My Cat is a Groundhog

As this super cold winter drags on, I don't think my cat has been our of the house in weeks.  This cat, usually a nocturnal hunter, has been curled up asleep...day and night...like, well, a groundhog.

 
The most active he becomes is occasionally opening his eyes to look out of the window.  Normally he would be switching his tail ready to pounce on anything that moves.  This time, he seems to be uninterested in the birds, squirrels and other creatures just outside his reach.  Maybe he is looking at the snow cover--unusual to persist this long in our climate. Maybe he is thinking that it is not fit for "man nor beast" outside.  And maybe he is right!




While he may not technically be hibernating, I think my cat has the right idea.  I would love to just curl under the covers and wait til spring...til the groundhogs emerge again.  Maybe someday soon we will all--groundhog, cat, and me-- be active again.

One Good Thing About Winter

This year it seems that winter will never end.  It is one snow and cold event after another.  So I decided to look for the silver lining.  I wanted to create a list of 10 good things about winter....

and if you can think of others, please let me know.  But I only came up with one.  

In winter, we in the midwest get a chance to see birds that only occur here in the winter....like the Short-eared Owls.  These medium sized owls are really not that distinctive in appearance.  They are mostly mottled brown and have a large round head, like most owls.  They have much smaller tufts of feathers....that create the "ears"...than the Long-eared Owl.  In fact they are hardly noticeable.  But what is distinctive about these owls is their "floppy" flight.  With long wings, they fly close to the ground in open grasslands, flapping almost like a bat.





photo from Wikipedia

Each winter I visit the reclaimed strip mine ground of the World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Illinois to catch a glimpse of these owls as they hunt in the fields at dusk.

http://www.cvaltd.com/site2/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/World-Shooting-Complex-1.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year I was not disappointed.  The owls had returned.  I counted about 6 or 7 of them as they swooped around the car and came to rest on the lamp posts around the complex.  As the last rays of sun hit the earth, I rolled down the window to get a better look.  I was surprised to hear something that sounded like a dog barking.  Braving the cold, I kept the window down for several minutes to locate the sound.  Finally it occurred to me; it was the owls!!

This distinctive sound was such a treat.  The  Short-eared Owl bark was new to me, and I love learning new things about nature.  Perhaps, the 10 good things about winter should be the 10 new things I have learned about nature...that seems more doable to me. 

10 new things I learned about nature this winter:
1. Short-eared owl bark
2. Visual image of eagles on ice...see previous post "Where is the Best Place to Eagle Watch"
3. Blue Jays mimic Red-tailed Hawks...see previous post  "Bird Song Wonders"
4. Bobcats live in a tree stump on my property...see previous post "Sub-Zero Hike"
I'll work on the rest of this list.
 

So maybe winter isn't that bad after all.  Still, I can't wait until spring because I'm sure I will learn many more things as I get outside more.  Until then, I have the list to complete.

A Wildlife Adventure to Remember

Many people go to Puerto Vallarta for the "wild" life.  It was the wildlife that attracted me.  And I was not disappointed.  I saw whales...humpbacks...many of them, close up.  And dolphins jumping the waves behind our boat.  But the most amazing wildlife adventure was my sea turtle experience.  I was fortunate to be sitting on the beach as new hatchlings drew a crowd of interested tourists.

 I watched as these creatures fought their way over the sand, leaving behind the distinctive tracks.


I would later see tracks all over the beaches of this area.  These tracks were quite large, about 3 inches wide, but others were half the size.

Finally the hatchlings reached the ocean, surrounded by a large crowd of humans rooting for their survival.  Some well meaning people were picking up the turtles and taking them to the ocean....clearly a violation of the posted regulations.  But we all wanted to see these animals "make it".





I felt an inner joy as I saw the turtles, finally, after the long struggle in the sand, reach the ocean.

Here is where I thought the adventure would end.  But I was wrong.  Later I walked the beach and discovered information signs about the turtles--3 endangered species--that nest here. 

I also saw the turtle sanctuary, right in front of big condos and time shares. 

The sanctuary digs up known turtle nests and relocates them--to protect them from all the dangers of beach development and use.

These nest relocations are dated according to estimated hatch date, fenced and shaded to protect the eggs.  It takes as little as 45 days between eye laying and hatching with some species of sea turtles.




Again, I thought this would be the end of our turtle adventure.  But the next day, in almost the same place and about the same time, I was witness to another hatching.  This time the hotel security and a turtle worker (and parasail vendor) were on the scene quickly.

I was there before the others arrived and noted a small (about 8 inch) conical depression in the sand, with several dark spots.


Soon a nose and mouth became visible.

As I watched the struggle to emerge from the under the sand, the turtle worker, security, and lots of tourists arrived.




The worker quickly dug around the nest releasing almost 130 hatchlings.

 

As he dug, he counted the animals and placed them in a tray.  They were to be collected and released later that night--to avoid the daytime bird predators that might gobble them up on their long trek across the beach to the ocean.

Finally, at a depth of about 12-14 inches, the large leathery egg shell remains were visible.

After all the turtles were dug up, the egg shells were replaced and hole filled in.  This hatch was headed for shelter until nightfall.

Human intervention has helped them to avoid some dangers, but many dangers remained.

As I watched the sun set that evening, I was hopeful that, even though the dangers were many, these ancient creatures will survive to come back to these beaches for many years to come and that more people would be fortunate enough to have a wildlife adventure like mine.

Learn Tree ID Like a Two Year Old

As I look out over our woods, I think back to the many walks I have enjoyed with my grandchild. In the last year, she has learned to identify trees and become a budding naturalist (no pun intended).

Last March, when she was not yet two, we took walks in the woods, and I (or her grandfather) pointed out things we observed along the path.  The trees were always there, so we repeatedly pointed out certain species of interest.  I know that young children use their senses to explore the world, so I pointed to a tree and invited her to touch it.  She recoiled at the thought, so I did not press it.  Rather I tried to encourage her to touch it by touching and marveling at the feel of it myself.  "It is really bumpy," I said. Still she would not touch it.  As we walked the trail, I stopped at other "bumpy" trees to feel the bark.

Fast forward to this December.  At just two and a half years of age, we walked the same path.  It was she who pointed out the trees.  "Look, bumpy trees," she said.  She eagerly ran to the tree to touch it.  As we continued, she ran to more and more "bumpy trees", each time touching the bark.  These trees are hackberries, and she could identify them perfectly!

I smile to think how much she had grown in nature in such a short time.  She is a budding naturalist for sure!

Next time we go on our walks, we will have to find another texture...maybe we'll explore the shagbark hickories.  Will she call them flaky trees or shaggy trees?  I know that one day she will learn the real common names for these species.  For now I am content with the names she is using.  Maybe they are better names anyway.

Where is the Best Place to Eagle Watch

The forecast was for 50 degree weather.  The latest news story said that an estimated 167 eagles were in the area.  This area is supposed to be the best place to see wintering Bald Eagles in the US outside of  Alaska. So it was with great expectation that we left for the Great River Road near Grafton, Illinois to eagle-watch.

We were not alone!  As soon as we left Alton, Illinois, heading north the first cars were pulled over to get a better look at eagles on the ice in the Mississippi River.  I was amazed at the amount of ice on the river and the back up of barges apparently waiting to get through the locks.

We pulled over many times to get a closer look ourselves.  My iphone does not give an accurate picture of what I saw through binoculars, but we quickly had the search image in our minds.  We could tell the buoys (which were dark but much larger), from the chunks of wood (which were dark but didn't move) and could identify eagles (dark spots on the ice).
Here is a view through the iphone:

There is an eagle in this picture.  Can you spot it?  There were also eagles flying on the thermals against the bluffs and perched in trees across the river.  In all, in the nearly 20 mile stretch of river from Alton, Illinois to Pere Marquette State Park, we counted 81 eagles....an awesome sight.  Seeing one of these majestic birds is an awesome experience, but 81 is an experience of a lifetime.  I have never seen so many of these birds in one place.

This image is from the IDNR web site for Pere Marquette State Park:
 

To top off the experience, we decided to hike some trails at Pere Marquette State Park.  We stayed on the bluff trails along the river and were treated to an eagle flying right in front of us just above the trees.  It was also fun to explore the large tree stumps or climb the rocks.  After the many days of winter snow and cold, it felt like spring to be out on this day and I felt like a kid. What an awesome day.

Where is the best place to see eagles in the continental US?
For me, The Great River Road, in January!  I will visit again next year when the winter blues hit.

A Day in the Woods

I was inspired by a video of a year in the woods.  I thought I would try to see what a day in the woods looked like.

Let me know what you think!

Sub-zero Hike Reveals One of Nature's Mysteries

The thermometer was not to reach zero, but I decided to take a quick walk in the woods anyway.  According to the news, I would get frostbite in less than 30 minutes.  From the inside, the bright blue sky and white blanket of snow were calling me.  So I bundled up and headed out.

The blue sky looked bluer than I had seen in many weeks.


And I liked the way the sun bouncing off of the trees created shadows in snow.

 
There were no other tracks ahead of me so it was an adventure. 


What would I discover?  Where were all the animals?  The previous day, with warmer temperatures, I had seen many squirrels scampering about.  Today none were visible.


I headed down the familiar trail to the ravine, my favorite place on the property.  The place where my husband had discarded deer heads from his chronic wasting disease project.  Many animals had visited this place in the past, so I was anxious to see what would happen after a foot of snow had covered the heads.

As I approached, I saw tracks!  But with the deep snow, they were hard to identify.  And it looked like 3 separate tracks indicating 3 separate animals.

All three continued over the trail and into the ravine.  As I looked below, I saw one of the heads had been pulled out of the snow drift.  Due to the size of track, its meandering course, and knowledge of animals of the area, I thought these were bobcat tracks.  My husband had seen 3 similar size cats earlier, probably siblings.  Where are these animals living on our property?  I wanted to find out.  So I back tracked, following the meanderings through woods. 

This proved more difficult than I thought, however.  It was still very cold, and the tracks went through some brambles covered with snow.  They also continued for quite a ways.  With the drifts, brambles and cold, it was hard going.  I started to wonder about the size of a bobcat's territory.  Maybe I couldn't follow this trail for that long.  I saw several spots of "yellow snow", indicating I was within the territory of these cats.

Finally, I was rewarded with the site!  The mystery...where do the bobcats live....was solved.  There were many tracks around the base of this old dead snag.  The base was huge and many dead logs on the forest floor at this point.  It was located at the edge of our property, next to an open field.  Across the field, I saw tracks as well.  Good hunting grounds for the cats.

Now that I know where they are, I can't wait for warmer weather and better visibility.  Maybe I'll set up a tent near the site to get a better look at these marvelous creatures.

But now it was time to head home.  I no longer followed the bobcat tracks but had to blaze a trail of my own through the brambles and snow drifts.  This was hard going, and I was getting cold.

Finally, I saw the house ahead of me.  I was glad that I had braved the elements, solved some mysteries, and made plans to visit again, but now it was time for that warm bowl of soup and a hot cup of coffee.  Mmmmm good.