January 31, 2009 at 4:48 pm01 (Uncategorized)
The air temperature is 27 F but groundwater and meltwater flow steadily down through the woods to the lake.
Our region has been hit with yet another snow and ice storm, but we were spared the power outage of December 11-12, 2008. This week we got one air mass that left behind nine inches of powdery soft snow and was immediately followed by another air mass that brought freezing rain and sleet on top of it. Most of my time, it seems, has been either snow shoveling or ice-scraping, and not looking up or looking out in the meadow or the nearby woods.
Just the same, one can always look to the lengthening daylight hours and think of spring. In just a few weeks, the maple syrup buckets will go up along the country roads in our neighborhood.
Other recent natural events of interest include:
* Increased drumming activity by Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers and calls from the Pileated Woodpecker in the wooded areas.
* A mid-morning visit by a Sharp-Shinned Hawk to the iron crook that supports our bird feeders. The handsome specimen just perched there for a while, then flew away. It returned about an hour later and snatched a Junco.
* A flock of Pine Siskins joined our regular Goldfinches at our feeder. They performed their synchronized mass fly-ups and twittering several times. They blend in with the Goldinches so well you might not know you are looking at two different bird species unless you observe them closely. Pine Siskins normally live much further north, but when their native boreal forest cannot sustain them, they migrate south.
* The deer must be having a hard time of it right now, with a layer of frozen crust on top of softer snow beneath. This slows down their travel and subjects them to fatigue and inadequate browse. I see where they skirt by my Hemlocks for a chew, on their way to the old apple trees in the woods.
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January 20, 2009 at 9:47 am01 (Uncategorized)
The Black-Capped Chickadee is a common visitor to winter feeders and whose acrobatic antics at feeders delight many bird watchers. There are many stories about how the curious Chickadee can become tame enough to take seeds from a person’s hands, but it is not until it happens to you or someone you know that the event takes on new meaning. In the photo above, my grand-daughter Madeline holds black oil sunfower seed in her hand and a Chickadee alights. Her younger brother, Ben, is a “bird-whisperer,” too.
photo by Sarah Kelly
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January 12, 2009 at 6:52 am01 (Uncategorized)
The January Issue of the Massachusetts Wildlife News raises the question, “How can you tell if ice is safe?” It goes on to report that “There are no guarantees — always consider ice potentially dangerous. Assess ice safety by using an ice chisel to chop a hole in the ice to determine its thickness and condition. Make sure you continue to do this as you go further out on to the ice, because the thickness of the ice will not be uniform all over thepond or lake. Be aware that ice tends to be thinner on lakes and ponds where there are spring holes, inlets or outlets. Don’t venture on to ice bound rivers or streams because the currents make ice thickness unpredictable. “
The table below demonstrates the relationship between ice thickness and carrying capacity.
Ice Thickness in (inches) and Permissible Load (clear, blue, lake ice)
__________________________________________________
2″ or less STAY OFF!
4″ Ice fishing or other activities on foot
5″ Snowmobile or ATV
8″ – 12″ Car or small pickup truck
12″ – 15″ Medium truck
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source: www.mass.gov/masswildlife
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January 11, 2009 at 7:35 am01 (Uncategorized)
Droppings like these are as close to a deer as most people get.
After bucking up some more of the broken tree branches left behind from the ice storm of December 11-12, 2008, I took a short walk across the meadow and into the woods. The snow flurries from the previous day left a soft layer of powdery snow on top of the crusty mass below. I observed the tracks of several deer, a fisher-cat, a fox, some white-footed mice, a gray squirrel, and a coyote. The photo above shows some “deer berries” – the dark and shiny winter scat of the White-tailed Deer.
White-tailed Deer populations have been increasing in our neighborhood. Their hoof-prints criss-cross the meadow and there are well-developed trails in the adjoining woods. Some biologists say that overgrazing by deer may be a reason why there are fewer species of certain woodland wildflowers today in some areas, and a corresponding decline in some woodland bird populations. Other biologists suspect that the larger deer populations may even be driving black bears out of some habitats. Both the Black Bear (Ursus americanus) and the White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virgininanus) feed on wild currants, blackberries, and fruit of other deciduous shrubs in the late summer and fall. If the deer overbrowse the berry-producing plants (in particular, shrubs of the Rubus family like blackberries, raspberries, and dewberries) the bears cannot get enough food to adequately prepare for hibernation. The deer will later switch over to a woody plant diet. The bears may simply move out. More research may be needed to back up this claim, but it gives us something to think about in terms of the complex and inter-connected relationships between plant and animal populations..
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January 8, 2009 at 5:38 pm01 (Uncategorized)
A wind-toppled tree leaves a crater in the soil
The severe ice storm of December 11-12, 2008 caused the branches of many trees to bend and break under the weight of the ice. This was particularly true of White Pine, Oak, and Norway Maple in our area. There were also strong winds which toppled trees that were top-heavy with ice-coated branches. In the photo above, you see the root mass of a fallen White Birch Tree and the crater it has left behind as the soil clung to the broken roots. This White Birch was a fine specimen of Paper Birch (Betula alba var. papyrifera) with a trunk nearly twenty inches in diameter at chest height. In the background, you can catch a glimpse of the meadow at the edge of the woods. There are several smaller trees nearby that have also been toppled, and they all line up in the same direction. While I did not like to see the Birch tree downed this way, I have to appreciate the opportunity this disaster provides for animal homes. Will a skunk or fisher-cat find shelter here? Do we have a fox den in the making?
My money is on the red fox. The red foxes are pairing up for mating now now, and by late March a litter of five pups will be born somewhere. Fox dens usually have more than one entrance and are located within about 100 feet of water. A female fox generally has two to five back-up dens nearby. When predators or people threaten the pups or main den, the parents can move them to another site.
I’ll return to this location at intervals to see who has been visiting.
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January 1, 2009 at 6:50 am01 (Uncategorized)
January is marked by short days, long nights, and cold, raw, icy weather. Here are some things you might expect to see or hear outdoors this month. – Ice may “boom” on ponds and lakes as deeper water below the ice now freezes and expands. Long cracks suddenly appear in the ice. — This is the time of year that foxes and gray squirrels mate, owls establish new territory, and hairy woodpeckers start their territorial drumming. — Listen for the hooting of the Great Horned Owl. — Coyote, beaver, opossum and raccoon also start finding mates this month. — – Pickerel and Perch take bait set through the ice. — Juncos flock in shady, protected thickets and are among the earliest arrivals at feeders every morning. — Cotton-tail rabbits search for willow or sumac bark. — Mink forage along the frozen banks of streams and other waterways. — White tailed deer shed their antlers. — Woodland rodents gnaw on the antler “sheds” as a source of calcium. — In the woods, look for deer “yards” (a set of interconnected, well-traveled trails) in brushy thickets or hemlock ravines where they are more likely to be sheltered from snow and strong winds. — On cold, snowy nights, the ruffed grouse (partridge) may plunge into deep snow to keep insulated from the wind.
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