October 6, 2009

Sneaky bear. Even with husband working around the yard, bear still snuck in at dusk and pulled down the feeders. He couldn’t resist the beef suet. Now the suet feeder looks like it did when Joe first found it in the woods (torn apart!) and the pole is bent. Fortunately, there’s real good eating for the birds without coming to our feeders, so no one will really miss it until we can get the pole unbent and back up.

 

Late summer/early fall

Who does not love days like today? Yes, fall is coming, but the day is warm and bright and sunny. The garden is dying back but the mums are thriving. If I didn’t have a set of proofs to finish, I would have spent the entire day outside. The birds are migrating, so we’re getting fewer visitors to the feeders and more running into our windows (which is a shame). I am pleased to see that the leaves have not yet taken over the golf course—a few more weeks of putting! But many more weeks of bringing the birdfeeders in at night. I read that bears eat 20,000 calories a day at this time of year. Yow!

 

End of the week

and here I am, editing notes (it’s my job). Been another rough one. Took my mother to the neurologist. Good report there. He’s got a very good manner with her and she likes him, so we never dread going. Ate Mexican food afterwards, then bought some sox. It’s the little things . . .

Tomorrow is four weeks since my dad died. I wonder how long I’ll tick off the weeks, will it turn to months soon?

Lovely cold rain today—over 2 inches. I thought the birds would feed like crazy, but they didn’t start til just a little bit ago.

I wish the anniversary of 9/11 would make people a little nicer to each other, but that’s not happening. How do we get rid of the negativity and poison that seem to be a part of daily life these days? I wish I knew.

 

If you go out in the woods today . . .

Last night at dusk I walked into a dark room. As my eyes adjusted, I saw a large black figure outside on the patio. Once I realized what it was, I yelled, “Hey, get out of there!” One of our feeders may be squirrel-proof, but it’s not bear-proof! He was on all fours, eating so comfortably one would think we had put it out for him. He ran down the hill when I yelled. I went to get Joe to help me pull the feeders in. By the time we got back, the bear had, too, and had just knocked down the feeder he loved so much. He ran off again and we pulled the feeders in. But he bent one pole severely, so the hummingbird feeder is now just a few feet off the ground. I was gone today but when I got home, I saw the nectar was down, so I guess they’re feeding okay. I know the bears are starting to think about bulking up for the winter and the hummingbirds are chowing down before their flights south. I’d prefer to just feed the latter, thank you.

 

Totally different subject

Bear alert! Only the third one this summer. And 85 Pounds o’ Love heard/saw/smelled him and barked like crazy. So his attempt at our birdfeeders was thwarted. Yay for dog! I’ve brought the feeders in since it’s a day with my mother. The goldfinches will have to fend for themselves.

 

June 10, 2009

Summer on the mountain. Neighbor saw a mama bear and her two cubs. Honeysuckle is in full, fragrant bloom. Goldfinches and chipping sparrows crowd my feeders. And drink cups and cigarette packs pile up on the side of the road. Sigh.

FYI: The Twitter fad has already jumped the shark. You heard it here first.

 

Squirrels!

They’ve been raiding my birdfeeders the past few weeks. At first they were cautious but then they figured out that if I wasn’t in the living room, they didn’t have to worry about the dog (not that the dog was paying them any attention anyway, unless I told him the squirrels were out).

Today I finally remembered what I did last summer and I pulled out the tin-foil pans and put them on top of the feeders. Then I watched as one squirrel, whom I believe is Baldy based on his tenacity (but his hair grew back so who can say?), climbed the pole and scooted out to the feeder. Paws carefully placed down over the foil, past the foil to the feeder. But he must not like the position (head down, tail up) because he tried to turn around and that’s when he fell off. He did this at least five times before giving up.  Pretty funny to watch.

And that’s why they call it a baffle.

 

April 27, 2009

What happened to spring? It’s August weather out there! Ack! But it brought my hosta along very quickly. And the hummingbirds are back. Last week I brought home some daffodils from my walk (someone had dumped them). This morning I went back for some ground cover and some plant that I can’t identify but I know someone paid good money for them before dumping them in the woods. I think I’ll be closing up the windows and turning on the AC before long . . . I sure hope spring is not gone.

 

April 2, 2009

It seems the mountain has woken up. Green is sprouting all over the place.  Our grasses and perennials are popping up. The phoebes are back and doing some rehabbing to their nest from last year. A bluebird is building a nest in the box outside my window—don’t know if that one will be a keeper, but he obviously recognizes its potential. Gobblers were making a racket yesterday, competing for someone’s attention. A big gray tabby was hunting in the woodpile. Haven’t seen any sign of the bear since the midnight raid a few weeks ago, but that’s a good thing. Aahh, spring!

 

Critter visitors

Haven’t seen a bear in weeks, but it seems we had a visitor last night. The dog acted strangely this morning when I let him out, circling the house instead of hanging near me waiting for me to pick up the leash. I figured something had been here.

Then we walked up the mountain and our neighbors’ trash was a mess, all over the side of the road. In the park at the top of the mountain, both trash cans had been turned over and emptied. Definitely not a day to take the path into the woods, so we turned around and headed home. Saw neighbor picking up the trash; he said they’d taken in their bird feeders overnight so at least the trash was the only damage they had.

And now the dog is staring intently out the window because the Three Musketeers—three male turkeys—are passing through the yard. They often pass through in the morning, eating as they go, and stop back at our little pond to take a drink before roosting for the night. Joe hunts turkey but I hope he doesn’t get these guys. I like watching them go by.

Certainly pleasant things to keep my mind off the election.