Watching the Wildlife

This spring, I'm just constantly amazed at all the different wildlife we have around the homestead. I would suspect that a lot of these things were around when I was growing up, but I never saw them or they didn't dare to come as close to the house because there was more activity. But in any case, here's a sampling of the critters we've been keeping an eye on.

First up - the birds. Oh, the birds! There are times when I truly enjoy listening to their chirps and warbles, but I'll admit that there are a few times when I wish that even the birds could be quiet! We have at least one pair of cardinals. They like to frequent the front porch and try to eat from the suet feeder. We have a downy woodpecker and a hairy woodpecker. They both eat the suet, and both the cardinals and the woodpeckers can be quite noisy. These are also the birds who most antagonize our cats ;) We have at least one pair of bluebirds. They built a nest in the bluebird box we hung for them, but unfortunately the babies died before they left the nest. We aren't sure what got to them - whether it was a bad frost that we got, or if a critter of some sort got in there. Some swallows tried to take over the box and it seems they may have succeeded, at least for now. We have a nest in a second bluebird box but we aren't sure what bird it belongs to. There's at least one pair of Baltimore oriels flitting about. You can't miss their bright orange feathers! We've also spotted a scarlet tanager, an indigo bunting, and some gold finches. Of course, there's also the resident blue jays, chickadees, sparrows and nuthatches. We've got more than enough crows and at least one hawk who was very vocal this weekend as he (she?) patrolled the skies above the farm. We get occasional visits from starlings, which is unfortunate. They raid the feeders and harass the other birds, and because they aren't a native species, we don't want to encourage their presence around here. There are geese around the neighboring pond, but they thankfully don't visit our property. I'm not a fan of having to dodge piles of goose poo as I walk around outside. The most recent bird to be spotted, though, is the ruby throated hummingbird. I'm so very glad we have at least one hummer around. My mom was always very fond of them, and we used to sit on the porch and watch their antics as they fought over the feeder and fought for a mate. The hubs and I try to specifically choose plants that will attract both hummingbirds and butterflies - looks like it's paying off!

We also have several different reptiles and amphibians around here. Since we've got two creeks nearby, as well as a pond, we get quite the variety. We have both painted turtles and snapping turtles that have laid nests in the dirt surrounding our barn. The snappers venture over from the neighboring pond, while the painted turtles might very well be resident creatures. I snapped this picture of a snapper earlier this week. I call her Mama Snapper because I'm pretty sure she was here to lay her eggs. We've seen several garter snakes this spring - I'm OK with looking at them after the hubs has discovered them, but I'm not at all OK with being startled by one! We've also got a far assortment of toads and frogs, even the occasional newt or salamander. The peepers (tree frogs) are one of the very first signs of spring around here.

Then there's the mammals - the larger critters we share our land with. Of course we've got deer. Haven't seen any fawns, but I'm sure they're around. We're pretty sure there is a bear roaming our hill but we haven't heard of any recent sightings. We know that there are at least two skunks roaming about, and we're pretty sure where their den is. The hubby accidentally caught one in a Have-A-Heart trap a few weeks ago, and then I saw a different one strolling up our walkway a few nights after that. The one that I saw is unique looking - the white stripes on its back are so broad that they make its back seem to be completely white! These critters have us on our toes at night - no wandering about in the dark for us! The hubby saw what he thinks is a mink this weekend, which is really cool! I haven't seen it myself yet, but still - it's neat to just know that one is nearby. There are foxes further up the hill in our fields, as well as the occasional turkey. (Oops, the turkeys should have been up with the birds!) We've got a few bunnies around, as well as squirrels. The squirrels are quite fun to watch in the winter time, as they try to raid our bird feeders and then chase each other up and down the nearby trees. We have a resident black squirrel, which I think is just really cool! I guess the last mammal worth mentioning might be the groundhog, although we don't care for them and tend to, ahem, exercise "population control methods" when it comes to their existence on our property.

I think that might just about be all of the critters we share the farm with. I'm sure I've probably left one or two out, but I think you get the picture. We are very much not alone around here, and there are times when it's much more entertaining to watch the animal antics than even the best shows on the television!