May 20, 2014

Slowly but surely it's looking like spring around here.  We had a lot of rain yesterday as you can see by the rain gauge.  We got most of that over night.

Here are two pictures to compare the difference that much rain makes in the pond.  I took the first picture on Sunday, the second one on Tuesday.

I've been seeing some wildflowers and mushrooms, although these aren't edible.  Soon the yummy oyster mushrooms should be popping out.    

The other day when I was sitting in my blind I saw a couple turtles sunning themselves along the edge.  All of a sudden something goes swimming by them!  Whoa!  Are the beavers back?  No...it was a muskrat.

They're kinda ugly critters, but they do have nice fur and are still trapped around here.

Another sign of spring is seeing all the lonely and confused yearling deer.  This poor thing is so tiny, but she's a real trooper to have survived the cold and snow of last winter.  Her mama should be having new fawns any day now.  This little one was right up by the cabin.  I think she was hoping someone would come out with a bucket of corn for her.  Hint hint....maybe later this afternoon.

And finally the grass is getting green and there are leaves growing on some of the trees!  Yay!  

Videos from around the 'hood

Sometimes it's just easier to post a video instead of trying to explain what's going on around here.
The turtles were in the mood for love, the little hummingbirds buzzed the feeders all day Sunday and there's still a lot of logging going on around here.  Slowly but surely the areas that were hard hit by last summer's storms are getting logged.

Things you don’t see everyday

The first thing is this strange looking flower called Indian Pipe or Ghost Flower.  Last summer was the first time I ever saw them growing around here.  This summer they came up in different spots and I’m somewhat confused by that. They only last for a couple days, before turning black and drying up.  The next two things I saw from my little blind.  Even though the water is going down, there’s still a lot of action out there.  Thursday a green heron landed right out in front of me.  It was there to get some fish, frogs and whatever else they eat.  I saw it grab something out of the water, shake it around, dip it in the water and then finally swallow it whole.  All the time, I’m taking pictures of it and thinking it grabbed  a great big frog.  After looking at my pictures, I was really confused.  What kind of frog has such a long tail, I asked myself? This was really freaking me out, trying to determine what in the heck the little heron caught.  I ended up showing this picture to a friend and he knew right away, it was a baby muskrat.  Whew, that explains the long tail and the claws on its webbed feet, although we didn’t know muskrats were still out there.I’m guessing it got washed out of its nest (or den or whatever baby muskrat holes are called) when the pond drained. 

 

A couple days later in just about the same spot, I watched a turtle climb out of the water and there on it’s shell were a couple leeches.  Ewwww!It sat there long enough for the leeches to get all heated up and I’m assuming very uncomfortable.But it didn’t stay out in the sun very long and went back in the water, so the leeches didn’t dry out. I know for sure, if I were a turtle, I would NOT like having a couple leeches attached to my shell!  It’s really not very attractive. 

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!

Fawns and More Turtle Pictures

On our travels around the ‘hood, we’re seeing more and more fawns.  They sure do grow up fast.

When we pulled into a parking lot, these two were right out in front of the truck with Mom bringing up the rear.  (All of these pictures were taken through the front window, so they’re not exactly crystal clear).

They followed Mom as she jumped over the tall grass and disappeared.

I can’t guarantee this will be the last snapping turtle picture I’m going to share with you, but I couldn’t believe this one.  She’s got algae growing on her shell and looks like some kind of little bugs too.  And if that’s not bad enough, there’s a slug on her head.But she was laying more eggs and most likely whatever comes along, digs them up and eats them will do that again.  It’s no wonder they lay so many eggs.  This article says 30-80.  I’m thinking it could be more. 

Rain!

This week it rained for three days straight.  It’s always good to get rainfall, but that was a little too much.  With the beavers gone, it caused the dam to get washed out even more and the water level in the pond is dropping.  But that’s okay, it’s all part of nature.  This shows the water rushing through the opening. 

All the rain has caused the lake levels to rise too.  The pier on this lake is under water.  I know, this is nothing compared to the flooding going on all over the country.  I feel very bad for all those people and their communities.

Last night we heard there was a sink hole on our road and had to go investigate.

Apparently the old culvert gave out.  The workers replaced it and now it’s just another bump in the road.

On our way back to the cabin, we saw this deer that was totally freaked out by a turtle.  It was really funny watching her.  She should’ve run off when our truck came along but she couldn’t take her eyes off that turtle.

Finally she ran off, but not very far.  Even from the edge of the pines, she couldn’t stop looking at that turtle!

  Funny little doe.

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? 

Turtle Time in the Northland

It doesn’t matter where we go, we see turtles going to lay eggs, laying eggs or where they’ve already laid eggs.

Some do it in the middle of the road.

Some on the edge of the road.

Some don’t like having their picture taken and try to run away.

There are turtles out on the little island in the pond.  They hang out there, laying eggs and even let the wood duck join their party.

These two like their privacy along the edge of the pond.

This one has a face only its mother could love.