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Wendi DeGrandpr
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| Posted: May 15 2006 at 6:12pm | IP Logged
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I am a little behind but we had our first Towhee this year as well!!! I had always heard people talk about them but had never seen one (except in a book). I was SO excited.
Also, I hate to keep posting about our bear but it is becoming a regular visitor and as "fun" as it is to see it I don't like the regularity. I have taken down all my bird feeders  and we let our dogs out at night only on leash. Last week our friend was back and I could not believe how huge it is. I measured the track length and span in the morning and it is the widest of the measurements given in my tracking book. The book also says they are from 200 to 600 pounds - I would not doubt it if this guy is around 500 pounds. I'll try to get a picture next time - I just haven't had the presence of mind late at night to run and find my camera. 
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God Bless,
Wendi
Mom to four blessings
"We can do no great things - only small things with great love." Blessed Mother Teresa
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Elizabeth
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| Posted: May 15 2006 at 6:40pm | IP Logged
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Well... not in my front yard. But yesterday, at a county park, in the middle of suburbia, a deer came bounding out of small stand of trees, across the soccer field and then lept over the players' bench. Can you imagine how those twelve-year-old boys felt when they saw the deer running at them full speed and then flying over them??? It was quite a sight.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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lilac hill
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| Posted: May 15 2006 at 7:17pm | IP Logged
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The oriole has returned and is nesting on our yard. I saw him gathering pieces of feed bags last week but lost him in the pines. This morning found the nest, tucked up in the branches of the cherry tree. This is our 4th year with a nest. I love watching that bag of a nest swallow the grown bird as it hops down in.
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Viv
Wife to Rick (7/83), Mom to dd#1(6/87), dd#2(1/90), and dd#3(6/94) in central PA.
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marihalojen
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| Posted: May 17 2006 at 2:38pm | IP Logged
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We had a return visit from a manatee, I'm sure he came back just so we could get better pictures! It's awfully hard to take photos through the water but this set you can actually tell it's a manatee doing cool manatee things like drinking, swimming on back, swimming on belly...
Also narration by Marianna and a funny poem - all on manatees - posted on our blog!
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~Jennifer
Mother to Mariannna, age 13
The Mari Hal-O-Jen
SSR = Sailing, Snorkling, Reading
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Dana in TX
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| Posted: May 17 2006 at 3:25pm | IP Logged
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Here in Brazoria County, TX, we are definitely at the tail end of bird migration. We've had an incredible year with warbler sightings in our yard! These past few mornings it has actually been cool and my son and I walk the property scanning the trees. This morning we did see a couple of Black-throated greens and a Magnolia warbler. I think the cool weather (<75) is keeping the stragglers straggling!
Our current treat, though, is the nesting pair of yellow-billed cuckoos discovered in a small oak tree. I had heard the distinctive call for the past week or so, but we did not realized there was a nest. Seeing the cuckoos is a first for us!JavaScript:AddSmileyIcon('%5BLOL%5D')
Our Eastern Screech owlets are growing well and should be testing the air soon. Three out of the four survived so far. The nest box is getting so crowded as they get bigger.JavaScript:AddSmileyIcon('%5B:s%5D') Momma owl is spending more an more time outside the box.
Can someone tell me how to add the photos to a post as some have done?
ddintx
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Dawn
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| Posted: May 18 2006 at 4:21am | IP Logged
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Dana in TX wrote:
| Can someone tell me how to add the photos to a post as some have done? |
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Dana, instead of linking to my blog, I've tried using the "add image" button but it doesn't seem to work for me.
Anyway, what wonderful nature everyone is sharing here! I feel like I hog this thread a bit but I just can't help myself.  My boys and I love to check this thread and read about what is going on in other people's yards ~ bugs, bears, deer, birds and a manatee. We love it! 
We had a few bird sightings yesterday: A Brown Thrasher, a robin on her nest, and we finally got a picture of the Baltimore oriole (better than the last one anyway)! I posted pictures at my blog of course. 
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys 
By Sun and Candlelight
The Nature Corner
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Dawn
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| Posted: May 19 2006 at 8:17am | IP Logged
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I think I may just have to stop looking in my yard, because sometimes I see things I wish I hadn't ...
For instance, we had some frantic moments yesterday saving a chipmunk from the clutches of a neighbor's cat. His tail was injured, but he survived. And then, sadly, I found one of our little red squirrels dead behind the fence. I haven't told the boys because they will be  .
Any advice for keeping a marauding cat out of your yard? I would never want to harm it, just scare it away. I love cats (I have 4 indoors of my own) but I wish my yard was less inviting. I suppose I could stop feeding the critters so as not to provide an all-day buffet, but I would hate to have to do that ...
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys
By Sun and Candlelight
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Rebecca
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| Posted: May 19 2006 at 8:29am | IP Logged
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Hi Dawn,
Try this.
Love,
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Dawn
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| Posted: May 19 2006 at 12:58pm | IP Logged
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Thanks, Rebecca! I forwarded the URL to my husband just now. He said anything's better than my original idea which was keeping a water-gun handy (not that I'd ever have the heart to use it! ).
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys
By Sun and Candlelight
The Nature Corner
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: May 19 2006 at 1:16pm | IP Logged
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I think I am going to have to have my cat de-clawed as a result of his ongoing killing spree. Nearly every day we find another dead animal-birds, mice, rats, squirrels, you name it. The last straw was when I found a dead cedar waxwing! It broke my heart! I have always been against de-clawing cats, but I don't know what else to do. I can't use the repellant because it is our own cat! And the water gun wouldn't work (and I would SO use it!) because he is outside almost all the time- a very active young cat.
Any other suggestions?
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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Dawn
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| Posted: May 19 2006 at 3:06pm | IP Logged
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lapazfarm wrote:
| I have always been against de-clawing cats, but I don't know what else to do. |
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What about a bell on a collar, to give the birds and squirrels etc. some warning? Only I wouldn't want to risk your Hobbes getting it caught on something and strangling himself, so maybe that's not a great idea after all. Hmmmm ...
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys
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marihalojen
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| Posted: May 19 2006 at 3:33pm | IP Logged
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Dawn, I know they make cat collars that are self breaking or stretching if a cat gets it caught on something.
Theresa, Depending on the state of the gifts your kitty is leaving you, have you considered freezing them to use as models for art/nature notebooks? My uncle and his wife are both bird sculptors and use frozen birds as models, Tasha Tudor does the same with birds and small animals. We used to keep all sorts of frozen birds in the freezer until he could pick them up. Our favorite was a hummingbird that had a heat stroke in the greenhouse, the detail was amazing and I never would have been able to see it any other way. They sure won't sit still long enough!
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~Jennifer
Mother to Mariannna, age 13
The Mari Hal-O-Jen
SSR = Sailing, Snorkling, Reading
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: May 19 2006 at 7:42pm | IP Logged
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Jennifer,
I actually thought of that with the cedar waxwing and a recent Robin. Both were in good shape. But it was just too sad for me (I have huge guilt over this cat). Plus the dc were so upset. We have to bury them and say our prayers over them and the whole 9 yards. The furry critters are usually in too bad shape when found.
Dawn, I like the idea of a bell! I hadn't thought of that. Of course it won't help the little baby Eastern Pewees in the nest in the barn I found him crouched over yesterday (luckily we caught him before he pounced), but it could help other animals.
Thanks for the ideas.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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marihalojen
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| Posted: May 19 2006 at 8:13pm | IP Logged
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Theresa,
I know it is such a delicate thing...but I thought the idea worth tossing out if it is appropriate for your family/age group. We seemed to grow up with it and it was so exciting to see the finished carving.
Okay - our freezer was really weird. Frozen birds, frozen insects and those are only two things I've mentioned on this forum!
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~Jennifer
Mother to Mariannna, age 13
The Mari Hal-O-Jen
SSR = Sailing, Snorkling, Reading
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MacBeth
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| Posted: May 19 2006 at 8:51pm | IP Logged
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If it were our house we'd:
Bell the cat.
Read the story about belling the cat.
Keep the skins for taxidermy.
It's not just domestic cats, either...at the Queens Zoo last fall, our group was horrifed to witness a warbler caught by a lynx.
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God Bless!
MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
Nature Study
MacBeth's Blog 
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stacykay
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| Posted: May 20 2006 at 8:20am | IP Logged
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Our backyard was cause for some excitement this past week. First was the baby bunny, who managed to hop away from its`mommy. We just quietly observed it- looked heathy- and he went back home. Next were the baby robins (three) who sat in the nest, with their little heads tilted back, beaks up, waiting for that next worm (of which there are many, given all the rain we have had!) And yesterday was the skunk   . The boys were going crazy , yelling and running from window to window, to watch its ambling and exploration of our very small yard. The squirrels who were chasing and playing took no notice of him.
(In the winter, we had a coyote.) Who would have thought the wildlife in a suburban backyard!
God Bless,
Stacy in MI
6 dss and dh of 21 years on the 25th!
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: May 20 2006 at 9:52am | IP Logged
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MacBeth wrote:
If it were our house we'd:
Bell the cat.
Read the story about belling the cat.
Keep the skins for taxidermy.
It's not just domestic cats, either...at the Queens Zoo last fall, our group was horrifed to witness a warbler caught by a lynx. |
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MacBeth,
Which story about belling the cat? I haven't heard of this one.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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MacBeth
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| Posted: May 20 2006 at 12:37pm | IP Logged
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It's one of Aesop's...mice, tired of being caught and fearful, decide to bell the cat...but in the end, not one mouse has the courage to do so.
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God Bless!
MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
Nature Study
MacBeth's Blog
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: May 20 2006 at 8:20pm | IP Logged
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Oh, Yea! Aesop! Duh! Thanks for the reminder!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
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Dawn
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| Posted: May 23 2006 at 4:53am | IP Logged
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In the midst of yet another failed spore print attempt yesterday we were pleasantly surprised to find a toad in the garden! (pictures here)
We don't know what kind he is ~ American maybe? He did secrete some wet stuff on our hands (which we washed off), and though he was very jumpy at first, after 20 minutes or so he relaxed and let us hold him! The boys were so excited! He was a very cool little fellow.
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Look what I just saw in my yard!
