Any feeder in a storm, eh? I have had feeders out for many a year, and I have seen a lot of things come and go, some of which aren't classified as seed eaters (Carolina wrens VERY often, mockers from time to time, etc) but I would be thrilled to have warblers stop by my feeders. It would make it SO much easier to see and enjoy them than the way I have to do it now...craning my head back so far it feels like my neck will break just to catch a passing glimpse of them WAY up in the trees. Of course, sometimes I will get lucky and they will show up at my birdbaths for a few weeks. That's always fun. My favorite was a pair of parulas who both would jump into the deepest part of the bath, and pop straight up out again. They looked to be completely submerging themselves in a fast dunk and then rocketing straight up again! Normally the little guys don't care for the deep water and will stand on the edge or on a rock and just lean forward to dip their chests in, but this pair were like Olympic divers! (I gave them 10's consistently.) The wonderful thing about nature is no matter how much you learn, there are still so many surprises out there. *going to get up tomorrow HOPING for a black throated blue or an ORIOLE...better yet!...at my feeder!!* Marcia

Today was definitely the day of the turtle. I now know that we have at least 4 female snapping turtles who live in the pond. I woke up this morning, and saw this gal right smack dab in the middle on the back yard, trying to lay eggs. (After she was gone, I checked for eggs - there were none). A little while later I saw another snapper out on the outflow gate - but she jumped in before I could get out there with the camera. Fortuneately I went out there anyway to see if I could find her eggs. No luck with the eggs, but I found this gal stuck behind the gate, yet too big to get thru the outflow pipe. I will admit I was a bit scared putting my hand in there to open the gate. When we got home from dd's art class, I saw this gal walking across the yard. She went for a walk thru my veggie garden! I was able to follow her back to the pond, where she went in amongst the field daisies!

Lots of violence and sadness... the grackles and cowbirds and the Keene falcon ... mixed in with grace of butterflies and that magnificent display from the Tom. And,of course, I loved all the hummers. We haven't seen any for quite a while ... is it because our neighbors don't have flowers and so they moved on to better pickings? We still put out the feeders and are hopeful. Still, there have been some recent visitors. Most morning a Mama duck brings her brood to our feeders. We enjoy watching the babies mature and become more independent grazers. A few of the babies A chipmunk has made a home in our gardens. He/she travels through the grass, tail up, from the nest to feeders. Love this little guy! And a young deer has been grazing along the river's edge. Ears up, heading back into the woods.

Nice thought about the nursery, but the garage pet door has been closed since losing Ivy in May, 2017. Years ago there was an opossum nursery in a corner of the garage in back of a stack of old storm windows. Several times the mom fell into our recycle bin in the garage which is how we saw 'playing possum' in action, or, the lack thereof. After Ivy, the cat hole remained open until the smell of rotting squirrels in back of the lawn tractor was noticed. I assumed it was a fox that was coming in the generously-sized pet panel door and using the garage as a pantry. Disposal of the squirrel carcasses (3 - all pointing the same way one on top of the other stacked by a methodical being), and having to clean everything, made closing the cat hole an easy choice. Now, when opening the door to the garage, I no longer face shining eyes or hear anything larger than a mouse. It's a fairly busy wildlife backyard, a 1/2 acre of native plants and trees for them to use, so I've chosen to make life a bit easier for me by not meeting strangers in the garage. Raccoon was startled by something that did not enter the camera's range. I'll never know what made him/her stand at attention. But 44 minutes later, she, or a family member, returned. I'd like a 360° camera. Need an overhead cam or aerial surveillance, lol. Now there's an idea... Jane