Outdoor Adventures with Gary Lee - Vol. 358
The April fools snow was just a fleeting glance for a day, and it was gone for good I can hope. It did get up to nearly seventy degrees a couple times, which may even have started the smelt to run. The ice went out of most all the lakes in just a few days. Snowmobile races two weeks ago on the ice and now it is all water. I didn’t hear of any dock damage from the ice moving around and we did have some good winds as ice was going away. Many ducks used Fifth Lake, which was open first as a staging area before the other lakes opened up. The Mallard and Black Ducks, which used the open channel all winter, were there but not the two hundred that I fed for a few weeks. Two Mallards have taken up residence on my pond, and they walk up every morning for a snack under the bird feeders and then fly back to the pond. I guess they need the exercise, if I could fly, I would fly up and then walk downhill back to the pond.
The Turkeys have been around and copulated right in the yard so they should have babies in a few weeks. The Mallards and Canada Geese both copulated in Fifth Lake, so they are sitting some where nearby. Other ducks in Fifth Lake were Common Mergansers, Hooded Mergansers. Buffleheads and Ring-necked Ducks. The Buffleheads looked like marshmallows out on the water.
My feeders have been busy even after the snow went away. I banded over two hundred Slate-Colored Juncos and as I watched the over forty that were still around this morning, I only saw a couple with bands, so they kept heading north. The Evening Grosbeaks numbers have gone down but I still had sixty- four this morning. Purple Finch have been moving in over the weekend, and I had a high count of twenty-two this morning. Just before dark last night twenty-four Common Grackles hit the feeders along with a flock of fifteen Red-Winged Blackbirds and six Brown-Headed Cowbirds. Three Pine Siskins have been fighting for space on the feeders, and they are pretty fisty for such little birds. A Brown Tree Creeper played up and down the tree out back getting some suet going up the tree and eating it. Then it would fly back down the tree and get more. He was getting his exercise, and he was back today giving me time to take few pictures. The Share Shinned Hawk came in a few times today, but I don’t think he caught anything. One Evening Grosbeak hit a window trying to get away but it survived the hit.
I’m sure the Bald Eagles are already sitting on eggs on Fourth Lake, and I believe the Barred Owls have young up the hill from me as both parents have been busy hunting for over a week now. They did feed nights on the deer carcass on the dam as I caught them on my trail camera sharing with a red fox. They do catch many frogs from the pond when the frogs are breeding near the shore.
The Artemis 11 Astronauts made it safely back to earth after their trip around to see the dark side of the moon. Going further from earth than others had ever gone and they had a hitch after splashing down as they could communicate with others from inside the space craft to tell them they were all right. Go all the way around the moon talking to people about what they were seeing and sending pictures back. Then they get down safely and can’t talk to anyone. Luckily, the sea wasn’t very rough as they remained in the spacecraft for what seemed an exceptionally long time. It was great to hear them back at Mission control talk about their experiences. I always wanted to explore unfamiliar places but only here on earth.
Other wildflowers and bushes have started to bloom but that’s another story. See ya.
Photo above: Brown Tree Creeper
