worry that my blog would go away if I happened to be in one of those financial dry spells that come along now and again.

So - what to do? I decided to return to Blogger - aggravating as it is, when it works, it seems to work well. But I couldn't switch back from the beta format, so I simply started another account. And that's my tale of woe!

I'll be spending some time moving my last few 'free trial' posts over here, and making sure Natural Notes II is posted in my old blog so I don't completely disappear into Blogger oblivion1

My advice from this experience - forget everything I said about switching to Blogger beta until they've got the bugs debugged!

Warblers, Kinglets, and Little Red Surprises!

2006-09-24T13:22:00.000-04:00

The first wave of fall warblers went through this week. The leaves are starting to change, and I notice the warblers and the leaves are beginning to resemble each other - yellow, green, black, and shades of these colors in-between.With the warblers come the kinglets.

This one is a ruby-crowned kinglet - very aptly named. The red feathers on this bird's crown are not visible unless a big wind comes...(in this case, bander blowing gently on bird's head!) or the bird raises it's crown feathers.

There's a cold-front coming (YES!) and it's going to rain later today, so I closed up early and will spend the day doing reports, running errands, and oh yeah - working on the blog site later.

I'm also planning some time out in the woods - fall fungi are up and photo opportunities abound!

Originally published on Tues. Sept. 19 while in blogging limbo...

Blog MEME

2006-09-24T13:11:00.000-04:00

Wow. Two posts in one day. Since my last entry was about evaluating my blogging habit, it occurred to me that I should possibly try this blog meme that is going around some of the blogs I read regularly. This is my first attempt at a meme - actually, for a long time, I had no idea what that even meant.

Are you satisfied with your blog’s content and look?

Funny you should ask - because where I was before, I just couldn't quite get there. I liked the overall look, but uploading pictures was giving me a real headache. Most of the time it didn't work easily, requiring several attempts before I managed a photo or two...and then they were never where I wanted them to be in the text. Then, uploading pictures went from headache to nightmare, followed by no pictures at all. Bummer. So here I am, on a new host, and liking this much better. I guess you get what you pay for.
As for content - I'm really working on that. Too narrow a focus at the moment, which wasn't my intent at all. I do plan to write more about the natural world and the other things I experience while outdoors in Nature, and not just bird banding.

Does your family know about your blog?

Not really. I'm not sure why...guess I haven't told them!

Do you feel embarrassed to let your friends know about your blog, or do you consider it a private thing?

Yes and no. It's certainly not a private thing, or it wouldn't be out here on the web for everyone to see, now would it? It would be in one of the unused but really pretty paper journals on my bookshelf. Embarrassed? I'm not sure if that's the right word. I suppose any writer has certain feelings of trepidation, nervousness, queasiness, fear, downright panic...but embarrassed? You know, I just don't know.

Has blogging brought about positive changes for you?

Oh, absolutely. If nothing else, the discipline of writing every day or nearly every day. Even if I don't get to the computer to make a blog entry, when I see things during the day, it makes me think of the blog and if it would be a good blog topic. It is also making me more mindful of the pictures I take, and it has opened up a whole new world of reading other blogs - an enlightening and entertaining experience.

Do you only read blogs of those who comment on your blog, or do you also like to find new blogs?

I love to find new blogs, and I don't comment as much as I should, probably because most of the time I can't think of anything intelligent to say, especially after I've read an eloquent blog. But in thinking about it more, even a quick comment saying how much I enjoyed the post would be better than nothing at all. I will be more mindful of this in the future.
What are your thoughts on commenting? Is it important to you that people leave comments?
I enjoy the comments and feel I've made some new "friends" in those that read and comment regularly. I think comments provide that bit of recognition any writer hopes for. It's also nice to converse with others of similar interests.

Does your visitor counter matter to you?

Gosh, didn't know I had one! I guess not.

Do you try to imagine what fellow bloggers look like?

Not really. Most of them have photos (I'm one who doesn't-yet) anyway. I suppose I have some natural sense of what they might be like, but it's not anything I dwell on or think about.

Do you think there is a benefit to blogging?

Yes, positively. Besides the discipline of writing, it's a medium I'm very comfortable with. I have a gazillion paper journals, most of them half empty because I tire of writing by hand, they are too pretty for my lousy handwriting, or too big to lug around, or my mind goes faster than I can write and I can't get my thoughts on paper the way I want them. Working on the computer is much easier, more visual, and a lot more fun. And faster, did I mention faster?

Does criticism of your blog annoy you?

Ummm, haven't really gotten any other than my own. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing, but criticism is healthy, if given in a good way.

Are there any types of blogs you avoid?

Oh yeah. I avoid politics and "causes" like the plague. I avoid anything too bizarre, too stiff, or trashy.

Originally published on Saturday, Sept. 16....

Thoughts

2006-09-24T13:01:00.000-04:00

Finally - a few peaceful moments in the morning to write. It's been a bit hectic - rainy days are for catching up on the other things that are set aside for banding. Declan came back on Wednesday for another banding day, and in between showers and sunshine we banded 45 birds. No hawks this time, but a few "nice" captures anyway, like this female black-throated blue warbler.

It was nice to have such a good day during Declan's visit from Ireland..most of the birds were all "new" for him, even though the process was basically the same.
Today I plan to re-evaluate this blog, see where I want to go with it, what I want from it, where my motivation lies. Curiously, I've moved away from writing as much as I used to, both in blogs and in my personal/professional life, and I'm thinking a lot about that too. I've set a deadline for next Wednesday to make up my mind. I'm usually good with deadlines - we'll see what happens!

Originally posted Saturday, Sept. 16 while in blogger limbo...

Luck of the Irish

2006-09-24T12:58:00.000-04:00

I've had the pleasure of banding with Declan, a "ringer" from Ireland, here in the USA on a holiday with his wife Maria. The luck of the Irish must have prevailed, because we had a great day. Lots of birds, lots of variety, and a special treat - a broad-winged hawk! We were checking nets and saw the hawk immediately in the lower section. It wasn't tangled badly and actually was close to escaping. Since we were concentrating on safely removing the hawk, we failed to notice the garter snake entwined in the net. Apparently the hawk had caught the snake and hit the net on its way up to a perch, dropping the snake in the net.
Since we didn't have a camera with us, we opted to leave the snake (which we assumed was dead) and come back with the camera. We took the hawk to the banding lab to band and photograph. When we returned to the net, the snake was no where in sight. Guess it wasn't really dead!
Broad-wings are migrating now through this area. This was an immature hawk, and a magnificent creature.

Originally published Tuesday, Sept. 12 - while in blogging limbo....