Around the House

No pictures this morning -- but I did want to give you an idea of what's active around the house this spring. We have several species of birds nesting in the yard: bluebirds, prothonotary warblers, chipping sparrows, cardinals, downy woodpeckers, blue-gray gnatcatchers, mourning doves, Carolina wrens, summer tanagers, blue grosbeaks, indigo buntings, brown thrashers, catbirds, and red-bellied woodpeckers. There are hummingbird nests nearby, I'm sure. In addition to the birds, we have quite a crop of cotton rats and cottontails this year. I also expect to see momma deer introducing her fawns to our platform bird feeder before too terribly long.

This will be our last spring in this house. We've been here 18 years. I imagine whoever moves in after we leave will "clean up" the "yard." What a shame.

Hide and Seek, Otter Style

There Be Bears Here

How's this for a way to start the month? Sugar-frosted bear scat. Now I ask you, who else brings stuff like this? ;)

I was out in the snow working on a proposed trail today when I happened across this fairly respectable bear scat. It wasn't terribly fresh but it wasn't particularly old either. The bears have been fairly active this winter because there has been food available. The berries and seeds are getting scarce now so I suppose most of the bears are enjoying a nice winter's nap. I still kept my eyes open while I worked - it's never a good idea to startle a bear...

Who loves ya 

Tale of a Tiny Turtle & Other Swamp Stuff

(I have decided that it's just too hard to update two blogs -- I have trouble just keeping this one up to date. So, from now on I plan to post images from the work swamp here on SwampThings and let SwampStuff go by the wayside.)

There has been some land clearing going on at the work swamp in preparation for the construction of a visitor center. The felling of trees and the clearing of underbrush is not something I enjoy seeing - I feel the loss of each tree and fret over the destruction of critter habitat, but I know that the visitor center will be of benefit once it is constructed. You could say that the guys doing the clearing feel my pain and have been really sweet about it. Yesterday they were doing some grading and uncovered a turtle hatchling. One of the guys gathered it up and brought it to me. I appreciated that.


Isn't he beautiful...


Check out the "egg tooth" on the upper jaw.



An unexpected visitor...as I was coming out of the swamp yesterday, I felt a little tickle on my cheek. I reached up and found that I had a hitch-hiker. This is an agrarian sac spider (Cheiracanthium inclusum). According to some sources, this spider's bite is somewhat painful - similar to the sting of a bee or wasp. Since it did not offer to bite me, I can't confirm that. It does have some pretty impressive chelicerae though. (Sorry, FC!)


Mornings have been foggy the past few days, giving the canal an air of mystery. Tundra swans passed overhead this morning, their mournful calls adding to the ambience.

Have I mentioned lately that I love my job?

One very geriatric groundhog (Marmota monax) . I think this little guy might be some sort of rodent record holder - he appeared to be very old :)