Of course some days are better than others.
But rainbow days?
Are simply the best.
Tag Archives: nature
Ducks… and a deer.
We now have daily duck visitors.
A pair of mallards who make me smile and cut grapes in half. It’s the best food for ducks…. though they prefer to nibble on deer grain.
They’re here off and on all day but make a point of showing up about 4:00pm when I put out the nightly treats for the deer.
You would think the considerably larger deer would scare them off.
But in actuality, it’s the opposite.
The deer is frightened of the ducks and makes sure to eat on the opposite side.
Keeping one eye on those terrifying birds the whole time.
The little bastards.
It’s not like I don’t welcome and feed all our visiting critters enough of a variety.
Three types of bird seed, suet, strawberries, peanut nuggets, oranges, grape jelly, blueberries, nectar, deer grain, salad scraps, old bread, apples and pears…
Christ, I even buy special dog food with taurine for the foxes.
And we don’t have a dog!
So yes, I was a little peeved when I went to sit on the barn porch the other day..
And saw that one of them had done this –
And this –
As well as this –
On every single seat cushion.
Ungrateful little bastards!
A much better smell.
Thankfully the eau de la cow pie fragrance is dissipating and something more wonderful is taking it’s place.
It started like this…
And then…
Boom!
Apple blossoms.
And if you’ve never stuck your head right up inside a tree and sniffed?
What are you waiting for!
We have 4 such trees.
And they’re glorious.
I love my town….
And their slightly off balance Facebook page.
Not off hand, no.
But I hope he finds one. Pigless is a terrible thing to be.
This picture of our local sheriff’s truck was posted by a resident.
Because really, who needs blue lights when you have a chicken?
This post was met with the incredulity and the scathing derision it deserved . Reveal your fiddlehead location? To a stranger!!
Mainers have been killed for less.
Fiddleheads are a precious ($15-$20 per pound) and extremely fleeting commodity in the spring. Locals protect their secret gathering spots like they do their virgin daughters. Personally I can’t stand the slimy things…
But Mainers go berserk for them.
And speaking of barely edible food, some well meaning townie posted this:
Now really, if I’m not going to eat the delicate unfurled leaves of a fern?
You can damn sure bet I’m not baking helicopter seed pods that look like bugs.
Damn.
Critter cam.
Alright, that’s a lie.
It’s just me snapping shots from the window. But that’s not a snappy title… so get over it.
Our fox is coming every night now.
And sometimes he/she brings a friend.
They’re such beautiful creatures.
And wonderful at keeping the mouse population under control.
As you can see from the bird feeders, it’s Baltimore Oriole time.
They’re gorgeous, but quick.
And catching a good shot is rare.
We put out oranges and grape jelly, which they adore.
Of course, so does everyone else.
A raccoon comes in at midnight and strips the jelly…
And this hairy woodpecker makes short work of the oranges.
Our resident chucker is still here.
Enjoying apples.
And salad scraps.
Life is good in my little corner of the world.
In case you’ve never seen it close up….
Don’t get excited, I’m talking about deer antlers.
And as I was filtering through my hundreds of shots of our buck the other day….
I thought some of you city people might get a kick out of this.
After the fall rut….. (read: deer orgy, where size does matter) ….. the buck will drop his then useless horns.
It’s a slow process that sometimes takes all winter. The blood supply is cut off and they slowly loosen. You often see bucks with one side hanging crookedly… and they’ll rub against trees, fence posts, picnic tables or whatever is around to knock them off.
When this happens, it does look a little bizarre.
And painful, though they assure me it’s not.
But how do the proverbial ‘they’ know?
I doubt anything has fallen off of them lately.
It certainly doesn’t look like fun to me.
A day most fowl… as well as foul.
It started out well enough, with a sighting of a beloved yet rarely seen visitor.
This time he was across the street, walking along the edge of our neighbor’s farm.
He’s a beautiful ring necked pheasant we named Phineas.
They’re not native to Maine and can’t survive the winters, but a man up the road raises them and occasionally one or two will break free. Last year, Phineas brought his woman to our backyard. She was looking for a nesting site… but we never did see any chicks.
Later on in the day….
Saturday, May frickin‘ 9th?
We had ducks.
And snow.
This is the first time we’ve ever had mallards.
Sadly….it isn’t the first time we’ve had snow in May.
The ducks stayed quite a while, raiding the droppings from the bird feeders and the leftover deer grain.
And then a friend joined them.
A fowl day for sure.
The herd.
It’s been deer central at Casa River lately.
With upwards of 14 at a time.
Lots of repeat visitors from past years, and though they might all look the same to you…. we recognize and call quite a few of them by name.
Alright… Pregnant, the Buck, Little Guy and Dark Doe aren’t so much names as designations. But still.
Our resident buck’s antlers are starting to grow back….
Which always makes me think of Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia’s doughnut hairdo.
They’re all currently blowing winter coats and the lawn is full of hair clumps.
Which the birds, chipmunks and squirrels scoop up for their spring nests.
Mother Nature is a wonderful thing.
More chucker pics….
Because I can.
I’m seriously in love with this little critter.
I know most people see them as pests and hate them.
But other than a few holes here and there….
This one’s never done any harm.
And a cuter garbage disposal for leftover salad scraps you’re not apt to find.
Last year we had a momma woodchuck and 4 babies.
This year…. only one.
I’ve yet to determine if it’s momma or one of her kids.
River's world..... 