Whitetail Buck

Week of 12/09/2012 Best days to dig holes.

The month of December has been very kind so far. I have certainly appreciated the mild weather, but I'll admit that I've been in the mood for a little of the white stuff lately. It got cold enough Tuesday night to put a thin layer of ice on the ponds, but it was gone in only a couple of days.

Mallard Ducks I'm still seeing a few wild mallard ducks in the valley. The drakes are so colorful this time of year. They wouldn't be here if there was no open water. There were ten ducks in the group I saw, and the drakes seemed to be a little aggressive toward each other.

Thursday morning I accomplished a chore I had planned to put off until spring: turning the compost pile. It's really not such a tough job, but it's kinda boring, so I usually put it off. But it was too nice a morning to be in the house, and I felt like getting something done. I took my time, forked for a while, then rested and looked around the valley to see what was going on.  Whitetail Buck  That's how I spotted some movement in the tall grass and shrubs at the edge of the woods about a hundred yards away. I crouched to pick up the camera and kept still while the buck moved slowly along with his nose to the ground. Occasionally, he would raise his head, prick his ears and flare his nostrils, casting for the scent trail left behind by does. He didn't see me, so I was able to watch him for about five minutes while he moved along the edge of the woods. Once he found the scent he was looking for, he was off at a steady trot up the valley. If I hadn't taken a break from forking, I probably would have missed him altogether. It's amazing how much he blended with the habitat.

Tufted Titmouse The forking job was done in an hour and a half, and I headed to the house feeling pretty proud of myself for being so diligent. I propped the screen door open to make it a little easier to carry in a couple of armloads of wood. As I climbed the steps with my second armload, I noticed a small bird inside the screened porch. The little tufted titmouse didn't seem to be able to find the open door where he'd come in and flew up against the screen a couple of times before I grabbed him and turned him loose outside. There are always small birds close to the house, and sometimes their curiosity gets the best of them. If I don't need the door to be opened for chores like carrying in wood, I'm careful to hook it shut so it doesn't blow open in the breeze. It's not the first time that a bird found its way into the screen porch, and it probably won't be the last.

Rusty Blackbird It's always fun to see a new bird at the feeders, especially in winter. Friday morning I saw what I thought was a blackbird picking up bits of cracked corn under the feeder. A closer look told me that the dark bird was not only a blackbird, but a pretty, rusty blackbird. It's been many years since I last saw a rusty blackbird here. They usually show up for a day or two in winter and then they are gone. They are about the same size as a red-winged blackbird. The bird I photographed is an adult male in winter plumage. He is jet black in summer and has a yellow eye, like a grackle, and his song sounds like a rusty hinge. Rusty blackbirds summer in northern Canada and winter in the Midwest and further south, all the way to the gulf. I've never gotten a decent photo of one of these blackbirds, and this one didn't stay around long. I was able to take only three quick pictures of him at abut 60 feet away. Only one of them was barely good enough to use. It's better than nothing, and who knows when I'll see another one. I'll surely keep my eyes open.

Snowy Evergreen The snow started coming down around seven Sunday morning. It was wet and heavy and clung to everything, turning the valley into a winter wonderland. By mid-afternoon, the snow tapered off, and I spent an hour shoveling the driveway and under the birdfeeders, as well as a path to the spring and another from the house to the shed. There were only three and a half inches of the white stuff, but it was heavy and stuck to the shovel. Earlier in the week I'd wished for a little snow. I guess I got what I wished for. It'll be fun to see what kind of tracks I'll find in the morning.  Snowfall  I remarked last week how much quieter the valley is in winter. The insulating snow has made it even quieter. The silence beckons me to search within and reflect on what winter really means to me.

Naturally yours,
Dan

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