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Daily Nature Observations From Your Place 2021
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Sweet Marie, John! I'll tell my husband about your rain levels when he starts stressing over 20-30 mm!
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That's an incredible snake! Impressive and gorgeous. I think these pythons are not poisonous... are they dangerous to you and your children? I don't have a sense...
Oh my, John! On all accounts - the flooding and the python, wow! I'm wondering the same as Sher about the snake. We are experiencing plenty of rain too, and while we aren't flooded in, we are mudded in. With frost working out from below and so much rain on top, the road into our home has become impassable over the past couple of days.
New beaver have arrived in the pond by our house. They slap their tails in warning when we walk by, the sound takes me quite by surprise when I'm walking after dark!
We have wood ducks nesting, the male swims about, a striking duck.
Five meters!! I'm glad to hear you're on the cautious side. I'm impressed with the photos you took.
We have MANY beaver! They are fascinating and industrious. There's a much larger beaver pond further back in the woods, quite an engineering feat that creates an excellent habitat for nesting swans and other migratary waterfowl. They're currently very busy.
Northeastern Vermont ...it feel like June and lovely though that is it worries me. I am ready for snow in !ay but not a heat wave. And last summer was the closest we have come to drought in a very long time. Still the tomato and pepper seedlings are up and it is pretty hard to stay grim with the sun sparkling on Willoughby Lake! And the antics of the migrating and homesteading birds make me smile!
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I'm with John. Beavers are interesting. We have them in Oregon and along the upper valley - one valley west of our canyon where my stepson lives. I get a kid out of their snap- the tail.
My husband tells a story of a beaver coming up inside his float tube as he was quietly fishing an Oregon river. He was standing up stock still with the float tube around his knees and up popped a beaver in side the tube. A tall tale? Maybe!
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It's really lovely to get a sense of what is happening where everyone lives. We all live in such different environs. I find this so interesting. I love this thread. Thanks for sharing everyone. Pam-- you are further along than we are for tomatoes and peppers... won't put any our until perhaps first week in May.
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https://share.icloud.com/photos/0_TNV...
I think this link will take you to one picture -- let me know if it doesn't work please.
Beavers are plentiful here in Tennessee, and otters are making comeback. We are also home to the Hellbender, North America's representative species of the giant salamander family. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agEWr...I recently wrote an article about Hellbender restoration for a Knoxville publication. https://hellbenderpress.org/item/65-z...
Ray wrote: "Beavers are plentiful here in Tennessee, and otters are making comeback. We are also home to the Hellbender, North America's representative species of the giant salamander family. https://www.youtu..."
I love hellbenders!
I live in eastern WA now (dry!) but I grew up in Oregon. In intact forests, old growth forest mountain streams you can find Giant Pacific Salamanders. They are cool to see swimming. They are a sign of a healthy stream. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkIzY...
I love hellbenders!
I live in eastern WA now (dry!) but I grew up in Oregon. In intact forests, old growth forest mountain streams you can find Giant Pacific Salamanders. They are cool to see swimming. They are a sign of a healthy stream. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkIzY...
May is bringing a hint of spring green to the tips of our trees. I found a bounty of wild leeks (aka ramps) in the woods far begins our home over the weekend. I had read about them in Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass. A delight to find so many large patches flourishing. They're very fragrant.
May is my favorite time to be in the woods if northern Minnesota, before wild raspberries and underbrush are thick and scratchy and no mosquitoes yet. Ephemeral woodland wildflowers blooming fast before the tree canopy blocks leafs out blocking the sunlight that reaches them now.
Does anyone have cooking tips for wild leeks?
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I sure wish we could share photos... this is something I am disappointed in regarding GR.
Leeks-- saute in butter - lightly saute--salt and pepper...
Amanda - we just had a friend here from near Lansing, MI, and he brought us a big jug of real maple syrup. Anyway, I know you are in MN, but I thought of you with the maple syrup.
News here -- the swallows arrived today, and they were flying all throughout the barn and the donkey stalls. They were so full of chatter-- the closest I can imagine to joy at arriving on their breeding grounds. It's wonderful to know these are parents or offspring that were bred right here on our farm.
Soon we will have a barn swallow nest in the tack room and in the the stalls. probably several in the stalls.
Currently I have a pair of Say's Phoebe that have built a nest on a hanging lamp in the tack room; it is a place safe from snakes!
At the end of this week we should be safe from overnight freeze, and we should be able to plant tomatoes and to sew flower seeds. I am looking forward.
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Sorry to hear of the passing of the snake. Interesting observations. You are getting cooler whereas we are beginning to warm up!
What birds will you have that over winter or that will arrive for winter?
Today was Global Bird Day. I wondered if anyone participated? I did , but in a small way; I simply stood and marked down all the birds I saw around the house and prairie fields. I was super busy otherwise today, but I wanted to participate in some way in this important worldwide bird recording event.
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A striking bird- the Mistletoe bird. I have never seen one. I wonder why it has that name? Is mistletoe its preferred food or nesting habitat?
Global Bird Day - I dragged my partner, his sister and her partner out to see some migratory warblers in upstate NY, US. We saw one and the all the usual resident birds along the Erie Canal. A great excuse to get outside.
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Here's mine-- a strange observation this week -- chives and some other early flowering plants --were in full flower. Normally these flowers are covered by bees --native and non-natives. It struck me- the flowers were blooming, and I saw no insects visiting the blossoms. Drought and heat = early flowering, but where are the insects? It's been 5 days, and now I am seeing some ( a few) native bees and bumblebees.
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Hello Everyone-- Wanted to tell you Library of America has an event coming up tomorrow wJune 17th at 3 p.m. West Coast time --called Birds in Literature-- this is a free zoom panel discussion. I've been to all of them the past year, and they are outstanding.
Here is more information -- to attend you will need to register. and if you you go, let me know, and it would be fun to discuss after wars what you thought about the presentation!
https://www.loa.org/news-and-views/16...
p.s. you will see a list of previous programs, and there was a recent program featuring E O Wilson's writings that was fantastic-- and you can go in and view the video of that past LOA Live program.
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Do you have a June report? What is happening around your environment in June? How about those northern climes of Michigan-- Minnesota....? Anyone?
So far, this year has been fantastic for nesting birds around the farm. I am seeing three times the nests that I normally see of starlings, swallows, robins, and phoebes. And, we have baby barn owls for the first time nesting in a box we raised two years ago in the Oak Savannah west side of farm.
But, things will change here next week. We have an unprecedented weather event- coming with temperatures predicted for 111 degrees several days running. It's never been that hot here before-- our high has been 106. We'll have a week well over 100.
Birds will die. I'm looking for ways to keep my old goat cool enough to get him through this, and we expect a lot of fire activity. So today and tomorrow - we test equipment, get the respirators out- check to make sure we have all the air filters we need. I'm picking up some extra fans that a neighbor farmer has to place in the animal stalls in the barn to keep air flowing. It's hard not to feel some sense of dread as we look forward to this next week. But, after the terrible fires last year-- we have decided to try and stick this out by being prepared --- let's see how it goes...
Sher, that sounds awful! Has this happened before?! Our highs next week are forecasted for 99/100 and I’ve seen 102-103 before, but nothing like what you’ve got coming. That seems like something you’d see in Vegas or Arizona. I just didn’t realize it could happen in Oregon!
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My parents were just here from Vegas, and you are right - this would be Vegas weather not my part of Oregon weather- Lin. I went today and picked up two large industrial fans from my neighbor farmer. We will be setting those up in the barn tomorrow.
And - thank you John-- wishing you well too. :)
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I’m so glad you got the fans! Wishing you the best and hoping that the forecast gets adjusted down as next week approaches. Fingers crossed!
Hang in there Sher.
I live in Spokane and we are bracing for a similar week of record setting weather. Keeping bird baths full and worried about my chickens. I'm going to freeze blocks of ice to put in the coop and have frozen chunks of watermelon to give them in the afternoons. Will set up a mister if needed.
I work on salmon and steelhead recovery, working to get four deadly dams off the lower Snake River. They will be particularly deadly next week for outmigrating young salmon. I'm worried about huge fish kills for wild salmon and steelhead already on the brink. It breaks my heart.
And worried about fire. We live in the city but next to a forested park where we have homeless campers. One whiff of smoke and I will be calling 911. A few years ago we had 7 fires set in the park and I think this year will be as bad.
On a happy note, the june bugs are out and careening all over our porch where I sit and read in the evenings. The local Cooper's hawks are calling this morning around their nest.
I live in Spokane and we are bracing for a similar week of record setting weather. Keeping bird baths full and worried about my chickens. I'm going to freeze blocks of ice to put in the coop and have frozen chunks of watermelon to give them in the afternoons. Will set up a mister if needed.
I work on salmon and steelhead recovery, working to get four deadly dams off the lower Snake River. They will be particularly deadly next week for outmigrating young salmon. I'm worried about huge fish kills for wild salmon and steelhead already on the brink. It breaks my heart.
And worried about fire. We live in the city but next to a forested park where we have homeless campers. One whiff of smoke and I will be calling 911. A few years ago we had 7 fires set in the park and I think this year will be as bad.
On a happy note, the june bugs are out and careening all over our porch where I sit and read in the evenings. The local Cooper's hawks are calling this morning around their nest.
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I need that cold to put in with Moses the Cheerful- my 15 year old goat. I wonder how you are able to leave farm… good for you. Right now I don’t have a current farm sitter, so it’s impossible for me—though I hardly wish to leave in summer because of fires and heat. I mean I have to try and keep everyone alive.
Sam—we are not too far from the Deschutes- my husband moved here in the 70s and he and his brother enjoyed steelhead fishing for many years, before the numbers seriously declined. The ideas of all the fish kill is distressing. We have so many alive things that are suffering- we are thinking Ponderosa pine— and the insects that get into the core and then allow the fungus in that eventually kills the trees. My husband is watering some of the remaining pines— a futile attempt, but he can’t help himself. Yes, I totally get it about one whiff of smoke. We reviewed all the fire policies with our worker today—- I have the fans going in greenhouse, and the barn. The goat is getting adjusted to a new wind companion. We’ll start really needing it about 2 p.m. tomorrow.
And Lin - I am seeing everything from 108. To 116 (from Accuweather ). Let’s hope for the lower number.
Back to Sam and chickens— blocks of ice is. A good idea…I hope they make it— let us know how you and they are doing…. Let’s check back in …
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We still haven't read the hottest part of the day. I'm staying inside unless I must go outside.
How about you any nature observations to report.
Oh and all the hummingbirds are gone. No one has approached the feeder in two days...
Sher, what is the highest temperature you’ve seen there, prior to this heat wave?We are also under an “Excessive Heat Warning” according to the National Weather Service, but our high today is just 97 and never hits triple digits for the next few days. Normally I would consider 97 and 98 to be hot, but it’s all relative, isn’t it?
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Thinking about all of you enduring the high temps and wishing you well.I'm in the mountains of Western North Carolina US right now, helping to unearth a relative's home consumed by overgrowth. My partner and I have been working for over a week to get the street-facing section cleared enough for pedestrians to be able to dodge car traffic and cars to see around the corner.
The activity has made me think a lot about land use, private homes, housing developments and our relationship to nature. These poor "junk" trees that we cut down are innocent victims of our desire to keep nature at bay. This is a forested, mountainous region and people built houses in the forest so they could enjoy said forest and then they want to have manicured lawns in front of their houses. I don't get it.
I am happy that my relative has left all the yard in a near-natural state, but we did need to make the street safe.
I live in the Midwest. We’re having erratic roller coaster weather but nothing super extreme yet. We had three weeks of way higher than normal temperatures and much drier than normal but not much over 100°. Then we started getting some rain. Only a mile away from me my friends had billiard and baseball size hail. It took out car windows that were outside and flooded the cars with water and smashed greenhouse panels not to mention the CSA crops. While we might’ve had a 2-inch rain storm here places within 100 miles of here had 8 or 9 inches of rain. It seems like there are extreme weather events all over but sometimes it’s super random when and where it hits. It’s a time of mourning as we grieve for our loss of climate balance on earth. Take care all and let’s do our individual best to keep things green!
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We did see baby barn swallows and baby robins coming out their nests early, because of the excessive heat.
I did not lose any domestic animals. My performance pigeons did amazingly well at 110 plus... they were barely panting in their lofts, and did not look distressed.
I did lose some flowers in greenhouse and also around the farmhouse.
We have active fires in the area, but that is normal.
Thanks for reporting in Cindy Ann and Julie-- very interesting to read about what is going on in other regions!
Hi everyone, I live in Cape Town, South Africa. I’ve read about the heatwave in the north eastern US. I know all about temperatures like that, they are not pleasant! Try to wrap a damp cloth around your neck and make sure you drink plenty of water. Sher, I’m glad to hear all your animals are okay. Being in the Southern Hemisphere, I’m in the middle of winter.
Winters are usually cool, wet and windy here, but we’ve had a massive storm over the past few days. Almost 15cm/6in of rain has fallen in the past 48 hours, with 60-90mph winds. The frogs are delighted with the rain but I’m just hoping my garden will be okay!
We have a couple of breeding pairs of western leopard toads in the garden. They’re highly endangered due to habitat loss but quite a striking looking creature.
I'm currently traveling and in the middle of a big, sprawling city (Los Angeles), so my proximity to nature is less than usual/optimal. I've been hanging with my son, a sound designer. He's helping me understand field recording. On a side note (pun intended), I found a podcast about ocean sounds that might be of interest to other readers. https://www.hakaimagazine.com/the-sou...Next week I plan to heavily explore birds in Orange County and start to play with recording their vocalizations.
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H Emily-- so sorry to miss your post back in June, but I did not get notice of it, and I just checked in because I saw that Cindy Ann, a regular poster, just posted. I am a little familiar with South Africa from having a few pen pals from Cape Town.
What type of garden do you grow? Would you have any type of garden in August --?
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Cindy Ann:
Would love to know what you discover re. the Orange County birdlife? Definitely let me know please. Will you see parrots possibly?
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The most interesting discovery I have made concerns wild black berries. We have wild sprawling plants across the farm. In years past the berries are hard and dry- nothing like himalayan blackberries, which you can find in Oregon laden with big juicy berries. First time in the past ten years, and our berries are plump and sweet. I do not understand? It is so bone dry here and has been so hot. Just weird-- still I am picking berries and plopping them atop yogurt or cereal most mornings. Enjoy them while they last I say.
What is your August news so far? Any interesting observations?
For us, July was dominated by smoke in the sky. Everything was hazy, smelled of smoke, and the sun was a red or orange disk in the grey sky. I'm in southern Minnesota, but also found the smoke in Upper Michigan on Lake Superior. The smoke was from forest fires in NW Ontario and Manitoba. Northern Minnesota has about 10 smallish fires too, but the winds haven't blown it this way yet.Now in August, we're beginning to get needed rain.
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That red or orange disc in the brown or grey sky is all too familiar. Though for us not so bad yet this year...incomparison with last.
Rain-- great enjoy...
Our daughter shared the Las Vegas weather forecast today - "Smoke".
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I thought you were birding in Orange City???
Oh yes, we're visiting in Orange County currently. Son lives in OC, daughter lives in Las Vegas. Family birthday celebration this weekend, so we all gathered (outdoors, after negative COVID tests).New birds: Western Gull, Acorn Woodpecker, California Towhee and California Scrub-Jay. So fun to see the common birds in a new area!
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Neighbor said. Oh yes, I walk with my three dogs and that coyote all the time. My dogs play with him...
So, did the coyote see us and think it could come on our walk too?
Point for me, and I told my neighbor--you do a wild animal a dis-service when you tame it, because it will approach humans too closely, and it will get shot. I know of four farmers just around our place that will shoot this animal, if they get the chance.
Anyway- the coyote showed up again outside the farmhouse this morning -- yipping and talking to my three dogs. I looked at it in binoculars- not sick, healthy had decent weight... definitely her friendly coyote. What a can of worms! So, that's my not-so-wildlife report from Oregon....
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When I spent the winter on Oak Island, which is a beautiful coastal island in North Carolina, the nighttime stargazing was quite nice. The island, which has a winter population of 8,000 — compared to 50,000 during the summer — was quiet and dark with clear cool nights. Where I used to live in New Jersey, you were lucky to see much of anything due to suburban light pollution. But on Oak Island, you could see the immensity of stars.
John wrote: "When I spent the winter on Oak Island, which is a beautiful coastal island in North Carolina, the nighttime stargazing was quite nice. The island, which has a winter population of 8,000 — compared ..."Oh, the stars!! My first night in the Atlantic on our sailboat just happened to be a full moon, so it was totally magical. Since then, I have come to really appreciate those nights when the moon is not dominating the skies and the stars are in their full glory.
We lose a great deal to light pollution; a relationship with the stars, disoriented migratory birds, etc. The experience of seeing the stars from an unlit perspective is awe-inspiring.
Thanks for the reminder of those wonderful nights.
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Thanks for sharing about being on the sailboat under the light of the full moon. This does sound magical. A few years ago we read a book here at Nat Lit about light pollution; it was such an eye opener for me, and changed the way I thought about the city lights.
And John-- yes, I second Cindy Ann's comments - thanks for the reminder to look up into the sky at night. Our sky is part of nature too.
Just before dark last night I called my husband out to see our sky. The part from the west was deep pumpkin orange and that wall met clear medium blue to the east. It was the strangest sky I have ever seen here-- to the east normal, the west showing signs of massive fires burning in Oregon. But why no mixing? Instead I saw a clear demarcation between the two Skys.
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I am looking for a few folks to read this book with me in September as a Side Read--please see the request here.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Nature Literature
Books mentioned in this topic
The Living Mountain (other topics)The Puma Years (other topics)
Where the Crawdads Sing (other topics)
What It's Like to Be a Bird: From Flying to Nesting, Eating to Singing—What Birds Are Doing, and Why (other topics)
Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay (other topics)
More...
Not at my residence, but in the lowlands."
A natural annual event, or because of weather events? Effects to the wildlife?"
Sher wrote: "Ray wrote: "Flooding in Chattanooga.
Not at my residence, but in the lowlands."
Some of both. We have flooding, but usually in winter. It is continuing late into the year.
A natural annual event, or because of weather events? Effects to the wildlife?"