Horoscope Humor

The newspaper carrier stuck a paper in our box yesterday afternoon, but since our subscription expired a couple months ago, we didn't notice it till today when we went to the mailbox to pick up the mail. Rick always like to read his horoscope and he came upstairs and said, "listen to my horoscope for today: You'd like to be gentle and kind, but at certain points of the day, you'll sense that what's most called for is the drill dergeant in you. You're right. The direct order from you starts business rolling."

I said, "you're making that up!" "No, really," he said throwing the paper at me. Now the background of this is that at work I call him "The Sheriff." He has a bunch of slackers working in receiving and on the loading dock for him, so he's constantly hounding those people to keep moving and get those trucks unloaded and production inventory received. He meets me for lunch and in about 23 minutes, he's gobbled all his food and is taking off to get back to work again (usually while looking at me and tapping his watch...) I'm glad I don't have to work for him because he IS a drill sergeant! However, the work gets done and usually with very few errors.

After I finished reading his horoscope, I read mine which was even funnier than Rick's: "At a very core level, everyone is strange. So stop trying to hide your feelings, and share them instead. You're likely to come up with a unique, artistic expression."

Isn't that a scream? How did that horoscope writer know I was strange?? At least I don't have to hide it anymore.

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Remember in yesterday's post I was complaining because I hadn't seen a Hairy Woodpecker to count in my FeederWatch tally? Well, look who just happened to show up this afternoon shortly after I got home from work.....

I've seen Mrs. Hairy a couple times in the yard this fall, but today I was fortunate enough to see Mr. Hairy at the suet feeder closest to the house, and he stayed around long enough for me to get several pretty good pictures. Woo-Hoo!

Isn't he a handsome fellow? His white feathers are so bright and clean looking--not at all like the poor, worn-out feathers they usually wear at the end of the summer after working hard to feed and care for their new family.

Project FeederWatch Begins

Since I was busy deer hunting and away from the house for most of the weekend, I wasn't able to start my Project FeederWatch tally sheet until today. I went into work extra early, so I could be home by 9:00 as the chimney repair guys were finally coming today to fix our damaged chimney so we can start using the fireplace again. But that's a whole 'nother story.....

Anyway, I had an enjoyable day sitting and knitting by the window while watching and tallying my feathered backyard visitors. It was a good first day....some of the more outstanding birds I was able to tally were: Sharp-Shinned Hawk, American Robin, and 11 Cedar Waxwings! I was happy that the Tufted Titmice and Pine Siskins are still visiting my birdfeeders and I was able to count them also. I got to tally a Red-Bellied Woodpecker, but no Hairy Woodpecker (which I saw for a few minutes on Saturday while I was home for lunch).

Here are a few pictures of my little feathered visitors (taken from the dining room window):

Tufted Titmouse (with a sunflower seed)

Another Tufted Titmouse at the birdbath (it seems that I just can't get enough of these little guys....so adorable)

The Chickadee came to snack on some mealworms

This little American Goldfinch decided to try something other than Nyjer seed

The Red-Breasted Nuthatch always brings a smile to my face too

Here's a little Junco with a really long white tail feather....looked pretty odd. It should be easy to spot this little guy if he decides to hang around all winter.

My Furry Children & A Woodpecker

I never post many pictures of my hounds because Sophie (the light colored pup) is a'feared of the camera. I got these pictures last week while they were outside in the yard--I think there were enough distractions for her and she didn't notice I had the camera on her....

.....until this picture when she was coming towards me (notice the ducked head and turned-back ears? she's such a baby!)

This is our old girl, Daisy. She still hasn't gained back much weight since her dental surgery a few weeks ago. I would like to see her gain a few more pounds, but she's doing pretty good for a dog who's 14 and a half years old.

Something especially fragrant here....maybe from a squirrel??

Here's another benefit of window feeders for birds.....entertainment for your indoor cat. These feeders work especially well in the dining room bay window, because there's a nice big spot (usually sunny) for Penny to park her furry girth and wait for birds to show up.

This is the feeder where I put mealworms for the chickadee. The chickadees perch in the crabapple tree right outside and fly down to pick up a worm. They're pretty quick, but still apprehensive about flying down to the feeder when Penny's sitting in the window.

Isn't this a funny picture? What intensity! Penny could see the chickadee out on the branch and whenever it would try to fly to the feeder, she would pop up from the crouch and, of course, scare the chickadee away.

This is the tray where the bluejays pick up their peanuts. They're a little braver than the chickadee, maybe because they don't have to come as close to the window to grab a peanut as the chickadee does for a worm.

Eventually Penny gets tired of this game and curls up in her chair for a nap and the birdies are able to fly over and get their special treats. I have another feeder farther over on the window, but just filled it up yesterday and Penny hasn't yet spotted the house finches coming to that one.

And did you know woodpeckers like corn on the cob? I have this corn hanging out for the bluejays, but this little downy has decided to take advantage of it also.

An Unusual Birdie

Since I wasn't out hunting this past weekend, I had some time in the mornings for my favorite activity: sitting in the dining room window with a cup of coffee and my knitting and watching birds. Before I even got settled in on Sunday morning, I noticed this unusual looking little birdie in the little oak tree in the backyard.

Hmmmm, what could it be? I asked myself. Pretty cute and kinda looks like an odd little canary....

It was hangin' with some goldfinches.

The pictures didn't turn out the best (taken through the window in low light at around 6:45 am), but being a naturally curious person, I decided to seek the advice of some experts. I sent a short e-mail query (with the photos attached) to a few of my local birding experts and also the "Science Chimp." And lo, and behold, within the hour I had the following response from our dear Science Chimp:

"Just a leucistic American goldfinch. The melanin is lacking on the head, allowing the underlying yellow to show through. Leucism is pretty common in these birds. But very pretty!"

Isn't she great? I didn't think the bird was rare, but wondered if it was maybe a caged bird that had been released or if it was just some sort of feather anomaly. I was lucky to see this little bird and catch a few photographs, because in less than 10 minutes it flew away and I haven't seen it since.

Thanks Julie, for helping solve the mystery of this unusual looking little birdie.

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I'm not sure if anyone has noticed or not, but I've added a link to upcoming birding festivals on my sidebar. Some of these are festivals I hope to attend and right now they're all in the midwest area. As more festival information is announced for 2008, I'll surely be adding some links. Barring any unforeseen events, I'm currently planning to attend the Sax Zim Bog Festival in February, and I'm thinking really seriously about the Great Plains Sandhill Crane & Bluebird Festival in Nebraska in March too.

C'mer Deer!

So, I think I've got this deer hunting thing all wrong.....instead of getting up early, driving to the hunting spot, walking almost a mile to get to my stand, climbing a tree and then struggling to stay awake with amusing glove retrieval exercises....I could have just bought a trampoline for my backyard and the deer would come to me. I could even shoot from the patio door in my pajamas!

Someone at work sent me this picture today and I couldn't resist posting it on my blog.

HomeBirds

Did you see Jayne's picture of the Tufted Titmouse she posted on her blog the other day?

Well, look what I saw outside my window today!!

I did actually see two, but was only quick enough to snap this single poor photo. I haven't seen a Tufted Titmouse in my yard for 2 years.

Since I didn't go deer hunting, I was home almost the entire day. I was amazed at all the bird activity going on out at the birdfeeders. I put clean water in all the birdbaths too and they really liked that!

I also saw this white-breasted nuthatch on the suet log hanging from my deck.

I finished washing the dining room windows and put out the small window feeder that I used for feeding mealworms to the chickadees last winter. It took the chickadee less than 1 hour to arrive for worms. I wonder if this was the same chickadee who visited last year? Or did it just happen to notice the worms in the dish from its perch in the nearby crabapple tree?

I love to watch the chickadees take these worms. Sometimes they try to get 2 or 3 worms into that tiny beak (and some of those mealworms are pretty big and quite squirmy!)

They're such adorable little birds.

Last year I tried holding the cup in my hand out on the windowsill. The chickadees were a little more apprehensive about that, but finally their hunger won out over their fear and they would land on the cup while I was holding it. Almost as much fun as hand-feeding hummingbirds!

Next Saturday the Project Feederwatch season begins (I don't think it's too late if you still want to sign up). I hope all this bird activity continues throughout the winter. I had a lot of good birds to report last year, and I'm optimistic this year will be as good or even better

A Day on the Deer Stand

NOTE: This is a post I had prepared last night, but had trouble with Blogger allowing me to insert pictures. I finally got back to it tonight and Thursday's story became Friday's post.

I'm taking a couple days off work this week while I still try to get a deer for the freezer with my bow & arrow before the shotgun season opens this Saturday. This morning I climbed up to my tree stand at 6:50 a.m. and finally left it around 10:20 a.m. to head home for some lunch and a bathroom break. We were back out there this afternoon from 3:30 till 6:30 (still no luck).

I saw only 3 deer this morning between 10:00 and 10:15 and none of them close enough for a shot. So what the heck does a person do on the tree stand during all that time when nothing else is going on? blog readers are wondering. (Napping was not an option today, since I was out there by myself without the spousal unit as a backup, I had to remain alert because he wasn't around to check up on me.)

Fortunately I'm a bird watcher, so being in the woods means there's usually some birds to watch. I was very fortunate early this morning to see a Barred Owl. I also saw several flickers (which I thought had all migrated south by now). I saw a Pileated Woodpecker, and also a family of Bald Eagles (2 adults and a juvenile) soaring out over the river. I was also surprised to hear a couple of Robins and Bluebirds flying over. Walking back to the car at 10:30, I spotted my first ever Rusty Blackbird (click here to find out more about Rusty Blackbirds--a rapidly declining species) and also the first Fox Sparrow for 2007.

Since I always have my camera with me when I'm out in the woods, a little time can be taken up with photographing everything you're seeing when there aren't any deer around.

How about the shadow of me in the tree stand? (And why does my head look so pointy?)

Here's a picture of the only bird I actually managed to photograph--White Breasted Nuthatch (these guys are everywhere out there!)

Or even better....looking up to the top of the trees and capturing the colors of the remaining leaves against the gorgeous blue of the sky.

And then I accidentally dropped a glove....crap!

The following is a photographic "how-to" demonstrating how to retrieve a glove from the ground without having to unhook your safety harness and climb down from the tree stand.

Because it's impossible (not to mention unsafe) to climb the steps to a tree stand while hanging on to gear, all good bowhunters have a long string attached somewhere to the tree where their stand is to bring their bow up from the ground once they've gotten up to the stand. To the hook on this long string, I've attached a velcro tape around my pocket binoculars (the binocs give the string and velcro enough weight to pick up the glove).

Carefully lower the 'binoculars-on-a-string' down to the wayward glove, until you can drop the binocs squarely on the glove.....assuring that the velcro will catch onto the fabric of the glove.

Then slowly raise the string, testing to make sure the velcro strip is securely joined to the glove.

SUCCESS--now your have your glove back! Return binocs to pocket, velcro strap to bow and string to its regular place hanging off the tree.

In case you haven't figured it out yet, I was a little bored today.....tomorrow I'm putting a book in my pocket, just in case the deer decide not to make an appearance again.

FRIDAY NIGHT UPDATE: Finished the book....still no deer. However, today I was lucky enough to see a cute little red fox (who spotted me and ran before I could get the camera out of my pocket) and this nosy coonhound dog (who looked at me a long time in the tree and finally went back up the hill from where it came when it decided I wasn't a raccoon).

Have a good weekend everyone!

The Next Knitting Class

I hope you all had a Happy Halloween. We had 7 little goblins for the evening. That means there will be some of the Little Debbie rice krispie treats left over for me!

I saw the first commercial with a Christmas theme on television last evening during the news (something about a teeth whitener so you'll have a brighter smile by Christmas). I guess since Halloween's over now, we will start getting bombarded by Christmas promotions. I'm already seeing quite a few holiday items in the stores, but I'm sure the retailers will be "kicking it up a notch" very soon.

If you're one of those people who enjoys making your own holiday gifts, you know how important it is to get an early start so you can have those gifts completed in time (and not have to get up at 4 AM that week before Christmas and knit like a fiend to finish a sweater for your sister-in-law, as I did one year). This month I will be teaching 3 different 2-hour knitting classes so people can knit up some gifts for friends and family. This Saturday, my students will learn to make a Mini Christmas Stocking.

So if any of you knitters are in the Rochester area this Saturday, I would welcome you to join my class!

Cedar Waxwing Feeding Frenzy

I took these pictures last week of some cedar waxwings cleaning fruit off an unidentified tree in my backyard.


I planted this tree quite a few years ago but it's still quite short (only about 6 feet tall). I think it's some kind of a crabapple or cherry, but maybe someone reading this can make a positive ID based on these pictures of the leaves and the fruit.
The fruits are very tiny--not much larger than a blueberry or grape, but like my apple trees, this little tree was covered with fruit this year.

The Cedar Waxwings were loving this tree. There were both adults and juveniles.


You can see that many of the stems have been picked clean of the fruit.


It was fun to see the birds try to maneuver on the branches to reach the fruit. They really aren't very good clingers (especially the uncoordinated juveniles), so it was pretty comical to watch them twisting and stretching to try and grab a bite to eat.


The adult birds were much more dignified and adept at plucking the fruit off the stems.


The little tree is picked clean of fruit now, but there are still Cedar Waxwings hanging around in the yard. They have moved on to my bigger crabapple trees which are still covered with lots of fruit. I think it's going to be a pretty good winter for the fruit-eating birds in my yard.

A Baby At Our House

My sissy and her daughter stopped over for a short visit this evening. They brought along baby Ethan. He was sleeping in his carrier and covered by a blanket when they arrived. Daisy was pretty interested in sniffing the blanket covering the carrier--probably because it smelled like her cousin Shelby (my sister's dog).

My niece set Ethan on the couch in his carrier and then he started crying. I wish I could have captured Daisy's reaction with my camera because it was so funny. I can't recall that she's ever seen a baby or heard one cry before! She got all wiggly and stretched her nose way out to the baby carrier but wouldn't walk too close to the couch. She seemed really concerned and kept looking back at us to see if we knew what was going on.

Ethan's wearing his "Trick or Treat" Tigger suit.

My niece lifted Ethan out of the carrier and Daisy got to take a little sniff of him then. Once he stopped making noise, Daisy decided he wasn't very interesting anymore and went back to sit in her chair. Dogs are so funny!

Doe and Fawn

Late this afternoon, I took these photos of a doe and fawn from my treestand in the woods. I heard something coming up the hill that sounded like a deer and finally these two came into my view. I relaxed and set my bow down so I could grab my camera and take some pictures. There's no way I'm going to shoot a doe when she has her fawn with her. I would rather have an empty freezer than do something like that.

Almost all the leaves have fallen from the trees, so it's easy to hear them coming if the wind isn't blowing too hard. (time to use the zoom)

This is the mom.

Here's the fawn in the foreground and the mom (ever watchful) in the background.

Mom and fawn are usually not too far apart.

I loved the opportunity to see this--mom giving fawn's ear a cleaning.

The fawn was already quite a ways up the hill past me, so I made a noise to see what the mom would do. She couldn't tell what I was up in the tree, but she definitely knew something wasn't quite right. I got a couple foot stomps from her and then she ran up the hill to the fawn and they both headed out to the cornfield for some supper.