I spotted a hummer in my back garden yesterday, so they are still here. I think she was checking to see if the monkshood/Aconitum was blooming yet, but there were only buds.

Remember that the NH hummers will have to eat somewhere as they migrate south. Those of us in southern New England provide a much-needed fast food stop for these migrants.

My sweet autumn clematis is beginning to bloom and should be a good food source for them. The phlox are still blooming too.

The migrants often look a bit suspicious when they confront a new feeder and that distinguishes them from the residents.

Claire

My new mobile garden feature.

Nice pup! Looks like he'll be a big help when you need to dig something (whether you need it or not)..

Claire

We still had one or two visiting yesterday. I have a trellis of Scarlet Runner beans leaning against the house next to a window so we can watch them.

Yesterday I saw a flock of goldfinches head for the trees. We have a weedy patch I can see from my office window where they can find plenty of seedy things. The bluebirds are in the front yard most of the time. I hope somebody is eating the darn squash bugs that suddenly showed up.

What a wonderful new garden feature, babs! Maybe he’ll take a liking to voles and help you out there.

I honestly don’t notice as much in the garden this year because I am gone working at the office. I do know, however, that I have happy Hummers, which is nice. Last year I had dozens and dozens of monarch chrysali. This year I have a picture of one, and found another monarch in his J position yesterday. Very happy to see them. I also found a friend this morning underneath a pot and I hope he helps with the slug population.

That snake looks like it's about to consume a slug, deanna! The coil is a really neat way to compose yourself before slithering.

I once watched a garter snake slither down some granite steps, looking like a serpentine waterfall, very beautiful.

Claire

Looks like you have a milkweed tussock moth caterpillar, Addison in VT.

SAVE SOME MILKWEED FOR ME! MONARCHS AND THE MILKWEED TUSSOCK MOTH, EUCHAETES EGLE

Not what you want to see if you're a monarch laying eggs on milkweed.

Claire

The milkweed tussock prefers to be called a milkweed *tiger* moth because it's cooler. ;) Happily, I see many more monarchs than milkweed tussocks. But the fuzzy caterpillars are cute!

Literally, outside my window a moment ago. They're still here, but I know our time is short.

Jane

In my effort to get chipmunks 🐿 out of the flower pots, just this year I have purchased granulated fox urine (do not ask how they get it) cayenne pepper, sprayed animal repellent, put small beach balls on the deck to roll around and scare him, put pinwheels in the pots, streamers - all things the wind can make move. He walked through the fox urine, sat in the pepper, took a pin wheel apart, played with the streamers and balls. All adds up to me being just another stupid human. He, however, either pooped or spat the seed and planted a tomato plant in the salvia pot. IF, big IF, that tomato produced ONE tomato, it would be about a $45.00 tomato. Nature always wins, save your money.

And, below, sitting in pepper. Probably took some home for his tacos.

Jane... & Chip

Oh no! So funny for us, probably not quite as funny for you.

It all started with one seed. He used the top of the open window as a perch and to hammer his safflower seed. Then he got carried away. Window remains closed, damage is permanent. Little bugger. Titmouse. I thought it was shells until the camera zoom revealed the damage.

Between the bears and the titmouse driller, becoming a watering hole only may be a good idea.

Jane

Wow, titmouse damage? That's a new one for me! People often complain about woodpeckers banging on their house, but titmice?

Is the window painted? Maybe the bird got a taste of something when it was cracking open the safflower seed.

Or maybe the titmouse is well named and the mouse ancestry requires it to gnaw on something to keep its teeth/bill from growing too big.

Claire, reaching too far for explanations

Well, Claire, yeah, a bit far for justification, but a nice effort. After looking up what I could think of for reasonable behavior to justify his nasty behavior, and finding nothing plausible, I went with the mouse nomenclature and possible hereditary links. This destruction is now in my memory file for animal/bird abuse to our house, major file heading, "Dastardly Deeds", sub-category 'naughty - isms. Then I poured a glass of wine and said to h*** with it. Just keep the window shut. It's in keeping with squirrels chewing a vinyl railing for dental hygiene, or whatever. I'll die knowing so little, this is not even on my list of inquiries.😂

Jane - proud owner, hahahahahaha

As of today, Sept. 15th, the female hummingbird is still here. Soon, without a beep, she'll wing herself toward her winter home. If she was born here this year, it will be a winter home chosen by her spirit. There is nothing simple about life on this planet.

The male cardinal's new feathers are coming in nicely.

Jane

Hummingbirds are still here, too. I saw two yesterday, one of them was definitely a female; I didn't get a good look at the second. One female today.

I'm thinking that your titmouse might have been gathering grit when it noshed on your window frame.

Water & Grit - Wild Delight

Do all birds have gizzards? All About Birds

I don't know how substantial a titmouse's gizzard is - maybe window frame gleanings are fairly soft.

Claire

I haven’t seen a hummer since I mentioned seeing one on 8/30, so I think ours are in southern New England.

On Sunday my favorite BIL visited and we watched a whole kettle of red tails circle overhead, perhaps 6 or 7 all catching air currents over the shop. I wonder if they are migrating down the river corridor, though I know some winter here, other do migrate. There was also a large flock of flickers who found something on the ground in the tall grass to feed on. I have never seen more than two at a time before. And the young eagles that have been on the river all summer are still out there, seldom visible because the trees block my view of them, but yelling quite a bit.

The kousa dogwood outside the kitchen window is popular with migrating birds, those arriving, those leaving, and those passing through. One morning there were 2 kinds of warblers, titmice, flycatchers, and sparrows, all in the tree at once.

And Deanna’s wish for me that Flax would be a vole hunter has come true; he adores investigating vole tunnels through the tall field grass, and caught a field mouse today and a vole last week. I don’t think that one little dog can eat enough voles to make a dent in the population, but maybe if the garden smells like him, they will avoid it. And much to my amusement, he loves the Sungold cherry tomatoes, and makes a beeline for the veggie garden anytime it is in sight. I have to remove him from the garden after one or two because I see no evidence that he would stop on his own. It makes harvesting difficult!

Babs, our dog used to make a bee line for the Borage plants of all things. [g]. So I planted more the next season just for her. I was happy she was eating that and not other things.

I'm still seeing hummingbirds, but not so often, so most or maybe all of the residents are probably heading south and I'll be seeing migrants now.

This morning this hummer appeared. It's hard to tell from this angle but I think it's a juvenile male - there seems to be some markings of an incipient gorget.

iI'll keep a feeder up until Halloween unless it gets really freezing. I expect the laggards will keep wandering through until sometime in October.

Claire

Babs, I'm glad Flax is both companion and pest control. Just reading your observations of nature's activities around your house felt peaceful. I feel the rush of too many things--supposed to be starting the school year, but am training an employee at the office, financial paperwork due too soon, summer friends who will soon leave to see one last time...This week I need to take some time to sit and look, and not do "chores."

My feeders are up, but they are clearly not as active. Just two weeks ago I could sit on my sitting rock and hear the hum of the territorial hummer fighting off intruders trying to "steal" either the feeder or flower nectar. Lots of divebombing and chasing happening. Now it's mostly quiet. The feeder liquids are going down, but slowly.

I will say that the area with coneflowers and jewelweed now always has many birds hiding. They seem to be eating the jewelweed seeds and any early ripened coneflowers. They take flight when I get near.

Sept. 15th was the last I saw a hummer. She ate well and somehow, I felt she was on her way. My neighbor, however, has a feeder right outside her porch and can see the hummers about 3' away. She had not seen one for several days, then on the 18th, a female hummer landed on the feeder, drank, and stayed a while. It was my neighbor's 82nd birthday and she felt it was her daughter in spirit stopping by to give birthday wishes. That has happened to her before and it got me thinking about bird activity in dream visions in literature from many cultures. Last night, however, my little Bengal friend and I probably had different dream visions about birds. He/she is polite, just sits on the rail and watches the birds...at least when I see him.

A visitor this morning. First sighting since 9/15/20.

Glad she drank a lot - gave me time to put the date on the picture. I keep track. 😊

Just a peaceful Carolina Wren dining alone.

That is one special tail!

The severe drought has slaughtered the Streetside Meadow, but the milkweed pods are sprouting their wings and now await the wind to carry them to receptive land. They may have to travel far this year.

Unhappily, there is nothing good for the Goldfinches in the meadow this year. Having a well, I'm water aware all the time. Coneflowers are in a sad state; seemingly, there is no viable seed for the birds.

But, he's happy on a drought tolerant tithonia blossom - still blooming - it is now a yard tall. I will buy more tithonia seeds next year.

Jane

I'm still getting hummers too, probably migrants. I was hand watering some phlox a few days ago and a hummer flitted from blossom to blossom right in front of me, a few feet away.

Goldfinches have regularly been on the tube feeder which holds a seed mix. Surprisingly they've ignored the nyger feeder all summer. I don't know if the seed is bad - I tried new seed and it wasn't eaten either. Maybe something in the seed mix is just tastier.

It's so quiet now out there, at least as far as birds are concerned. An occasional crow cawing or blue jay announcing the peanuts are out, but very few bird calls. I guess they're resting after a busy mating and nesting season.

The drought doesn't let up. Some rhododendrons are curling up their leaves and watering doesn't make them let go.

Daytime temperatures are back in the 70's and humidity is low. We had red flag fire weather warnings yesterday.

Claire

I wish I had paid attention to the date when we say the last hummingbird but I think it was only a week ago before the first early frost. I plant a trellis next to the kitchen window with scarlet runner beans. When we sit at the kitchen window, we get a nice close look. The other night I had just enough runner beans to try cooking them, urged on my an English friend. I always thought of them as ornamental. They were delicious. We didn't see flickers all summer but there has been recent sightings and I think we had four. I saw a small hawk carry something off. Hurrah! I must have voles in the potato patch. The harvest was poor plus something dug large holes. The other day I saw a coyote in the field so I bet that's who was digging after voles unless coyotes like potatoes.

We are not seeing many goldfinches right now were just recently there was an active flock. There's still some phoebes around and maybe some bluebirds. One year a family of bluebirds feasted on the cotoneaster berries. The wild turkeys have altered their route to parade down the driveway. Perhaps my husband has been making too much noise in the garage. They usually walk behind the house, the rear garage and barn.

Color is coming on strong. We're going to take a drive to do errands and hopefully have lunch at a restaurant in Hooksett that features local food. We'll eat in the car if we have to. So far we have only eaten once in a restaurant and it was mostly a take-out barbecue place so we were the only ones to sit at a table. GPS took me down Old Shaker Road when I was headed to Loudon Ridge and I went past a marsh that was vividly scarlet with swamp maples. So pretty!

Claire, I’ve found that I have to be pretty diligent about cleaning my thistle/nyger feeder to keep the goldfinches happy. If water gets in under the top, or there’s any whiff of moldy smell, they won’t go near. (I’m assuming this is smell based, but I don’t know about finches’ sense of smell.) Maybe you got an old bag of seed that didn’t smell quite right to them, even if it seemed fine to humans.

That may be the issue, nekobus. I tried a new bag of seed with no takers.

I've been using these feeders for years with no problems.

October 3, 2014

I'll keep trying because winter will bring many more goldfinches to the feeders. For now, I'm glad that they're finding enough food in the regular seed mix.

Claire

Out walking the dog yesterday, there were a pair of mature eagles overhead, but I could hear the immature along the river at the same time. I also have at least three immature hawks, likely red tails based on the size. They are enjoying perching on the old fence posts between the house and the hayfield to hunt. I haven’t seen or heard the broad wings in the last 10 days, so I think that they have headed south for the winter.

There are still phoebes and various smaller migrants, though I don’t expect them around a lot longer since we had three nights around 27, a hard frost that killed a lot of bugs and tender plants. And like defrost, I am still seeing flickers often, and the chickadees are being particularly active and vocal in the woods, I suppose preparing for winter.

Well...one of them had a good day.

We can't tell our hawks apart but I cheer if I see one grab a little furry critter. I noticed the nuthatch looked smaller than usual. Got out the binnoculars and discovered it was a brown creeper which we don't think we've seen before. Just passing throug, I think. It must have been amazing to see mature eagles and hear immature ones. I think it was last year that someone in town was filming otters fishing and when one got a fish up on the ice, an eagle came along and grabbed it.

We did not see a lot of swallows this year. We usually have both tree swallows and barn swallows. But we seemed to have more sparrows than usual and there were different types. Phoebes are still around. We bought the first box of suet and have our eyes open for a good deal on sunflower seeds. I wonder how the drought has affected bird life. Across the road there's a man made pond that I have always thought was spring fed. My husband doesn't think it has gone down much. The new owners have enjoyed jumping in on hot days. It hasn't been care for in years but is in good shape. They said it's 9 feet deep.

My husband is itching to do more brush hogging since we have some boggy areas he usually has to avoid. I pointed out that we have one or two swamp milkweeds that have appeared from nowhere and NOT to mow them down. The seed pods are very skinny. Not at all like our familiar milkweeds.

And segueing from defrosts milkweed comments… This monarch chrysalis was the one that was blown completely off its Iris leaf during high winds. I brought it inside and hung it with dental floss. It became clear three days ago and it is now tied up outside on the back porch where it can fly away, usually it is less than 24 hours before it emerges once you can see the butterfly. I guess our cold temperatures are delaying it.

Last night I had a dream about many hummingbirds appearing out of nowhere to drink from my feeders. One was absolutely huge, like the size of a crow, and I was wondering how in the world one like that got to New England. I think dreaming about hummingbirds means that perhaps I’ve entered a more naturally nature conscious time of my life, which makes me glad. At least, I hope I have. (I know there are no hummingbird species as big as a crow!)

That monarch chrysalis is a lovely thing, deanna, more like a jewel than a butterfly-in-waiting!

Hummingbirds as big as crows are a little scary - those birds are so territorial they would dominate the yard. Monarchs as big as crows would be a little easier to live with.

Claire

This little fella seems a tad late, but I pointed toward Mexico and wished him well. Monarch butterfly. The two black dots on the bottom of his wings indicate he is a boy. Girls have no dots. (some things don't change across Earth's species. 😊) I actually like the fluttering pictures better. Boy or girl Monarch?

Jane

Great pics, Jane! Journey North has maps of the Fall Migration of Monarch Butterflies. Some of them are already arriving in Mexico.

Claire

If you pic had been later I would have hoped he was my boy from yesterday! I don't know if he'll make it. I put him on the branch where the sun would hit in the hopes that he would warm up enough to fly. He isn't there tonight, but we are too cold for me to feel confident.

Today, I have mouse house debris as a souvenir from the car mechanic and fortunately, no body bags were necessary. A bunch of $ later, the car smells wonderful and blows more air through the vents. After placing Fresh Cab bags inside the car this past summer and one under the engine, spreading fox urine granules around the car in the fashion of burning sage to ward off negative energy, I hope that the mouse house was vacated months ago and no new construction will happen again. We'll see. What does this have to do with mobile critters? Nothing, except the car dealership's computer wrote 'criter', not critter. So I'm thankful because with two t's it might have cost more. To make up for the missing 't', on the way I home I bought an amaryllis bulb and got a surprise double header! Have been through a lot of bulbs over the years, this is the first time I got one with a bulblet! 😊

It's 2020.

(not my picture)

I would say that a mouse riding around in a car is indeed a mobile critter. I cringe when I remember an episode a few years ago when a mouse nested in my car and chewed on the wires causing the engine to stall every time I started it. I ended up having the car towed to a dealer and repaired at great expense.

I also did the fox urine and Fresh Cab bags, with castor oil added to the Fresh Cab (I stopped the fox urine because I hated to think of how they obtained it).

I haven't had a problem again although I did find a peanut stashed behind my visor a few days ago.

That's a great pic of the mouse on the flower.

Claire

Mice don't like mint. A lot of people with RVs and campers put drops of mint oil around. I used to give my mother-in-law bunches of dried mint to put in drawers in their rustic camp. My husband's hobby is restoring old cars and pickup trucks. One car that was in daily use had a mouse nest in the rear seat. Sometimes squirrels store acorns in vehicles that sit for long periods. Our daughter in law had a terrible mouse problem because she always left candy in the car.

Yesterday we saw a new to us sparrow - white crowned. The head markings were distinct and lovely, also easy to see when it was feeding on the lawn under our window. Our neighbor across the road stopped by to show my husband a game cam photo of a 400 lb bear! Someone in town posted a photo of a moose in their yard on the town facebook page. I have only seen moose twice in NH in my many long years of living here. We also saw a junco but these birds might be just passing through on their way south. Agway in our area had a pre-order sale of bird seed so my husband ordered enough for the winter. He said the price was really good. Sorry I didn't speak up sooner but I just checked and you can order until 10/29 at the Osborne Agways. I don't know if other Agways are having a similar sale. https://osbornesagway.com/pages/specials

Glad you found the Osborne Agway sale, defrost. I meant to post when I got the email, but life got in the way.

And for mouse-vehicle stories, my DH came home laughing a few years ago about a mouse that had been in the engine compartment of his aged plow truck and crawled out onto the hood when he started driving, so he had a hood ornament until he stopped next.

I am still seeing turkey vultures, though expect they will be gone soon, and a bunch of migrating warblers, but will admit that I don’t even try to ID most of them at this time of year. Flax the dog enjoys watching them also.

One additional advantage of having a dog is that I am out at all hours except the middle of the night with him, so I am seeing wildlife I might not have otherwise. Yesterday it was a coyote crossing the road just before dawn, a gray shadow slipping into the trees, and in the evening there were deer in the field. The coyotes have always been around, but I have only seen them twice before in the 40 years I have lived here because they are nocturnal and very cautious around people.

The typical winter birds are coming to the forefront of my attention: juncos, titmice, blue jays, grouse, a variety of sparrows, woodpeckers, crows, and ravens.

UPDATE: Videos won't post, tried one at a time and both. Will try later.

I love imagining your wildlife sightings. You all live in special places, for sure. Thanks for the descriptions.

I forgot to say in an earlier post that the sun did the trick and the monarch emerged soon thereafter.

We got it on film and my two boys got to watch, too. He started slow but then emerged pretty quickly! If you want to see, here are the videos.

He didn't fly away that day and stayed the night on this ficus on the back porch. I moved to an inner branch, hoping that was more protective, and the next day put him back in the sun. He wasn't there when I got home from work, so I'm hoping he made it. It's awfully cold here now for a butterfly.

defrost - Thanks for mentioning the mint. I bought a bottle of NOW essential mint oil and forgot to use it. So, this morning I made a mint oil caterpillar for the car. It's cotton from a pill bottle wrapped like DNA with pipe cleaners, drenched in mint oil and attached to the 'grill' - that cheap plastic part that years ago was made of chrome - under the license plate. The mice were coming in under the motor, so maybe the scent in the area will be a deterrent. I can tell you, that should you sneeze when your hands have mint oil on them, do not blow your nose. Oh, god, maybe a shower will help. 😂 I smell like Peppermint Patty.

Jane

Great to see a white-crowned sparrow, defrost! I saw a pair a number of years ago when I didn't realize how rare they are here.

I probably should try the peppermint oil again. I tried it once, putting it on a cotton ball placed where the mice were eating plants. The cotton ball disappeared and I was imagining the mouse adding it to a nest which smelled really nice.

Claire

I've been seeing a red-breasted nuthatch at my feeders since sometime in September but I couldn't get the camera up in time. The nuthatches zap in, grab a nut, and zap off really fast.

I finally got a picture today:

And a few minutes later a white-breasted nuthatch flew in too:

A week ago I managed to photograph a white-breasted nuthatch a little better:

The white-breasted nuthatches are always around but the red-breasted ones only come in special winter irruptions. I'll see if I can find the latest winter finch forecast which usually includes nuthatches.

Claire

The 2020-21 Winter Finch Forecast

"It is also a year when red-breasted nuthatches are moving south in high numbers. Perhaps you’ve seen more of these small, charismatic birds than usual in your yard this fall already. I hadn’t seen or heard a red-breasted nuthatch in my yard for about four years. This fall, I’ve had three already. I’ve seen only one, and heard the other two. Red-breasted nuthatches have higher-pitched songs and calls than their cousins, the white-breasted nuthatch. It’s an unmistakable difference once you learn it. Red-breasted nuthatches are the more common nuthatch throughout much of New England, particularly up north. In southern New England, irruption years of red-breasted nuthatches are a special treat as they are not resident birds".

Claire

Claire, interesting about the red-breasted nuthatches this season. I typically see more white-breasted nuthatches, but this year am seeing many reds.

Sounds like you always see red-breasted nuthatches, just not so many, NHBabs. I just checked my photo files and the last time I photographed one was in the winter of 2012-2013.

Such a great little bird.

Claire

I should also have provided a link to the full Winter Finch Forecast. This forecast talks about the chance of seeing grosbeaks and crossbills and redpolls and siskins and other neat birds in New England this winter.

Claire

This thread is getting long and slow to load for some so I'll set up another thread soon.

As always, feel free to continue the discussion on this thread but please post new material on the new thread

Claire

Here's the new thread:

Birds and other mobile features in the garden 2020 #6