FOY Whippoorwill

8:30 tonight

FOY

FOY: Hummer showed up on Monday (May 1) at dinner.
FOY: May 4 Whippoorwill at 9:00 PM
FOY: Black bear (yearling) in back checking out the grape and blueberry bushes. No pictures because 4 dogs went crazy inside.
But wait, he's in front now looking at the feeder. Sort of mangy back. 2 ear tags. Paul went out to scare him away (and take pictures), but he went up a tree instead. More crazy dogs protecting us.
~~2" rain in the last 24 hours but the driveway has held and we haven't seen any new trees down.

FOY: Whippoorwill

8:40 pm but no hummingbirds yet.

Living in the wild

Paul dispatched a driveway bunny for Gambol to retrieve. Total excitement.  Three for 2 dogs so far this season.
Whippoorwill calls tonight to signal bedtime.
Turtle inventory

female, May 25

5/31

We kept this little girl overnight.  She scarfed down pork loin and became tame enough to look around while being held.

June 16 female 

shell lumpy, wrinkled, dry looking

June 20 female

and not a turtle, but fun for the inventory anyway.

Reading: 34 In their Blood *Sharon Potts; Totally unbelievable; no character development, lots of loose ends. Parents get killed; 23 yo estranged son comes home from traipsing around Europe to funeral and when he learns he's the guardian of his teenage sister decides to stay find out who killed them, because, of course, the cops are uninterested in doing their job.  More murders, some lust.  No real suspense.  Why did I finish it?

Happy Birthday Lady Terra

FOY over the last week: Whippoorwill at dusk, rose-breasted grosbeak, indigo bunting

FOY

That's First of the Year in birder-talk; we heard the whippoorwill last night and this morning...very early.
On our morning walk I found the first tent caterpillars of the season; they are no more. No gypsy moths yet.

Rattlesnake weed and whip-poor wills

While walking out to check the game camera we heard the honking of a flight of geese, down in the valley and below the trees. The honking got louder and louder as they came thundering out of the aspen below the shed and flew overhead, close enough to hear their wing beats over the squawking. We both had the impression of the Thunderbirds at a summer air show; they seem to come from nowhere and suddenly roar overhead. They were gone just as quickly. The perfect V had at least 20 birds, but we didn't see any missing man formation.

We've been watching a wildflower on Rough Grouse Path. The leaves are distinctive but the flower usually gets eaten before we can see it. Finally, the Baron found one in bloom: flower with pinked petals, reminiscent of a dandelion, but purple veined mostly basal leaves: rattlesnake weed Hieracium venosum. Thought it might be trout lily or dog tooth violet, but when we "teased it apart" al la Eric, my wild flower instructor, it's not even close. Luckily, it's native. In the same area we have loads of Perfoliate Bellwort Uvularia perfoliata






Last night the whip-poor will didn't sing. We noted that because I've been using the song as my bedtime alarm. One night he sounded like he was on the bathroom window sill. He began tonight at 9:01 but started and stopped and moved around front to back before settling down, even cutting off one song mid "whip". He can go for as long as 45 whip-poor wills without taking a breath, so when he doesn't we notice. We've never seen him, but certainly know he's there.