Discovering the world around me.
Snowflakes arrived on Owl Acres to welcome winter on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. They piled up to about three inches of fluffy white snow. Each one of those trillions of snowflakes was a unique work of art. In spite of the fact that they all formed in the same cloud, at the same time and […]
Continue reading Art in Motion: Snowflakes
There’s a pile of it in the southeast corner of the yard. It’s growing on the fences and climbing the barn. We knock it back, ruthlessly severing it with the weed eater. And it comes back with a vengeance. It could be mistaken for poison ivy—we have plenty of that around here. But a careful […]
Continue reading A Banquet for All: Virginia Creeper
Blue. A primary color. One of the most beloved colors. And, speaking of Owl Acres, a rare color indeed, if you don’t count the sky and the blue jays. The sky is blue. But not really. That is, it looks blue because of the way the air molecules in the atmosphere scatter the short blue […]
Continue reading A Trick of the Light: Blue Jays
Some 25 songbirds overwinter here on Owl Acres and surroundings. Sturdy little fellows that they are, they have figured out how to find food and survive in subzero temperatures. One food source that gets their attention is backyard bird feeders like the one we enjoy on Owl Acres. These little birds tend to flock together […]
Continue reading Peter-Peter-Peter: Tufted Titmouse
One sunny day in mid-October, we watched a little critter sitting up in the yard inspecting its domain. When it noticed us, it scurried through the grass to disappear under a washed-out section of the sidewalk. It was about eight inches long not counting its two and a half-inch tail, and sported black and tan […]
Continue reading Squinnies: Thirteen-line Ground Squirrels
On Owl Acres, we have a chainsaw carving of a barred owl. Captured in her talons is a mouse-sized critter whose short tail suggests a vole rather than a mouse. Mother Nature seems to have several niches for little mammals like mice whose main job is to convert plant material to meat for a whole […]
Continue reading Not Mice: Meadow Voles
There’s a lot of drumming going on at all seasons on Owl Acres. Our band consists of seven of the 23 species of woodpeckers native to North America. When we put up our birdfeeder this winter, one of our first visitors was a red-bellied woodpecker come to investigate the new food. He didn’t stay long […]
Continue reading How Do They Do That?: Red-Bellied Woodpecker
There’s nothing better than a personal, physical experience to help me see something new. That’s why, on our walk the other day with both Dave and Clancy, Bryan put a dead, but intact, northern short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicauda) into the palm of my hand. The soft furry body of the tiny mammal just covered my […]
Continue reading Untamable: Northern Short-Tailed Shrew
Winter food is abundant this fall, with the seeds from foxtails, ragweed, ditchweed, and all the other seeding plants. Berries are ripe, too. Juniper berries, elderberries, pokeberries and more hang in invitation to the birds. And in one spot by the railroad tracks, we found lots of red, white and black berries. The red ones […]
Continue reading Invasive Bully: Buckthorn
It’s time for fall colors. The trees are turning red, orange and yellow. And the bugs from the same color palate are looking for a warm place to spend the winter. There’s a gathering of them on the south-facing garage door just now. They’re basking in the sunshine. When it gets cold, though, they’ll head […]
Continue reading No Harm Done: Boxelder Bugs