Latest Adventures at Home Sweet Home

Wow...I haven't posted a blog since July!  Dave and I had been looking and looking for a house, then we found the house, had to fix up the house and it is still a work in progress.  So that has taken up a lot of my time, but there are very very good things about this place!  For starters it has over 7 acres, and around 3 1/2 of those are wooded/beaver pond/stream, so the wildlife is abundant!  More abundant than I imagined!  I am going to post some pictures of the area and animals we have seen to date. 
One morning I showed up early to paint some more, and was sitting outside eating breakfast when I saw movement across the pond.  It was a pair of coyotes looking around the pond to see if there were any ducks or beavers not paying attention.  They were unlucky in their hunt, but I was lucky that I had my camera!

Frogs are everywhere, especially these little green guys.  This one was watching me clean up the yard.

 This frog was in some weeds and blackberries where Dave was weed-eating, so he brought him over to near my flower bed where he would be safer.

When my Mom was visiting, we came back from getting something (probably more paint) and there was a deer in the yard!  Mom was in the yard and I looked out the door and there were 4 deer! One pair was a doe and fawn and another was a spike buck with a limp.  I haven't seen them since, but hopefully they will be back.  We put out a mineral salt lick.

Ducks enjoy the quiet duck-weed-filled pond.  Here a pair of mallards navigate the swampy green pond.  Later they reached up to pick and eat blackberries, something I hadn't seen ducks do before.

 There are a lot of wood ducks here!  Or there were until it froze over.  They are beautiful!

 We also had a hooded merganser visit here for a few days.  He left when things iced over too.

We put out a hummingbird feeder and Anna's hummingbirds have been visiting regularly.

 There are some trails through the woods behind our house, and Adventure Dog loves to run through the leaves and make them crunch.  I think we both wish the trail was longer, but it was so much more than we dreamed we'd have so close in. 

I keep hoping to see the beaver.  The previous owner said he had trapped and/or relocated a couple which to me was awful.  I have learned that beavers live in family groups and mate for life.  Also the beaver dams are super important to the eco system here and I would like those dams maintained.  Not only do the ponds create great habitat but they also slow and maintain water flow and protect our bridge from washing out.  One morning, I saw a big brown head poking up out of the water by one of the dams and thought for a hopeful moment that it was the beaver, but no!  It was a more surprising visitor... an otter!  He looked pretty funny with duckweed all over his head.

 

The same day, coming back from taking pictures of the otter, I saw an immature bald eagle in one of the trees.

There are some edible fungi that grow here too.  I have seen a couple varieties of coral fungus and also shaggy mane mushrooms!  I ate one of the shaggy manes and it was pretty good.  I hadn't had one before.

 This morning, I took a break from work to get the fire stoked up and looked out the window and happened to glimpse this peregrine falcon eating something!  It was a bird of some sort, I'm guessing a pigeon.  He left nothing but feathers and the sunflower seeds that it must have eaten.

Pretty amazing place!  It's hard to want to pack up and go hiking when I see so many great things here.
Next up is a pileated woodpecker, which I've seen several of.  They are amazing birds with those bright red heads and distinctive calls.  On the day I took these, there were two and one was being chased by a little raptor.  It landed in a tree and I got some pictures.  I believe it is a Coopers hawk.

While Cedar and I were standing on the bridge we heard someone scolding us and I looked up to see this handsome kingfisher.  I have seen them here a few times too, but not this close!

Other birds seen here so far include red shafted flickers, blue heron, black-capped and chestnut-backed chickadees and many others I have not yet identified.  As the seasons change, who knows what else we will see!