Tuesday, October 6, 2009

A Finished Project & Miscellaneous Photos

Here in Minnesota it's gone from being a dry and summery September to November-like weather--been rainy and chilly here for almost a week now. Somehow, autumn and October just missed us altogether and our weekend forecast is sounding like December with lows in the 20's and snow showers predicted! Oh well, I'm planning to take advantage of a couple sunny days predicted for tomorrow and Thursday and get my lawn mowed for the last time and whatever other outside chores I can accomplish during the small sunny window of opportunity.

As usual, I've been knitting like a fiend while hanging out indoors the last few days and I finally finished this Montavilla Market Tote (a free pattern from KnitPicks--click on this link and scroll down the right hand side where you'll see the title "100+ free patterns") This is a long overdue birthday present and hopefully I'll be able to get it washed and dried tomorrow, so I can ship it to the recipient before her next birthday rolls around!

I have no other blog-worthy items to report, so I'll share a few pictures with you in this post. I thought this was a cute picture of the Downy Woodpecker waiting for the Hairy Woodpecker to vacate the suet log, and it's another good size comparison for these woodies too.

I helped with birdbanding at Quarry Hill Nature Center again last Sunday. Here's the White-Throated Sparrow I was able to get out of the net. This is Glenna's hand holding the bird and after she banded it, she allowed me to release it again. They're really pretty little sparrows and I'm starting to hear quite a few of them in my backyard and out in the deer hunting woods right now too.

And speaking of deer hunting, we were out again last Sunday, but no deer seen. I'm sure the weather change this weekend will bring a change in the deer habits too. And of course, once it freezes hard, there will be a lot less vegetation to deal with in the woods which always makes hearing and seeing deer much easier.

Here are a couple pictures from one of the trail cameras we had out there. These pictures are always my favorite! The deer are so inquisitive and this camera was located on a tree right next to one of their trails. It doesn't make any noise, but there's a fabric webbing that attaches the camera to the tree and I'm sure she was checking out my scent on that webbing.

Here's a cute little guy venturing out on his own (click on the picture to enlarge it and you'll see his little antler "bumps"). Doesn't he have the sweetest face? I don't think his spots have been gone for very long. There weren't any other pictures of deer just before or after this little one, so I hope he finds some other young deer to hang around with for the winter.

Oh and before I end this post, I want to mention that last hummingbird in my post from October 2nd, really WAS the last hummingbird......I haven't seen any since, but I'm planning to leave the nectar feeders up until our predicted hard freeze on Saturday night.



10 comments:

Gaelyn said...

I love your knitted tote and sure your friend will too. I never give birthday gifts on time.

How cool to have the camera in a tree to catch those candid deer shots.

No hummers left here. Nights are below freezing.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

It is funny that the deer came right up to the camera. It proves that they are very sensitive to their environment. Your knitting project is nice. I am sure your friend will like it. I think it would be great fun to help band birds. We got to watch a banding process one time. It is interesting.

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

HA! Love that one doe eye peeking at the camera. IT's so neat that you get to help with banding. I always feel that it's sucha an honor to hold a wild little creature in one's hands.

Mama Pea said...

Beautiful knitting job on that tote bag, Ruthie. Color is gorgeous, too.

Loved the picture of the little buck. He looks too young to be on his own.

We've been banding birds, too. But the ones we've done are our new pullets from this year. We have to identify them to make sure they aren't mistaken for the older hens who are due to end up in the stewing pot!

Jayne said...

Love the photo of the woodpeckers. You really CAN see the size difference there. I don't think I've ever had a Hairy at my feeders. I'd sometimes like to think I've seen one, but when I see that size difference, I know I haven't! :c) Have a beautiful day Ruthie.

RuthieJ said...

Thanks Gaelyn. It's always fun to see what kind of surprise pictures are on the trail camera. Stay warm!

Hi Lisa,
The trail camera was on a pretty small tree and right at the deer's eye level. I'm sure she's on the trail often enough to notice something odd there. Quarry Hill does a bird banding program the first Sunday of every month and I can count the hours I'm there towards my volunteer master naturalist requirements (plus it's fun!)

Hi Lynne,
They do Saw Whet owl banding thru Quarry Hill also and I'm looking forward to participating with that this fall too.

Thanks Mama Pea.
Hopefully that little buck was just out exploring on his own while Mama was napping.....

Thanks Jayne. There are only a few Hairys in my backyard and I usually hear them before I see them. They're really skittery and I was lucky to get this picture.

troutbirder said...

Catching up to find you busy and doing interesting things as always. Bad timing on the weather as I have three weeks of outdoor stuff to take care of now. Oh well...

Anonymous said...

Love the close-up of the deer, Hi there. You never know what you will get on a trail cam,pretty cool!

MOM

RuthieJ said...

Hi TB,
I was wondering where you'd been. Glad you had a good trip. I've got a huge list of stuff to get done in October to, and hopefully there will be enough nice days to accomplish everything.

Hi Mom,
No coyotes on the trail cams yet this year, just deer and turkeys, but these pics I posted were two of the best recently.

Birdsong said...

The trail camera must be fun to peek in on... love the photo of the woodpecker. At least cold weather leads to more knitting time....