Birds in the Snow

First photo isn't of birds, but it is the feeder! This made me laugh. The squirrels knocked off the lid to the feeder and yet didn't discover it. Not even when there were two squirrels hanging on the squirrel baffler. It isn't supposed to be squirrel proof, just annoying enough so the squirrel need to work at it. Anyway, this day there were 5 of the critters in the lilac, waiting for seeds!!! We were really hoping one would crawl in, but it is probably best. Can't imagine trying to empty a bird feeder of an irate fat squirrel. 

Eventually, the fluffy tailed rodents left and the birds got their chance. I was inside taking photos, the porch had too much snow on it to hang around out there til birds were used to me. These are not near as curious as the ones in North Kenai. They are mostly gold finches, red finches, a few sparrows, and assorted juncos. Haven't seen a chickadee in years! 

This picture made me laugh, too. The little fairy figure is next to a cement border near daffodils. She's in the ground so her 'toes' touch the earth. At the moment, she's waist deep in the snow. By Monday, her head was covered. She eventually was unearthed when I assume a squirrel fell off the tube feeder into the deep soft snow. Later, when I looked, there was a hole in the snow near her and she was uncovered to about where she is now. I've a photo somewhere of a squirrel eating in the hole and will post it later. 

It has been a splendid moment in winter. Thankfully, the birds are still visiting and you can see the goldfinches are starting to get their summer feathers. Next year, I hope to participate in the 25th annual winter bird count. Right now, we'll just keep them fed and happy. 

Frost and Varmints!

Some frost photos, but mostly just varmints, followed by Mittens! 

A spider does not belong inside, outside is the better place. There, they can create webs Jack Frost might decorate! 

Steve has had a heck of a time with the squirrels around here. Talking to others who have had up lights, he's not the only one who has furry tailed creatures who enjoy gnawing on electrical items visit at this time of year! 

More hoarfrost. 

After another set of lights was in need of mending, Jon decided to see if he could catch one of the creatures. He did and the squirrel went crazy! It was obvious the rodent had not heard that sticking a wet nose/tongue/whatever to cold metal is bad. Jon released him with a bloodied nose it kept bashing on the wires! 

A hopefully wiser squirrel when it comes to live traps and Christmas lights! 

Later, Steve and Moses startled an opossum on the front porch and Jon thought he saw it out near the rabbits. So, he once more set up the live trap and this guy was caught. Here it is hissing and growling at the wary photographer! Jon and Steve took it up near the ranch to release it. Jon has some fairly good photos, but they hadn't made it to my area before this posting! It seems opossum don't live long in the wild-they have a much longer life as house pets- only about two years. So, we anticipate something may have gotten an early Christmas dinner last week. NOTE: Possum live in Australia and other places, while an Opossum lives in North America. 

The squirrel may be leaving the lights alone, but they are gallant acrobats when it comes to the bird feeders. Steve had only filled the ones on the pole, thinking they may not be able to get to them. NOT. They leap and climb to reach the goodies! Before the Opossum was captured, the suet feeder went missing and was found empty under a pear tree. We thought it was the white varmint, it was probably squirrels! Jon put a latch on the chain so it cannot be slipped off. 

One of them figured out how to hang by his toes. Another one had no idea and kept sliding off the long feeder to the ground!! 

Two different sorts of balancing acts!!!!! 

As annoying as these brushtails are, they are entirely entertaining. Even Mittens likes to watch them.

Last week of July 2020 in the north-

Sunday, July 26 was lovely. You could tell people were visiting the inlet by the trash I picked up. I didn't pick up as much as I could have, but I picked up a bag full. 

 I enjoy seeing the fun shapes in driftwood and stuff tossed up on shore. I found a log that looked quite a bit like a pug, but none of the photos I took showed what I saw!

 It was so incredibly warm, littles were playing in the water. That doesn't happen all that often on the inlet. Especially during fishing season. The man on shore was seeking halibut and I saw quite a few salmon splashing around and being caught on the nets set out.

 I'm not sure, but it looks almost like there is more snow than there was a few weeks ago. I'm not entirely surprised. We've had a lot of rain on this side of the inlet, so I can imagine it wasn't just rain over there!

 This is the moose that swam the lake. When I saw it, I wondered what the neighbor's dog was doing. Then, I realised it wasn't a dog and just a moose in neck deep water. It was moose paddling super fast, so my 2 photos were terribly blurred.

 This lovely Green Comma Butterfly landed on me for a second as I left the house on Monday. It overwinters as an adult and is considered uncommon, probably cuz it is hard to see and fast. It has green spots on it, somewhere...

 Our fireweed is blooming fast, it is more than halfway to the top this week.

The hilarious squirrel I watched. After it extracted all the seeds it could from this feeder, it opted for a mushroom entree. I'm anticipating it had a nap when it finished it's meal! 

 I didn't take many photos of the chickadees who visited me. They weren't fond of the shutter movements. I really wanted to try to take one of the bird on my shoulder (and yes, I hummed Zippity do dah!!). The lady grosbeak wasn't near me long enough, but she'd not have stuck around for a picture, anyway!

 I love how friendly the birds are here. Today it has been raining, or I'd go out and see who I could attract. The neighbors' are also shooting and there isn't much nearby! The little wings on the golden eye are  much too tiny still, but they can still run across the water when necessary! They scampered from the middle of the lake to the weeds on this side, lickety split!

first weekend in July

Many of these are from July 2. I didn't share them on Tony's birthday, because I had the other one to post. :o)

The three baby golden eye. I absolutely love these little guys. I do hope they live to grow up, but odds aren't good. I've never seen a golden eye duckling survive to fly off in the fall. Which makes me wonder why they aren't endangered if a family of 10 or so can't survive on a small lake full of many other ducklings. This year there aren't very many on the lake. A handful of mallards and these three. 

 Sunset on Tony's birthday. Well, technically, it was 1246 am, so it was the third already!

 This was a fun find. I was inside on the third and heard the oddest noise. I can't even describe it! When I looked around, I spied a bird. I took several photos cuz I wasn't sure when it would take off.

 The camouflage is impressive on these spruce hen! But, she was perched on a dead tree bit keeping an eye out for little ones. I startled one of them and it flew up into a tree. It was much harder to photograph!!

 This lovely one was easy to take pictures of. She was munching away in the sunshine of the fourth!

 Everyone was out and about this stunning warm day. I think they were taking advantage of the nice, because by dinner time, the sky was overcast and it was starting to get chilly again.

 This is the squirrel who climbs into the feeder. I have seen it jump from the feeder, but not get into it. It is a tiny thing and is seen here 'at rest'. Any time I go to the window, it is nervous, so I was lucky to get this picture!

The last few days have been overcast and windy, although, it is calmer now as I type at 1030 pm. I'ev not been down to the inlet yet. I was told there is smoke often obscuring the mountains. Smoke from forest fires in Russia! I know it made the Buck Moon bright orange when it was on the horizon on the fourth. At the moment, there is a smidge of blue sky among the clouds. It might be a beautiful sunset, I'll just have to keep an eye on the sky!

Steve and Jon went up to the ranch on the fourth and cut wood. They also listened to a LOT of fireworks in town and watched a bunch from grandma's. There was a great deal of noise here, probably mortars. The moon, as I said, was bright, but very low and I didn't want to go out at 230 to see if I could shoot it. I was sleepy and the skeeters are fierce this year!