We use a metal toy 'slinky' to keep squirrels away from the bird feeders. The feeder was blown off the metal pole that held it. But the slinky held on and gathered a coating of the wet heavy snow.
Slinkys have been discouraging squirrels for many years in my experience as a bird watcher. They try to get to the feeders again and again. But they are startled by the movement under their claws, or their feet get tangled up in the flat wire coil.
This year, I noticed an area of collapsed dirt over their burrow. Recently, it seemed they were active on the north shore of the pond, digging a new burrow where they may spend the winter.
Some muskrats build domed houses of mud and vegetation visible above ground, but just as often they dig burrows with an underwater entrance.
'Ice stars' or 'Lake stars' develop under very specific early winter conditions.
First, a cold snap that freezes the pond ice an inch or two thick, followed by warmer days that bump the ice temperature above 32F. Pores form in the ice sheet where there are any imperfections in the water surface (plant matter, logs). Then, some snow falls with a cold front blowing in. Warm water wells up from beneath the thin layer of ice, covered with a coating of snow and slush. Temperature and precipitation have to be perfect for this to happen.
The Tamarack tree Larix laricina is a deciduous tree. In summer it has lush green needle-like leaves; in autumn the leaves turn golden before they drop. Next to the pond, it gets along with other swamp and wetland species.
This tree is also a conifer, making small cones that shed winged seeds in the fall.
70+ degrees F. !! Wonderful autumn weather.
Turtle still sunning on rocks in the pond.
Frog jumping when I venture into the wetland.
Mallard pair still paddling around, feeding.
New England Aster Symphyotrichum novae-angliae blooming.
Snow overnight. The log is totally exposed, because we are down more than 8 inches of precipitation.
We trimmed back some undesirable willow plants around the pond. That action revealed a hidden nest. Earlier this summer, I found one Red-winged Blackbird nest near the pond in some reeds. All summer long, the male RWBB was bothered when anyone walked near the willows. He even dived at my head when I walked near that shore. I assumed he and his mate had a nest among the reeds closer to the pond. No wonder I could not find it in the reeds! It was revealed -- low in the willow sprouts -- when we trimmed around that area.
Seed pods of Canada Milkvetch are beginning to dry enough to spill the tiny seeds. In the background is the ubiquitous white asters that grow everywhere among native wildflowers at this time of the year.
This wildflower was finished blooming and was forming seeds. But its seed head sprouted green leaves! Fascinated, I looked closer. Some of new seeds were actually germinating and sprouting while still in the seed head. Usually, they wait until they are in the perfect place (soil, moisture, temperature, sunlight) to begin new growth. Sometimes you see this while seeds are still inside the fruit, like a tomato or green pepper. In plants, it is called vivipary (Latin for 'live birth') and involves seeds germinating before their determined time. I first learned about this a few years ago when my grandson sent me a photo of a sunflower seed head that was doing the same thing.
Scouring Rush Equisetum hyemale grows in the wetland around the pond.
It is also called 'horsetail'. This plant has coarse fibers and silica deposits in its stems, so herbivores don't eat this plant.
For more about this plant, see blog posts on 7/23/2020 and 6/25/2021.
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have been enjoying the red trumpet flowers on the lonicera vine all summer. Finally, we saw them sitting still!
We found this baby Snapping Turtle on a street curb in the neighborhood. We relocated it to the wetland around the pond, hoping it would find enough to eat there. Snapping Turtles Chelydra serpentina eat water plants as well as insects, worms, snails, small fish, and anything edible that it can find.
