Yellow-rumped Warblers have arrived for the spring/summer season!

We love the little Yellow-rumped Warblers. They arrive this time of year and spend the entire summer at our suet feeding station and among the trees along the Caesar Pond shoreline. 

They are voracious insect eaters and we appreciate them for that!

A Snow Showery Day

Wait...what??? Snow??? On April 28th??? Unheard of.... at least in the last 20 years of our life in Bowdoin, Maine.

Wood Shed

Well, there is a lot of stacking to be done. This is the amount of wood we have left from winter (although we are not done burning wood yet as we have a number of cold nights still to come.) Drew will move about one cord's worth of wood into the wood shed this week, from a set of pallets in the side yard. Then, he has to construct a stand to hold the three cords of wood that was delivered last week. Finally, he will have to stack all that wood for drying.

Here was the wood shed at the beginning of the winter season! It was three rows deep.

The fence is repaired...

Drew has been working hard on repairing the fence. First, he had to move the tree, chainsaw it up into 16" length logs, then hand split the wood. After that was done, he did a repair on the fence which you see here. He is the best jury rigger I know!

He had to remove the old fencing from the tall poles. Then, he straightened out part of the support rods that could be salvaged, and reattached the top rod to the far fence corner.

Finally, he got some 3' high fencing, that we used to use when gardening, and put that in place of the chainlink part of the fence. It will do the job of keeping Toby in the yard. And, check out all the wood he got from that rotten tree. It will keep us warm for quite a few days next winter;-)

Here is a reminder of what the fence looked like when the tree fell on it!

Ruffed Grouse drumming

My photo of a Ruffed Grouse back in July, 2001, while vacationing up in Rangeley.

One of the Maine photographers that I admire, Colin Chase, went up north and caught some great footage of a Ruffed Grouse drumming. Ruffed Grouse males "drum" to attract females. The low frequency sound can be heard up to 0.25 miles away. Click the link above and turn up the volume!

He set up a Browning Recon Force Edge camera to capture the video (I'm thinking that I want this camera;-). Here is what Colin said about the grouse:

I was up "north" Friday and listened all night to the drumming of a Ruffed Grouse. In the morning I found his log and set up a camera while he was out feeding. What fun! I love is his reactions after he drums. I also included a slow mo at the end. Enjoy, sound up and watch in 1080p60hd. West Forks, Maine.

30-Day Local Photo Challenge

This Nature Conservancy's 30 Day photo challenge is great for kids and adults to do during any season of the year!

Bird Calls and one impressive Mainer

Oh my goodness...Dan Gardoqui is a birder extraordinaire, and has a nature-based consulting service, called Lead with Nature, in Maine. He has a YouTube channel in which he talks about birds as well does bird calls. His series is so fun to watch. Check out these links which might just get you to try learning bird calls as well! (I have added my own photos of the featured birds.)

The Birder - his video on expanding your nature listening skills.

Learn a Bird While Stuck at Home-Episode 1 - The Tufted Titmouse

Learn a Bird Episode 2 - The Chipping Sparrow

Learn a Bird Episode 3 - The American Goldfinch

 Learn a Bird Episode 4 - Black-capped Chickadee

Learn a Bird Episode 5 - Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers

Fire Danger Warning - Low Humidity

Yowzer! We rarely have such low humidity, and our fire danger is high right now. The wind is whipping constantly.

Project Learning Tree Earth Day Activities & US Forest Service Activities for kids

National Project Learning Tree has so many activities that parents can do with children. And, lo and behold, my Fallen Log activity video is among them, under #1 Scavenger Hunt! Fun, fun, fun... Check out the link for all the cool things that can be done at anytime during the year, not just on Earth Day;-)

And, check out the US Forest Service activities for kids as well. Awesome.

PLT Activity # 65: Bursting Buds

I decided to photograph flower and leaf buds on a few trees and follow their progress throughout the seasons. In order to do this, I chose young trees with branches close to my height so that I could easily see and photograph them.
TREE # 1:

Tree # 1

Here is the whole tree.

Tree # 1

It is helpful to know what you are seeing on a twig. For reference purposes, and to catalog what we are seeing, let's look at Tree # 1. The "Terminal Bud" is the bud at the tip of the twig. The "Lateral Bud" (and there are many) are located on the sides of the twig. They may be alternate, opposite, or whorled. The "Lenticels" are small pores that allow for gas exchange of carbon dioxide, oxygen, and water vapor. And, the shape of lenticels can help with tree identification. The "Leaf Scar" is left behind when the stem of a leaf separates from the twig.

Tree # 1

Check out this leaf scar. You can see the "Bundle Scar" which contains the small marks on the scar that show where vascular tissue extended from the stem to the veins of the leaves. This allowed for nutrients and water to travel in both directions.

Tree # 1

On this twig you can see the catkins that are still attached from last year. These are cylindrical flower clusters which bear single sex flowers that appear before the leaves open on the tree. We should see this year's catkins developing soon.

Tree # 1

Here is a close-up of a flower and bud.

NOW, ONTO TREE # 2:

Tree # 2

Tree # 2 is a tiny, many stemmed tree growing at the base of one of the red maple stumps in the bird feeder area. I'll bet you can guess what species it is by looking at the dead leaves that have yet to fall off from last year!

Tree # 2

Here is a twig from Tree # 2. Notice the difference in bud shape from Tree # 1.

Tree # 2

Terminal Bud with bud scales protecting it. These buds are much more elongated than those of Tree # 1.

TREE # 3:

Tree # 3

This tree has skinny twigs off of a small stem. Notice the alternate arrangement of the buds on the twigs.

Tree # 3

Here is a close-up of some of the buds. Again, a very different shape from trees # 1 & 2. Are you starting to get the idea that buds are a distinguishing characteristic of trees, even before they leaf out?

TREE # 4:

Tree # 4

Here is a photo of the whole tree.

Tree # 4

Tree # 4 has these fabulous flower clusters in an opposite arrangement on the twig.

Tree # 4

I wish that I had photographed this plant before the clusters had opened. So different from the other trees in this study!

Tree # 4

Here is a close-up shot of one of the flower clusters. And, don't those look like green leaves waiting to unfurl? We'll see!

TREE # 5:

Tree # 5

Tree # 5 is one of my favorite tree species. Check out all these glorious flower buds! Do you know what kind of tree this is? By the way, this particular tree was bent over by the one that fell on our back fence, so it is now at eye height.

Tree # 5

Here is another view showing the buds that develop at different rates.

Tree # 5 with flowers opened

Note that on this twig, you can see a feature that is not present on every tree. It is the "Terminal Bud Scale Scar." These are scars that encircle the twig left over from terminal bud scales falling off. O’Connor, Teage. “Twigs & Buds.” Https://phyllotaxy.com/natural-History/trees/twigs-Buds/, 22 Apr. 2020.

Wood Delivery!

Gee, I know what we'll be doing for quite some time. Got some wood stacking to do! We got a delivery of 3 cords of wood that now needs to dry for a year.

Tufted Titmouse

I love tufted titmice! They are the cutest of birds with that peter-peter-peter call that you can hear all around. And, check out their big feet;-) By the way, they love to eat sunflower seeds.

Awakened to a lone loon calling

 Yay! The first loon has arrived at Caesar Pond. I awakened to it calling at around 5:45am. It was far away toward the north end, hence the fuzziness of the photo.

We checked out our old favorite giant pine tree trail off Sheen Rd.

I desperately needed a walk in the woods, so we decided to check out a favorite trail from years ago. The trail has been somewhat closed off for the last few years due to a huge tree harvest that has been taking place.

We usually access this trail from Litchfield Rd. (where we call it "The Milkweed Trail"), but that is too steep for me to handle. So, we drove over to Lewis Hill Rd. and accessed it from the opposite entrance off of Sheen Rd.

Wow, this harvest is huge and isn't done yet. There have been so many tall pines removed from this site and it sure doesn't have the ambience of years ago.

We took in the view with sadness, thinking back to what it formerly was...

The quaint old stone bridge that crosses the creek is covered with a thick log pallet to handle the load of the logging equipment.

The creek is still there, but is not a picturesque as it once was...

The trail was too soft, and the footing too uneven for me to continue. Drew and Toby only went a short distance further, but it was too depressing to continue on.

Here is what the creek used to look like from the top of the bridge in 2013.

And, here is the side of the stone bridge from 2013.

And, the forest from 2013. Sigh... Sometimes, I don't like change.

And, another view from 2013. Change is inevitable...