About that new camera I mentioned…

Well, I got a new one, but I have to tell you the rest of the story.  We were about 3 hours from home when I remembered I never put my camera in the truck.  I did a frantic look-see in the glove box, hoping it was still in there, but it wasn’t.  I said “Oh sh*t, I forgot my camera!”  As it turned out, this was a perfect time for me to be forgetful, because in just 3 days was my birthday and guess who didn’t buy me anything?  So he says, “If you’d like, for your birthday present you can get yourself a new one”.  Hmmm, that sounds pretty good to me.  I knew I wanted to keep things simple and I didn’t want an expensive camera that requires expensive lenses.  So after some online research and shopping around, I decided this was the one I wanted.  A Nikon Coolpix P500.I’ve only had it since Wednesday, but so far, I really like it.  And I really like the color of it too!  I’m still learning the settings and other features.  I sure was glad I had it when we were driving along and saw this little cub along the edge of the road.  Such a cutie.  Mom and the rest of the kids crossed the road before we came along.  While we were watching it, Jim caught some motion in the review mirror and most likely, Mrs. Bear pushed this deer out of the woods.  The next day Little Doe brought her two fawns around.  Jim was stacking wood over on that side, so Little Doe had the kids hang around while she decided whether it was safe of not.  She decided to take them back from the direction they came from. I grabbed my camera and took some picture through the front window.   We’re finally seeing some pretty butterflies.  I just wish more of them would be on flowers and not on piles of poo.  I don’t know what kind of butterflies these are, but the small ones really blend with the sand, don’t they?This little bird was sitting in front of my blind, singing it’s heart out.  I got all excited and took a video of it.  After the fact I learned that unless you record your video in HD, there won’t be any audio.  Okay!  Won’t do that again. 

Another thing I’m learning is that HD videos take FOREVER to upload to YouTube.  I’ll have one for you in my next chapter.

So that’s my story and I’m very happy with my new camera. 

The Culprit

Under the cover of darkness, Jenny's assailant returned to the scene of the crime! Just as we suspected, although a little smaller than I would've guessed.  It's probably a yearling separated from Mama Bear.

 

FYI...the reason it's called Jenny/Kenny is that it can be either a doe or a buck.  Later in the year, well transform Jenny into Kenny by adding some antlers to it's head.

More Wildlife Moments

Yesterday when we were crossing the St. Croix River, this turtle was right up there on the bridge. It’s an Eastern Spiny Softshell.  A very strange looking turtle, especially when it runs.  It looks kind of like a frisbee with legs. (Note: I said I wouldn’t guarantee there’d be no more turtle pictures).

And when we were about a mile or so from the cabin, two small bears crossed the road in front of us.  We pulled over to see if they would come back out and sure enough, in less than a minute they did!

 

One of them took off never to be seen again, but the other one hung around so I could take it’s picture.  Wasn’t that nice?

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I had a Duh! wildlife moment the other day.  I saw this dragonfly on top of my garden flag, so I went into the cabin to get my camera before it flew off.  I took pictures from all different angles, hoping to get a decent one.

When I was ready to change the flag I tried to flick it off, so it would fly away.  Well duh, it was dead!  The only place that dragonfly was going was in my hand…

and on the little glider seat of the swing set where the flags hang.  Duh!

What a Day !

…for seeing wildlife.  On our way into town this morning I noticed something really black along the edge of the road and sure enough, a bear!  Here’s a little video I made with pictures I took through the truck window.  That’s part of why it’s so hazy.

June 17, 2011

A little further down the same road were two turtles, laying eggs.  One on my side, one on Jim’s side.  The second one looks like she’s really working hard to push that egg out! 

We took a walk on the Brule Bog Boardwalk and it was like being in a fairyland with lots of ferns, flowers, mushrooms and moss.  Anyway, my friend Anna told me that was a good place to look for pink lady slippers.  I’d never seen one, so I didn’t know exactly what or where to look for them.  Well, I’ll be darned!  After finally spotting one we saw them were all over the place. This has to be the most beautiful flower in the bog. 

There were lots and lots of bugs, so it was take the pictures as fast as possible and get the heck out of there.

The wildlife spottings continued on our way back home.  We saw a gray fox run across the road in front of us and closer to home a doe with 2 little fawns did the same.  Then we see this big ol’ buzzard.  Most likely there’s a dead critter somewhere nearby and this turkey vulture wants to get back to it.  A face only a mother could love? 

Signs of Spring

Whenever we’re out for a walk I keep my eyes open looking for any sign of spring.  On Monday I finally saw some wildflowers!  It was just a day after seeing snow on this ground cover. 

Here they are!  Rue Anemone…the prettiest flowers this spring, mainly because they were the first.

Today while driving back to the cabin, Jim spotted this little fox along the edge of a pond.  We pulled over, shut the car off and I started taking pictures.  It was really cool the way it laid down and watched me!

  Just like the deer, it’s coat is all faded out too. 

 

We got a daytime picture of what we think is the bear that visited us the other night.  It’s possible that Jim scared it away for awhile.  He bobby trapped the bird feeder by setting a plastic coffee can full of water in it.  We’re thinking it went something like this…Mr.  Bear comes along and heads over to the bird feeder (which is hinged to tip). Usually the hinged top prevents the bear from breaking the whole thing.  Anyway, when it stood up to eat the seed, the feeder tray tipped and the cold water (hopefully) dumped all over Mr. Bear.  We didn’t see this happen, but we haven’t seen him since the morning the coffee container was laying empty on the ground.

Still Waiting for Spring

I’m not going to complain because at least there’s no snow (well, not much that stays around for long), but come on, this is getting really old.  I’d love to see some fresh green leaves and maybe a spring flower or two.  But nooooooo!  It’s still all brown, bleached and faded out.  Even the deer look rough.      In a few weeks all this old hair will fall off and she’ll have her beautiful red summer coat on.  There’s hardly any green stuff out there for the deer and bear to eat.  On Friday night this one came by, broke one of the bird feeders and got his picture taken.  What a moon face, huh?  Time to take the feeders in each night and to keep the garbage in the shed.  Yeah, it got into that too. 

Quiet Time in the Northland

Like the title says, it’s getting very quiet around here.   About the only wildlife we’re seeing now are deer and eagles.  This little doe was standing along the edge of a dirt road when I spotted her.  Jim backed up and she just stood there while I took her picture .  She was turning her ears from side to side listening for sounds of danger.  I really like this picture of her in a totally natural setting.  The eagles have been feasting on road kill and deer carcasses.  It’s not unusual to see  eagles every day. And then there’s the mysterious stuff.  Just when I thought all the bears are in dens, I see this track frozen in some mud. The day after Halloween, I saw this skeleton looking image in a pool of water.  Aliens perhaps? And this morning on our walk we saw some confused willows.  It’s been nice, but I didn’t think it was warm enough for pussy willows to bud out. 

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I want to thank everyone again for all the kind words, thoughts and prayers you sent me on the recent passing of my aunt and uncle.  Uncle Wally’s funeral was on Saturday and I want to share this with all of you.  This is the back side of the little memory card that was handed out.  He was a character and a real Honey.

What a Wildlife Moment!

We were driving long on a gravel road, came around the corner and down at the bottom of the hill we could see a doe and fawn.  So we stopped right there at the top of the hill to watch them.  Of course I’m taking pictures, through the somewhat clean windshield glass.
We expected them to stand around a few seconds and then take off running.  Well that’s what they did, but they started running right towards us, with the little one leading the way.
The little one finally stops right in front of the truck and starts stomping her foot at us, just like a big deer.

We quietly sat, watching for their next move.  Mom must have given some kind of signal and they both turned and ran back down the road and disappeared into the brush along the side  Really cool.  

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Now if you would back up a few hours.  This is what we saw when we got up this morning. 

When you look out and see both feeders tipped and the birdbath knocked over, we know who stopped to visit last night.  Yup, here’s the culprit.
At least this one didn’t try to sit or climb on the birdbath like the other one did and ended up breaking it.  FYI…Super Glue Gel works really well in repairing plastic bird baths.

Mosquitoes!

They were big and they were really hungry!  They’ve always been bad in Madison, but on our recent trip home, they were awful.  Jim has a high tolerance for bugs and when he complains about them, you know it’s bad.  Because of them we were home long enough to get the grass mowed, I did a ton of laundry and we both got our hair cut.  Oh and the weather was icky compared to what it was in the Northland.  So that means, we’re back in the Northland after a quick 2 day trip home.

I’m sure the weather has changed down there so it’s much nicer, but it’s just perfect up here today.  Temps in the 70’s, low humidity, a nice breeze and hardly any mosquitoes! 

Just a few pictures to share from last night and when we were gone.  The little bear passed through last night.
Little Doe was here many times, looking for some snacks.
Even our next door neighbor was here  cutting hay.  There were lots of pictures of him and his tractor.  Note:  The date is incorrect on this cam.  I was too lazy to correct it after we discovered it’s off one day.
Little Doe came out too check on his work.  I think he got her approval.

It’s so good to be back up here.  We’re enjoying the nice weather, peace and quiet and seeing all the birds and critters again.  But mostly, it’s so good to go outside without being carried away by those blood sucking mosquitoes!