Nature Journal
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| Sunday, November 24, 2002 | |
| Watched
a hairy woodpecker eating at
my bird feeder today. I haven't put any suet out yet, so it was eating
right from the tube feeder. (I'm waiting to be sure the bears are
settled in their dens for the winter, before I put the suet out.) Wonder if it was the same hairy that I saw in a tree a couple of weeks ago. That one was probably about 400 or 500 feet from my house - and I had seen one in the same area on previous occasions. According to John Eastman (Birds of Forest, Yard, & Thicket), the home range of the hairy woodpecker is from 5 to 35 acres. During nesting season, they establish a smaller territory within their home range. They will vigorously defend their breeding territory, but their home range may overlap with other hairy woodpeckers. |
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| Saturday, November 23, 2002 | |
 I'm
trying to learn to distinguish the tracks of the red
squirrel from the gray squirrel.
I think this photo I took is of the gray squirrel's tracks.The front tracks and hind tracks seem to be the right size for the gray squirrel and the trail width is 4.75 |
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| inches.
My sources say that the maximum trail width for the red squirrel is 4.25 inches. |
Click to enlarge |
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Trail width is measured from the outside edge of one hind foot to the outside edge of the other hind foot. Note that, in the photo, the hind feet are at the top. |
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| Friday, November 22, 2002 | |
| Check
out this great website about owls.
It has info on North American and Central American owls, including
photos and sound files. You'll find species accounts for some of the owls and checklists for North American, Mexican, and South American owls. I think this is just about the best owl site on the web. No pop-ups, either. :) |
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| Thursday, November 21, 2002 | |
 Here's
a whitetail doe I saw near the house today. I find that, during hunting
season (now!), the deer often
will come close to the house. Maybe they somehow know they're safer
here.This doe browsed for a while, then |
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|
she
bedded down - as seen in |
Click to enlarge |
| (I
took these photos through the window, so that's why they're a little blurry.) |
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| Wednesday, November 20, 2002 | |
| Saw
the tracks of the red fox while I was
out walking today. I think the fox was trotting or running because
the tracks were not "direct registering." When the red fox walks, its hind foot usually steps in the track of the front foot. This is called "direct registering." The tracks go almost in a straight line. When the fox trots or runs, the front and hind feet will make separate tracks. |
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| Tuesday, November 19, 2002 | |
 I
really enjoy watching the sky and the way the sun reflects off of
the clouds.Here's a photo of some clouds I saw recently. Don't know what kind of clouds they are, but one of these days I'll get out my weather books |
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| and learn to identify them. | Click to enlarge |
| Monday, November 18, 2002 | |
| Saw
goldfinches at my bird feeder
today for the first time. There were so many of them I had to put
out the second feeder. There was also a flock of juncos feeding on the ground. During the past month or so, I've been seeing a flock of mixed juncos and tree sparrows near the house - before I put up the feeder. Wasn't sure if they'd stay around for the winter, since they didn't last year. Guess the sparrows have gone further south (or somewhere else), but looks like the juncos are here for the winter. |
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