Lots of snow, and some deer

Well its still snowing, and im loving it. We got somewhere between 5-12inches (i knows its not very exact but i forgot to go out and measure before i started shoveling). Theres still more snow on the way which is neat. Talk about a super white christmas this year.

So last night, well actually very early this morning around 230-300am me and a few friends decided to go sledding down the hill at the back of my yard. We got out there and i looked over in the neighbors yard and we saw 6 white tail deer. What was amazing is that they stayed and watched us sled for about 30 mins before moving on. I bet they think we are silly creatures going up and down the hill at that hour. It was great fun and was very nice to see the deer out and about. I hadent seen them in a week or more.

I would be taking pictures of all the snow but my parents took the digital camera with them on their trip to Texas. All i have is a old 35mm film camera and probably no film. Maybe if i decide to go out and about again today ill pick some up and post pictures when i can get it developed.

Short-Tailed Weasel

Monday afternoon I saw a Short-tailed Weasel down at the bottom of the hill. I didn't get a picture i didn't bring the camera with me. So im going to try to find it again and get one over the weekend hopefully.

There was also some sort of hawk flying around the neighborhood monday, im not sure what kind of hawk it was because it was being chased around by crows. It did call out when being dive bombed by the crows and it sounded like a eagle but im sure it wasn't an eagle.

Its starting to snow a little bit and we have a huge storm on its way. I'm kinda of excited only because i dont plan on leaving the house in the next few days and plus shoveling would be some good exercise.

Squirrels

Well all the grey squirrels are pretty active today. All of them seem to be focused on the same task, collect as many leaves to line their nests. I wonder if that means we are going to get alot of snow. Theres something headed this way on the radar.



(gif from noaa.gov)

Anyway the squirrels are always fun to watch, its just too bad i cant be outside and watch them, they have become very unsure of me now that its been cold out. In the summer they didnt mind me standing on the deck, now they climb up into their nest and watch me. They also didnt mind me walking through the yard, they would just stay on the other side of the flower beds, now they run off to the neighbors yard or up in the trees. Makes me sad, but i understand they are focused on survival and now isnt the time to risk anything.

Great Horned Owl

So about 30 mins ago I went out on my back deck for a smoke and saw an owl fly from one of the trees nearest to my deck to a tree in my neighbors yard, i guess i surprised it. So i grabbed my binoculars and tried to locate its shape amongst the branches, which didn't work out i couldn't find it. But i did hear it hooting. So after 10 or so mins listening to its call i came in to look online for what kind of owl it could be based on the call i heard. Well it seems it was a Great Horned Owl making a pair call. Pretty neat though! i wish i could have gotten a good look at it. It would of been super awesome to get a picture of it but its too dark out.


Here's a link to a page with great horned owl info and calls.
http://www.owlpages.com/owls.php?genus=Bubo&species=virginianus

Bald Eagle

About 20 mins ago i was driving north on Lexington Ave (that runs along the ammunitions plant) and saw a Bald Eagle fly low over head. Its always great to see them around. Back in high school i was always amazed to see them up in Grand Rapids on Lake Pokegema, but its very cool they are down here in the burbs.

We got about 3 inches of snow last night. The temp is back into the low teens and tomorrow we are only supposed to have a high of 5F.

Bird Sightings and Whistling Swans

The last 2 weeks i had seen 2 swans flying over headed in the direction of the ammunitions plant (flying from the south east to the west-north-west). I'm fairly certain they are Whistling swans because the only black i could see on them was their beaks. Today i just happened to be looking out the back door to the deck and saw a flock of about 12 swans flying in the same direction. Maybe one of these days i will be able to get a photo of them.

Other birds seen in the yard today:
-A flock of about 30 American Robins - eating berrys on various trees
-Chickadees - too many to count
- Blue Jay
- Female Cardinal
- White Breasted Nuthatch - 4
- 2 American Goldfinch - i hope more return i usually see groups of 5-10 on the thistle feeders
- Downy woodpecker
- Red Bellied Woodpecker
- Common Flicker
- Crows (unsure which kind)5

The temp today has been around 15F so compared to the last few days of snow and single digits the animals have been a bit more active.

I also went for a short walk down along the marsh to see what tracks i could find. It seems the squirrels and mice are the most active animals. Maybe 1 or 2 sets of rabbit tracks. There were no deer tacks that i could see so im assuming they are waiting for it to get a bit warmer before venturing out very far.

Bitter Cold

After the snow storm i was excited to utilize the snow to my advantage and find some nice tracks of animals. But its so cold outside i cant stand to be out for more than a few mins even fully bundled up. Makes me feel for the animals who live with central heating.

The thermometer in my yard says its 1F outside. The highest i saw it get was 7F today.

Nocturnal Critters

The warm(ish) summer nights kept me outside long enough to get to know some of the habits of the nocturnal animals that hang out in the area. There were a few bats that came out to feed each night i believe i only saw a total of 4 at any one time feeding in the same area. I couldn't take pictures of them because digital cameras cant deal with low light situations, which will be obvious in the few pictures i do have of nocturnal animals.

In the middle of the summer i was relaxing outside at dusk and was surprised to see 2 Grey foxes feeding on the plums. Of course that night i didn't have my camera and didn't get a picture. So the every night for the rest of the summer if i wasn't at work i would sit and wait for them to return camera ready in hand.


The first week the only animal i was greeted by and able to take a picture was this opossum who snuck up on me but acted like i snuck up on him when i took his picture. It snorted at me and then ran off. He was one of maybe 3 or 4 opossums i saw this summer in the yard. They also enjoyed eating the fallen plums.

Finally a week and a half later i got my chance to take blurry horribly lite photos of the fox.





yes i realize this is a horrible photo. But if you look closely enough you can see the silhouette of the fox in full sprint.

Location

I am on Martha Lake (its more of a marsh) in Shoreview, MN. Here are some photos of my yard from spring 09 to October 12 2009 when we had our 2nd snow of the season. This way i can give an idea of the overall habitat of my yard and to show off the garden.


a view of the lake and the begining of my vegetables.


the plum trees in bloom





Mid summer



Oct 12 the 2nd snowfall

Broadwinged Hawk

One morning this past summer i was abruptly woken up by some loud squawking coming from outside. There was the obvious alarm calls from the squirrels and other small birds but there was also loud squawking from a hawk. I was very excited to see 2 broadwinged hawks perched on an old birdhouse and some tree limbs at the very back of the yard. Unfortunately i didn't have my camera ready that day and didn't get any pictures of the pair hunting for voles together but my father did take a few pictures a week or two later of one of the pair while it was in the yard.
I am unsure which is the male and which is the female, and now that i look at these photos again i am unsure if they are both broadwinged hawks. Oh well, they are great looking birds.

Wild Turkeys

This past summer a pair of wild turkeys built a nest in our neighbors yard and hatched 7 chicks. They spent a good amount of time foraging between yards and even used our deck as a perch for some flight training.

This picture was taken at the end of July 2009.

The turkeys have been seen less frequently since mid September. During the summer i would see them daily but in September the city of Shoreview came in and mowed down/ ripped to shreds a major portion of the hill behind my yard. The vegetation and trees were getting too close to the power lines and instead of just trimming things back they decimated the hill. It went from having trees and grass to being left as a mess of dirt and wood chips. Unfortunately this was near the area of the nest and im sure is the reason for their moving.

First Post

In the last year i have moved back in with my parents in the house i spent most of my childhood growing up in. The one thing that has kept me somewhat sane is that my backyard is full of wild animals and i can spend hours just sitting outside watching the activity.

I intend to post pictures in this blog to try and better document the animal life i see.


Here is a short list of animals that are regular visitors in my yard and when they have been seen:

1. Grey Squirrel - (all year)
2. Red Squirrels - (all year)
3. Chipmonks (minnesota gopher)- (all year)
4. White Tailed Deer- (all year)
5. Wild Turkeys - (all year)
6. Opossum - (spring/summer)
7. Northern Flying Squirrel - (all year)
8. Cotton Tail Rabbits - (all year)
9. Grey Fox - (summer)
10. Red Fox - (fall)
11. Pileated Woodpeckers - (all year)
12. Common Flicker - (fall/winter)
13. Northern Hawk-Owl- (spring/summer)
14. Broadwinged Hawk - (spring/summer)
15. Bald Eagle - (spring/summer/fall and as recently as Novemeber 24th 2009)

There's a good starter list of what unexpected visitors i have seen in my backyard.