snow at 1 am

Its now December 11, 2010. I think it started snowing here around 10:30.

Just went outside a few mins ago and took  a quick measurement of 2inches of snow on the deck.
Cant wait to wake up in the morning and see how much we will have.

snowstorm? and XKCD gets weather radar

the weather folks are saying we might get a huge snow storm starting tonight and lasting into tomorrow evening. possibly dropping 1inch of snow per hour. And then possibly up to 40 mph gusts of wind.

Now the kid in me is excited. Then the "mature" adult in me is like.... this could be crappy.

I guess ill just wait and see what happens.

Ive been watching the radar, watching the beginings of some storm on the radar.

Anyone else who is like me and spends their time watching the weather radar should appreciate this comic from xkcd.com

TCAAP possible site for new Vikings Stadium

This evening when i was work a coworker of mine asked me if i had heard that the TCAAP or the Twin Cities Army Ammunitions Plant in Arden Hills was being looked at as a possible site for building a new Vikings stadium.

I had not. And I immediately had the need to make this possibility stop being one.

I have a few objections to the use of that site, not just for the Vikings stadium. but also for development of any kind.

1. The land should be kept as open as it can be for a place that our local wildlife can utilize. It would be nice if the abandoned buildings were torn down and the land was cleaned up. It is a designated Superfund Site. The land should be kept as wild as possible.

2. the 430 acres that is up for sale is along I35-W, but I know that I would still see it from my backyard. And it might not the be stadium itself i see, but I would be affected by light pollution and noise pollution. Which would also affect the wildlife in the area. I do not want my air to be polluted by anymore noise and light than it is already affected by.

3. We dont need a new stadium. It is unfortunate that sports teams seem to need entire new facilities to make them play better. We dont need to take anymore land and pour concrete over it.  Since the Vikings have been thinking about taking the fight for a new stadium out into the suburbs i have been against it. If they so badly need a new stadium, tear down the Metrodome, and rebuild on the existing site. Do not take more land to make a new stadium just to leave a massive empty building. Yes the Metrodome will continued to be used for local events (high school state tournaments and concerts etc.) But it will be used even less than it is being used now.

I understand this would "create" new jobs and bring in money to the local businesses in the area. I currently work at a restaurant that would gain from the building of the stadium at that location. But I can not say that economic growth for the area is greater than habitat growth for the area.

We need to really look at how we as a culture are utilizing space. We do not own this planet. We dont even rent this planet. We share this planet with trillions upon trillion of other organisms who are not subservient to us. Our "needs" do not supersede the needs of the other living things of this earth.

I am angry that I am not a resident of Arden Hills and that makes me feel that my voice will not be heard or taken into account because I live, literally, on the wrong side of the street.

Minnesota is a state that has always encouraged keeping wild areas wild. Yes the TCAAP is not "wild" but once it is cleaned up it could be returned to being a wild open space without paved trails and abandoned buildings.


I sincerely hope this does not happen. And if the Vikings leave Minnesota because we dont build them a new stadium, then so be it.

I will continue to stay on top of this situation. And I am willing to do as much as possible to stop the use of this land for something as pointless as a sports stadium.

Dec 1: Great Horned Owls

I was afraid that if i finally got around to posting today it would be focused on the lack of anything to post. But just in the last 10 mins, i stepped outside and immediately heard 2 owls hooting. I am fairly certain it was the hooting of Great Horned Owls. It only last for a min or two but its better then nothing. I had been waiting to hear owls at night since mid october.

There is still the problem of lack of updates. the usual suspects have been seen around. Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers, Chickadees, Blue Jays and Crows. The Grey Squirrels are always around, and at least 1 bunny around. There are two sets of tracks i havent been able to ID, i will upload photos later.
I am wondering what happened to our Red Squirrels. I haven't seen them in weeks, and haven't heard their agitated chirps in the area either. I guess they found someplace nicer to live.

Obviously its the work of aliens.

Its November, its cold. The marsh has freezed up then melted refreezed partially etc. The ice is not thick enough for anything bigger than a gull to be standing on it without breaking.

I just was outside and noticed a weird pattern of ice melting.

Sorry for quality i took them on an iphone. But the pattern looks similar to when someone shovels snow on ice. They are pretty straight lines. To my knowledge there are no pipes in the marsh in that area. My second thought is muskrat underwater tunnels. These were not there yesterday. The big area when the ice is melted was more open yesterday as well. It seems to have partially frozen over night.  And the far side of the marsh was completely open water yesterday and has frozen over night. My parents tell me that the marsh or "lake Martha" is fed by springs so that could be a cause for this as well.
Any better explanation would be welcomed.

First Snowfall

Well it has finally snowed. Saturday-sunday morning i guess we got around 9 inches or so. The weather is funny, the Wednesday prior it had been in the 60's. Tomorrow we are going to try to put the roses tobed since we had put it off last week due to the warm weather. Hopefully we will be able to save them. I would be surprised if they die from fungus/mold however.

Things have been quite around here. I spent 4 hours outside last night and I saw a bunny and a big fat opossum.
Friday I went for a walk in the area and saw a Great Horned Owl. I was walking along and wanted to go look at this big oak that had fallen over when i noticed a lot of white bird pooh on the ground and so i looked up and there was an owl, staring down at me with its big yellow eyes.  Ive been hoping to hear the owls hooting at night but so far i haven't heard anything. 

I took a walk in the same area i saw the owl just before sunset today, didnt see much of anything. Found turkey and deer tracks and fox tracks as well.


The camera is still giving me issues. so no pictures. Unless i decide to upload blurry pictures of the yard. Which i still might do.

November

Well its too bad i only had one post in October and November isnt looking so good for posts either. I am having issues with my camera. It isnt focusing very well at all. Its also been unusally quiet in the yard. Beyond squirrels and some birds i havent seen much of anything out there at all. Its been slow cleaning up the yard and now that its getting colder i am almost at the point where I just would rather wait to do clean up in the spring.
Hopefully I will get my act together and get this camera working more reliably.
Random fact about me, I really don't like it to be cold outside , ( anything below 60F) but I love snow, so I am looking forward to our first snowfall.

Its October

Well summer is over. I grew some awesome potatoes.

Yukon Golds

I made a Loofah! 

The trees changed color beautifully this year, unfortunatly i worked most of the time and when i did try to get pictures i discovered my camera lense was smuged and didnt have time to fix it. So here is a blurry picture of the leaves.

This past weekend (oct 15) I had some time between shifts and on my way home noticed a SUV parked in the grass on the south side of 96 so i had to investigate who would be out there.
I also wanted to find some tracks and scat and take pictures of whatever i would find in the area then i came upon this sign.

So that bumed me out, so i went and sat up on the railing overlooking the marsh area hope to see who was out there. Then i saw something move and figured it was one of the archers, but when i looked with my binoculars this is what i saw move.

I eventually talked to one of the archers, they said there were two bucks in the area a 10point and an 8 point. I dont know the difference. I also found out they were there to help control the deer population. 

Yesterday I noticed something big and white in the marsh behind my house. I thought it would be a swan but it turns out its 2 Pelicans. They are still sitting in the same spot right now. (Oct 18) I am assuming one is hurt or they just need a good rest.

I know the one sitting down isnt dead because I saw it move today.

VIDEO! Spotted Touch-Me-Nots

Here is a video of why a Spotted Touch-Me-Not is so named.

Spotted Touch-Me-Nots are native to North America and provide food for hummingbirds. They look very similar to Impatiens you can buy at the garden store early, so if you find them in your yard keep them! And you will have Hummingbirds visiting you in the late summer/fall for sure!

Veggies, scat, birds

Well sometime this past week I took some pictures of this scat.

Its much too big to be fox, racoon or deer, or pretty much any of the animals i have personally seen in the area. Last year we found similar sized scat a few times in the backyard and my dad thought it was bear scat, which i thought to be out of the question. Bears here? In the burbs? no way. Then sometime in the last few days I caught a short news story about a Black Bear sighting in North Oaks (which is the city/town just east of where i live). So it could be bear scat. The Bear that was sighted is pressumed to be 160lbs, the residents are worried and well the poor thing is mostly going to be shot if seen. Good luck little bear! I hoep you can outsmart the authorities long enough to find some safe area to den up for the winter. 

Here is some other scat i found that day, would be Fox or Raccoon. there is some kind of bone in it.

Today the Cedar Waxwings were enjoying the Juniper Berries.

Here are some of the veggies ive harvested. This was my first year trying parsnips and acorn squash and Yukon gold potatoes. i think i did a good job.

And the greatest surprise, OKRA!

I helped a Hummingbird

so i was in the yard watching the birds before the rain came in. And i was about to enjoy some coffee when i was visited by the chipmunk, since i am no longer going to give it peanuts i decided to go in the yard and collect acorns. I was over by a patch of spotted touch-me-nots when i heard the familier sound of a humingbird then i looked down and saw the hummingbird. it got its wing caught in some sort of catchweed. (not sure exactly what it is but i will find out)

So i gently held the hummingbird in one hand and slowly released its wing from the burs it was caught on and removed a few more that were stuck to its tail. The bird i know was very frightened, it peed in my hand, but didnt struggle while i was taking the burs out of its feathers. Then when i got all but 1 or 2 out it flew away. I am not sure if its ok, i can only asume that since it was able to fly away it will be ok.

Here is all the photo evidence i have of the ordeal. Its tiny feathers stuck in the burs, which are also stuck to the cuffs of the sweatshirt.

I didnt want to take photos of the poor thing struggling in the plant and getting more caught up. granted it would have been an interesting photo op but i just couldnt let the thing hurt itself while i went to get the camera.

it was an osprey

I had posted the picture of the unknown hawk on the wildlifegardeners.org forum asking for help with an ID and within an hour someone replied saying it was an Osprey. I still wasent sure so i e-mailed the Minnesota Raptor Center and sent them the image as well, they also said it was an Osprey.  Always exciting to see something new around!

This picture is of a very vibrantly colored leaf-hopper. This is only the second one colored this way i have seen this summer.

It was sitting on the Spotted Touch-me-nots.
And now that the spotted touch-me-nots are going to seed i have come to understand how they got their name. With the slightest of pressure put on a ready seed pod they will explode shooting the seeds out in all directions. I wanted to get video of it but it happens too fast for the camera.

Some pics and videos!

I hadent planned on being home this afternoon but had some time between shifts and i am sure glad i came home.

 The Broadwinged Hawk was in the yard.

The red squirrel got up the courage to let the hawk know how he felt.

Here is the Broadwinged Hawk showing itself off for me or basking in the sun...

 

Some kind of hawk and a Bald Eagle were chasing eachother (not the greatest video but i was taken by surprise) 

  

EDIT: ok first i was sure this was the hawk, then i thought it was the eagle, now i think its the hawk again sicne it has longer feathers on its wings.

Here is a screen capture of the hawk. might be more usefull in identifying. 

 

Looks like a Short-Tailed Hawk to me but it cant be one since they are only found in Florida. Must be some sort of Kite or something.

And here is video of an eagle about 30 mins later circling overhead 

and here's pretty pictures of the sky 

Spider

A few nights ago I went out on the deck and had the lights on. I noticed a moth flying around the light above some sort of funnel web spiders web. Then i turned around and I am glad I saw this guy.

EDIT:(08-24-10) With help from my sis-in-law and the amazing suunto  at wildlifegardeners.org I have discovered this is a Barn Spider most likely Neoscona crucifera. Its an orb weaver. Its very cool looking spider though.

Here is a feeder intruder.

This guy crawled into the "bee-proof" humming bird feeder. He was still alive, i let him out.But he wasent the last to find their way into the feeder.

Here is a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird and another yellow jacket/wasp who lost its life drowning in the feeder.

New Hawk! and other pictures

Well today I had quite the surprise, but unfortunatly i didnt great the greatest of photos, actually they are god awful.  A Goshawk was in my yard! The bird book i have (published sometime in the 1970's) says they hunt grouse, so i dont know why it is here, i have never seen a grouse.

It was exciting.


Now in the last post I had been complaining about not getting any pictures of hummingbirds, or seeing them, well i guess that old saying is true "ask and thou shall receive"  (These I actually took within the hour after the last post, so now i prefer to think " all you got to do is complain and..." )

 

 

 

 

Here is a Yellow Swallowtail Butterfly 

 

I guess the complaining works for Turkeys as well. 

 

The Chipmunk likes worms 

  

Grey Tree Frog 

This guy I tried to take photos of last summer, he sat on a leaf of the menarda for almost 3 days, but blended in so well the camera refused to focus. Today, i got 2 out of 15 attempts. 

Now for some deformed animals. 

first is this grey squirrel, it has some sort of growth on its right cheek area. It does look like it just has nuts stuffed in there, but it's been like that for the past 2 days (that i have seen it) 

 

Day 1

Day 2

I also discovered today where it lives, which is in the middle wood duck house at  the bottom of the hill.  

And Mr. Peter Rabbit, who is getting fat on my veggies, but also is helping weed my garden. 

The beet in that picture i pulled up only to find that half of it had been eaten, either by mr. peter rabbit or mice/voles, or both. 

Just adorable isnt he? 

now for his deformity. I think its an extra paw/leg but Im not sure. I didnt notice it till this past week. I thought it was just fur hanging like it had been attacked by a cat or hawk, but today i realized it looked more like an extra limb.  But maybe i am seeing something that isnt there.

August

August is my favorite and least favorite month. Its awesome because its my birthday month; it also sucks because it means summer is almost over.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird


This summer has been quite different in terms of wildlife than i remember last year. This year I have only seen 2 Hummingbirds, where last year on almost any given day i could see 5. Last summer I could sit out near the Menarda in the afternoon and 3 hummingbirds would be feeding on and off for a few hours. This year its maybe once a day that I catch a glimpse of a hummingbird in the yard.

Last summer we had a pair of turkeys nesting in the neighbors yard and i think 8 babies hatched. This year there is a lone female with one baby that forages in the area. I again have been unable to take a decent photo of them.

Something I know I shouldnt be at all sad not to find in the yard are Cabbage Moth caterpillars. I found maybe 4 at the begining of July; since then i havent found anymore.

A Broadwinged hawk has been enjoying the yard the past few days.

The only thing ive seen it catch was a toad.

I spent one evening outside with the lights on hoping to grab a picture of one of the flying squirrels but I found this moth instead.
I think it is a White-lined Sphinx Moth

Its pretty big, at least 2 inches long

Not sure what kind of moth or skipper or butterfly these are

Some sort of Three-lined Potato Beetle

Squirrel lounging in the shade on a hot day

Here is a better photo of a Spotted Touch-me-not (native)

This i am pretty sure is Evening Primrose (native)

This is velvet leaf, its an invasive non-native from India

Rose (Kashmire)

One last animal i havent seen any signs of are the deer. I havent found any deer scat in the yard or on the hill all summer.