It’s Spring

In our front flower bed there are several clumps of light blue crocus that, at our place on the hill, are the first flowers to bloom each spring  –

 

These crocus had been in my grandparents’ garden as long as I remember; more than 35 years ago we moved a few of  to our garden. There they’ve slowly multiplied and spread a bit so we now have several separate clumps. These crocus are apparently a heritage variety and they bloom earlier than any of the newer more colorful varieties that are commonly planted.

These early crocus were in bloom for a few days until the bright sunny day a bit over a week ago when the first bees of the year showed up to gather pollen.

There weren’t many bees for, although it was a sunny day, it was fairly cool and quite breezy. A few bees buzzed around the flowers, loaded up with pollen and then flew off. For a while they were all gone, then suddenly three or four reappeared to, once again, load up with pollen –

 

Again they disappeared for a while, then returned. That coming and going continued until the temperature began dropping toward the end of the day. But, each sunny day for the next few months they'll be back, not just for crocus pollen, but for pollen from whatever flowers are in bloom.

Look What the Camera Traps Caught

For more than a decade my camera traps have been capturing photos and videos of birds and mammals, and once in a while even insects.

During all that time they’ve occasionally caught the most abundant large mammal in Pennsylvania, it’s allegedly the most intelligent mammal on earth – although recently there have been times that it seems to me that their intelligence has been grossly over-rated. They’re active in the forest year-round, although their activity seems to be minimal in winter which leads to the conclusion that many are adverse to cold weather.

These mammals are seen in many sizes and shapes, apparently they grow throughout life in the manner of trees, first taller and then larger in diameter.

Fortunately, in all the years my camera traps have been out in forest and field only one has been taken and none have been damaged by these large mammals. Some of the mammals noticed the camera traps, some didn’t, some were on public land, some were trespassing (especially the one in the first clip who wasn’t just trespassing but fishing out of season). It’s interesting to see the reactions that noticing the camera traps generate, but many passed by without seeing them.

One More Time

Hopefully you’re not getting tired of seeing photos of short-eared owls because I’m not getting tired of photographing them.

It was snowing lightly when I left the house and headed for the hill where the short-eared owls and harriers fly in search of meadow voles, or white-footed mice, or perhaps a small bird upon which to feed.

By the time I got to the hill the owls were already flying and there were a few snowflakes in the air. They were joined by four harriers that would sometimes disappear over the hill and then come back to fly swiftly over the fields.

It was hard to tell, but there appeared to be from three to five owls flying on the hill that evening. Several times an owl flew over with its beak open as it called –

Along the road are steel stakes, marking culvert locations, on which the owls often land as well as a square wooden stake out in the field where they do the same – 

 

But usually the owls were busy hunting for a meal –

Normally they hunted while they were flying, but occasionally they hunted from one of the posts –

Short-eared owls head north to their nesting areas in March, so they’ll soon be gone until late fall when I plan to be back on the hill awaiting their arrival.

March Winds Do Blow and We Shall Have Snows

It was the first week of March when H and I were driving south through an area of extensive fields, scattered woodlots and a few farmsteads. In a field of corn stubble a flock of thousands of snow geese caught our eye(s). It wasn’t the 105,000 snow geese at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area described in this post from five years ago – but there were probably 5,000 birds.

The geese fed avidly on whatever corn or green plants they could find in the field.

Scattered throughout the flock were a few blue morph birds. Years ago these blueish birds were considered a separate species (the blue goose), but are now believed to be just a color phase.

All the while some birds took flight to land elsewhere in the field, others flew in at a fairly high elevation and then spiraled down to land in the field.

These snow geese are in the process of migrating, which is how the birds spend half of their lives. Winter is spent along the Atlantic coast from New England to South Carolina, summers in Greenland or the Canadian Arctic.

The eastern population follows narrow migration corridors and has a handful of favored stopovers to rest and feed – Middle Creek, the northern end of New York’s Finger Lakes, Vermont’s Dead Creek and the St. Lawrence River in Quebec.

We enjoyed watching and listening to the flock as did a few other people who drove past.

And then they were gone, even the few stragglers

The next morning I returned to see if the birds had settled down on a nearby lake or if another another large flock had arrived – no such luck.

All I could locate was a small flock of 100-150 snow geese feeding in another field of corn stubble –

This flock also took flight headed north. Since we seldom see them in the fall during their southbound migration, we’ll have to wait until next spring to see snow geese again.

Wintertime Close-ups

On a cold, gray winter morning with the feel of snow in the air I walked in the Big Woods. For those of us who enjoy taking photographs of small things like insects and flowers, winter doesn’t offer many opportunities.

I take pleasure in making what are called macro photos and close-ups so, in spite of the season, there I was, camera in hand, on the search for small things.

The first opportunity the day presented was a fallen tree with beetle galleries that had been exposed when the tree lost its bark –

Then there were leaves frozen in ice: first a beech, then a maple leaf –

In a small stream running water and ice made intriguing abstract patterns –

And then there were the puddles in the old road and the air bubbles trapped in the puddles’ ice –

The day’s final photo was of an old larch cone upon which grew at least two species of lichen –

There were a lot more small things to photograph, but lunch in the form of a bowl of warm soup beckoned. Snow was beginning to fall as I headed out of the Big Woods.

There’s always something to see in forest and field, even on a bleak day in mid-winter.