Bear redux

Did I mention that the bear came back last night? Just after dark I heard the hanging bird bath, the only thing we leave out overnight, crash to the ground. I looked out in time to see the tail end of the bear (I assume it's the same one that showed up at noon) disappear under the deck. Using my million watt flashlight I went out about 15 minutes later to retrieve the birdbath and assess any damage that might have been done. No harm was done to the plastic birdbath but I brought it in anyway so it could be refilled this morning.

And the bear returned again this evening at 8:30 just after we brought in all the feeders. It walked down the driveway, past the deck and down the trail into the woods pausing only once to pose as I called to Terry to look out her window.

It's obvious to me that the little sting my air rifle made had no effect upon its behavior. We'll just have to be real careful about leaving any food materials outside and hope the bear moves on. Right now, it seems too comfortable around the house to suit me.

Birding State Game Land 37:The Fire Tower

Gary and I went up to the fire tower on PA State Game Lands 37 this morning to do some birding. It rained pretty hard on this area last night so all the woods and grassy areas were wet. Luckily there are numerous trails the size of one lane roads throughout this area and we were able to walk in comfort most of the time. Only when we tried to follow a section of the Mid State Trail that led through an area of waist high grasses and chest high shrubs did we finally get very wet.

While admiring the diversity of the food plots mixed with hardwood forest and some browse areas that provided abundant habitat for birds, we nonetheless found plenty to grouse about concerning the lack of accurate maps for the trails we were walking. We had hoped to make a circuit hike out of our trek but discovered that a trail we thought would lead back to the parking lot instead dead ended 0.3 miles short of our goal. We could have bushwhacked through the forest to get to the parking area, but the understory was quite thick and very wet so we had to backtrack.
It’s a lovely place to walk and is very much underutilized during the off season for hunters. I’ll be going back up there again—with a water bottle, a lunch, and my GPS unit and a compass.

Here’s a list of the birds we saw. Many of the counts are WAG (Wild Ass Guesses). There were far more individuals of some species that went untallied, but, as I mentioned, we backtracked for a good portion of our hike and may have seen the same birds and counted them twice. Sue me.
Location: Fire Tower
Observation date: 7/5/07
Notes: Humid, warm, some fog. Followed heavy rain the night before.
Number of species: 23

Turkey Vulture 1
Northern Flicker 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 3
Red-eyed Vireo 3
Blue Jay 1
Black-capped Chickadee 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Veery 3
American Robin 4
Gray Catbird 2
Cedar Waxwing 9
Chestnut-sided Warbler 2
Black-throated Blue Warbler 2
Black-and-white Warbler 1
American Redstart 2
Ovenbird 3
Common Yellowthroat 6
Scarlet Tanager 3
Eastern Towhee 4
Chipping Sparrow 6
Song Sparrow 5
Dark-eyed Junco 6
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

God Bless America

This should be the national anthem.



God Bless America as sung by THE Kate Smith

Wildflowers in Bloom

We’ve actually got two types of milkweed in our little stand. There is the more common pink flowered variety and a white variety I don’t remember noticing before.


Honeybees are attracted to the pink flowers of the milkweed.


A yellow swallowtail feeds on the white flowers of another milkweed.

Some larger creature, perhaps a groundhog, has also helped itself to some of the younger shoots and flowers of the milkweed and in the process pushed the plants over.

There are several other types of wildflowers growing around the edge of the clearing and in the power line right of way. Currently, the daisies are the most abundant.


The daisies have attracted their share of flying visitors, mostly bees and flies.


Daisies provide a natural landscaping that is very pleasant to the eye.


Queen Anne’s Lace is also flowering now but is much less abundant than the daisies.

Still not in flower are the Russian thistles (I’ve had to cut many of these out so as to have an open path into the woods) and goldenrod. There’s lots and lots of goldenrod but that won’t be flowering for a month or more.

Unwanted Guest for Diner

Terry and I were just sitting down to our July 4th meal of barbecued chicken, potato salad and corn on the cob when I looked out the door to see we had a “guest.” No doubt it smelled the smoke from the grill. (The rich aroma of chicken barbecue will attract all sorts!) It wandered down the hill only to pause at the bird feeders.

Unwelcome guest.

I opened the screen door to take a couple of photos and then shouted. I might as well have run a dinner bell. The bear didn’t react except to start licking up sunflower seeds. I stepped out further and yelled some more but the bear only took one or two steps up the hill before turning around and heading back to the feeder.


I loaded up my Viper air rifle and waited for it to turn so I could shoot a pellet at its backside. When it did, I fired and it ran a dozen steps up the hill before stopping. It then meandered on its way and I lost sight of it in the trees.

I’m not sure if this is the same bear that visited during the night last week. It seemed a bit larger today. I know I thought last week’s visitor looked too small to have bent the shepherd’s crook bird feeder holders but today’s “guest” may have been able to do so.

Butterflies

We have a small patch of milkweed that I have left standing because it attracts butterflies. Not only are monarch butterflies pretty and frequent visitors but there are usually four or five yellow swallowtails and the same number of Fritillaries present on a sunny morning. (Interestingly enough, the monarch was the only one I could not get a picture of. It kept bouncing around from flower to flower and always just out of range of the camera.)


Fritillaries on milkweed.


Swallowtail on milkweed.


Red Admiral
(I had to “chase’ this one down as every time I started to take a picture, it fluttered away. It finally settled on this piece of sumac which had broken off the shrub and was hanging upon a tree branch. When the chase started, it too was feeding on the milkweed.

The milkweed is also a feeding ground for numerous honeybees, bumblebees, flies, etc.

Log Home Update: Part 59 Stain and Mortar

Things went a little slower than I anticipated this week, but the reasons were understandable. I mixed mortar on the ground while Don hauled it up the ladder in 1/3-filled 5-gallon buckets to apply to the chimney. We managed to get the skim coat nearly completed on Monday; finished it on Tuesday; and actually got some stone in place on Tuesday afternoon.

Even with just the skim coat in place, the chimney looked 100% better.

While Don and I did the mortar work, JP was around back staining the logs. Monday he worked using a step ladder and got all the logs on the first floor.

Here you can see the difference in color between the natural wood of the logs and the warm brown of the stain. On Tuesday, JP was able to finish the gable and the soffit (roof overhang).


To avoid overlap and prevent any dark marks on the logs, you actually stain one log at a time, from end to end. These three are the bottom rows of the west side of the house. WoodGuard isn’t noted for this particular problem, but some deck stains will be doubly dark if you overlap them and the result is not pleasant to look at.

We've taken the Fourth off and the weather is not promising for tomorrow. Don and Adam (who's been working on other jobs or for the Code Inspector's office) have a family reunion in VA this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so we may not get much more done until next week.

Okay. One more.

Jeez! How could I forget this one?

Not totally a march but it contains some march qualities.

By John Williams:



You'll know it when you hear it.

More Marches

And, as I said, John Williams has written some very excellent marches, including this one:




And this one:



Enjoy!

One more Sousa

Semper Fedelis

Happy Fourth of July!

Stars and Stripes Forever.

John Philip Sousa knew how to write marches! One of the greatest disappointments in the seven(!) years that my two kids played tuba in their high school's marching band was listening to all the non-marches that were deemed necessary for competition. I would have much rather listened to week after week of Sousa. (Although John Williams writes some pretty mean marches, too.)



JPS's Liberty Bell March

Pit Bulls are Dangerous? You're kidding, right?

The next time someone tries to tell you that pit bulls are inheritly dangerous and should be banned from existence, remember these videos from Texasgirly1979:



Of course he could have been just selecting his meal, but I don’t think so—even if there are only three chicks sleeping on his back in this one:



Then there is this video taken two months later in which all the chicks appear healthy and quite a bit larger:



It’s not the breed, it’s the breeder.
It’s not the nature of the beast, it’s the nature of the owner/trainer.
When you see a “mean” dog, you are usually looking at the end result of a mean trainer/owner or a bad breeder.

A Bear In the Yard

We just had a visitor to the spot where the bird feeders hang during the day. I young black bear, probably about 125 to 150 pound, 1 1/2 year old chased away from momma so she could get it on with the poppa of this coming winter's cub(s), was out there standing on its hind legs to check out the water in the hanging birdbath I've put up. It seemed very disappointed to find it was just water and not the sugar water that it got the last time when it raided (and ruined) the hummingbird feeder. I'm sure glad we've started to pull in the feeders at night. Even with the million-watt flashlight on it, the bear was reluctant to leave until I stepped out on the porch. Then it just ambled off up the power line right of way.

Actually, thinking back to how the steel poles were bent last week, this may not have been the same bear. This one spent some time licking up some spilled sunflower seeds before I opened the door and sent it on its way.

Let's Go Mets!

Well, the Mets seem to have shaken off the horrible first three weeks in June wherein they managed a 4-14 record over the first 21 days of the month.

In the nine days closing out the month they have racked up an 8-1 record having swept the Oakland As for 3, taken 2 of 3 from the Cardinals and now three of three from the Phillies with another in that series to be played tomorrow.

It was a combination of great starting pitching and some power at the plate that fueled the turnaround.

The Phillies, who had crept up on the Mets during their slump, have been sent back to third place and six games back in the last two days. Depending upon the outcome of tonight's Atlanta-Florida game, the Mets will lead the Braves by either four or five games.

Carlos Beltran has certainly enjoyed the last two days in Philly. He was 3-4 today with two homers after hitting two in last nights night cap of the day-night doubleheader. As a team, the Mets have hit 9 home runs and scored 19 times in the three games at CITI Park this weekend.

Backyard Bird Photography

I took my digiscoping equipment (field scope and digital camera) out on the deck this morning and photographed half a dozen species of birds while sipping my morning coffee. In all, I took 85 photographs. After running them through Picasa to crop, sharpen and adjust the lighting, I’ve come up with 6 photographs to share with you.


The Rose-breasted Grosbeak is one of the more dapper looking birds in the yard. Its black head, very white belly, bright red bib, and white-spotted black back really make this robin-sized bird a dazzler. It’s just too bad he can’t do anything about that Jimmy Durante sized schnoze.


The male American Goldfinch is also a sparkler. It’s brilliantly yellow body is set off by the white-barred black wings and black forehead patch. These birds are the state bird of New Jersey but I seldom saw them there. I did sight several flocks along the roadside near the Bolt Hole in the Adirondacks, but the sheer number that attached themselves to the feeders in January and the 20 or so who have remained loyal astounds me.


The Indigo Bunting is a real jewel. Completely blue it stands out clearly against the green of the forest and shrubs. Early in the morning I can usually count on this little guy being perched at the very tippy-top of the poplars across the driveway as he sings his heart out to the rising sun. He will come into the platform feeders but seems to prefer to take his seeds on the ground. As is often the case in the bird world, the female is quite drab and nondescript.


Another year-round resident around the Aerie is the Chipping Sparrow. One of the smallest of birds, this little guy is sometimes overlooked. He wears his russet little cap like a beret. And his rapid, constant, repetitive, simple little call: “chip, chip, chip, chip…” ad nauseam, not only provides the source for his name but also can increase sales of aspirin.


Yet another year-round resident, the Downy Woodpecker often comes to the suet feeder. This smallest of woodpeckers was taking chunks of suet to feed a fledged youngster that hung on a tree just a short distance away.


The Mourning Dove also resides year-round in the area of the Aerie. These buff colored birds are not only subtle in their coloration, but their gentle “coo-coo” sometimes gets mistaken by beginning birders for the “who-who” of an owl. Despite a rather rickety looking nest, the Mourning Dove pair may produce 10 or 12 eggs during the course of a season. They lay two eggs for each clutch and may have 5 or 6 clutches a year. Perhaps that is why, despite being a game bird in many states, the Mourning Dove is one of the most abundant birds in the US.

You can learn more about these and other birds by clicking on the link for All About Birds over on the left. That will take you to the Cornell Labs website and its wonderfully informative entries.

Birding on Pine Creek

We took another bird walk today with members of the Tiadaghton Audubon Society. This time we revisited the rails-to-trails path at Pine Creek/Darling Run west of Wellsboro.

Gary led a group of seven of us along the trail for a couple of miles starting at the parking lot at Darling Run.

Right across the creek from the lot is a Bald Eagles nest and while we watched we saw one of the adult eagles fly in while a second was already at the nest with one or perhaps two very large fledglings. I’ll definitely be going back there soon with the digiscoping equipment.

We had a huge raft of Canada Geese and a smaller clutch of female Common Mergansers (along with one very young one) swim right in front of us in the first few minutes of our walk. Three or four different types of swallows were doing aerial acrobatics over the water as were half a dozen Cedar Waxwings. Several Baltimore Orioles and a couple of Scarlet Tanagers were also present.

Altogether, I recorded 31 species, but I’m sure Gary got a few more than that as Terry and I left early to go shopping for blocks for a retaining wall.

Species List:
Location: Pine Creek/Darling Run
Observation date: 6/28/07
Number of species: 32

Canada Goose 25
Mallard 3
Common Merganser 8
Great Blue Heron 4
Green Heron 1
Bald Eagle 4
Mourning Dove 3
Belted Kingfisher 3
Northern Flicker 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
Eastern Kingbird 4
Blue Jay 2
American Crow 5
Tree Swallow 10
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 6
Barn Swallow 4
Black-capped Chickadee 2
American Robin 3
Gray Catbird 2
Cedar Waxwing 6
Yellow Warbler 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 2
Scarlet Tanager 3
Eastern Towhee 1
Chipping Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 3
Northern Cardinal 1
Indigo Bunting 2
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Common Grackle 3
Baltimore Oriole 3

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Log Home Update: Part 58 Wash and Stain

Summer has arrived and the night time temperatures have risen sufficiently so staining of the logs may begin. Before applying any stain, however, the logs must be cleansed and pressure washed using mill glaze. As I understand it, this opens up the pores of the wood so it may accept the stain. Don came out yesterday to start that process and returned today with Adam and JP to first finish the pressure washing and then begin applying stain.

Don uses mill glaze and a pressure wash to prepare the logs to accept the stain.

Adam chose to climb the extension ladder to apply stain to the soffit and gable logs of the garage.

The WoodGuard stain we chose to finish the logs will give the house a nice warm color. JP started by brushing stain on the logs on the end wall of the garage.

Adam and JP managed to finish the rear of the garage as well as its gable end today. At the rate they’re going, it is possible they will finish the staining by Friday afternoon. Although, they may get slowed by the two taller gable ends of the house and the dormer. Weather could play a role, too, but the worst of the thunderstorms predicted for today and tomorrow arrived half an hour after they left this afternoon.

While Adam and JP continue with the staining tomorrow, Don will likely tackle the chimney. He's going to put together a concrete cap reinforced with rebar for the top and then apply mesh and mortar to which faux stone will be applied. We're using the same stone that we used on the fireplace inside.

More bear tales. This time in PA

When I returned to the Aerie on Sunday it was to find Terry had left the two feeder poles just as she had found them late last week—bent by some night visitor.

1/2 inch thick steel poles were bent by a night time visitor. I had a tough time straightening them back up so it was a very big visitor.

Terry was also puzzled as to why one of the hummingbird feeders would not hold any liquid—until I pointed to the hole made in the side by the same visitor.

A bear's tooth punctured one of the hummingbird feeders.

It’s that time of year when two year old “cubs” are chased away by mom to find their own way while she finds a mate for next winter’s brood. There’s lots of territory covered as the youngsters wonder about and as the older males search out receptive females.

Sooooo, the feeders now come in every night and go out again every morning. I'd pull them completely but we still have the hummingbirds, goldfinches, purple finches, rose-breasted grosbeaks, and a few others showing up every day.

Bear Tales

I got back to the Bolt Hole to discover there were plenty of black bear in my neck of the woods, too. Mark had been maintaining the three game cameras we had set out and we got some great shots of of two, perhaps three, black bears. This couple got our attention.

The bear on the left is female and the larger boar is on the right facing the camera. She weighs in at between 250 and 275 while he may top 400 pounds. How do I know which is male and female? We have pictures from a later night visit that could best be described as "bear porn" in which it is very clear which is which!

When we went out to check the batteries and switch the memory cards, Mark carried his 870 with a couple of birdshot loads and a slug. Just in case. We would much rather wait until this fall when bear season rolls around. Big Ben would make a hell of a wall hanging. We would rather not shoot the little lady as she will supply bears for the future.

Mark posed to give a perspective of the bear sizes. Mark is nearly 6 feet tall (when upright) and weighs about 200 pounds.

The 104 miles of Good Road and A Scenic tour of Ottawa—again.

On past trips, we have been able to get up and have a leisurely breakfast before cleaning up the cabin for the next crew. Then we have had to wait. In poor weather, that wait can be quite long, which explains, in part, why David brought War and Peace.

This year, because of the summer solstice, we were up really early, which was a good thing. We had barely gotten packed and had the floor swept but not mopped, when we heard the Beaver flying up the lake. Holy cow! It was only 7:30 AM! We had visions of getting back to the Bolt Hole before dinner. HA!

While the transfer of the cabin went smoothly, as did our flight back to Coursol Base, things went downhill quickly thereafter. Finishing a cup of coffee at Coursol at 8:30 AM, we learned that the dirt road was closed heading back to Maniwaki. A new culvert was being installed at one of the washouts we had crashed through the week before. It should be open by noon. So we had a second cup of coffee before starting on our way at 9:30 AM.

Sure enough, we reached the road closure at 10:30 AM but there didn’t seem to be anyone at work. We learned that the backhoe/front end loader on our side of the culvert had broken down; something about a leaking hydraulic system that prevented the front end loader from being used. The wait was for a second machine and dump truck from the opposite side. We sat and waited for the alternative was a 4 ½ hour ride (versus a 2 hour one) that would take us even further out of our way than that. About 11:15 AM a dump truck full of sand and then a backhoe pulled up to the opposite side of the ditch. By noon we were again on our way. Lost time: perhaps 2 ½ hours.


But we weren’t finished yet! We did succeed in navigating the dirt road and reaching pavement. We did succeed in making good time southbound on 105 and 5 to Ottawa. We carefully followed the signs off King Edward looking for 417—and found ourselves stranded in downtown Ottawa—again. Every single time we come through this bloody town south bound we get lost. (Although, with four or five guys in the vehicle, maybe we should say "confused" instead.)

It’s a lovely city and I wouldn’t mind visiting it someday as a real tourist but their road signage really, really sucks! And you can’t get a map of the city that’s worth the paper it’s printed on. Those in the various road atlases I have don’t help at all. I swear that they do this on purpose. The city of Ottawa wants you to flounder around on its streets. They want you to look at their beautiful city. Ottawans must have a bit of an inferiority complex from being forever overlooked as the capital of a nation. Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, Vancouver all possess more name recognition. Hell, even Edmonton, Calgary, and Regina probably are more recognized. By dicking you around with poor directions they get you to pass by the capital building (lovely) or through parks where black squirrels abound on the lush lawns. We once accidentally saw the changing of the guard at the capital. At least during the day you have more people to ask directions from and being Ottawa, they are likely to speak English. (At 3 AM in Hull one trip we needed directions but, with three young boys in their mid-teens, we were reluctant to ask of the many young ladies we saw on nearly every corner. At least in Ottawa there are large crowds of people outside the clubs at 2 AM. Although we seldom have to ask directions heading north any more.) Time lost meandering around downtown Ottawa: 30 to 45 minutes.

We did manage to make it back to the Bolt Hole by 10:30 PM after making a stop at a Tim Horton’s on 401 for dinner and the duty free shop at the border. Normally, from Coursol to Bolt Hole would take about 10 hours not 13 or 14 as it did this time. *sigh* Maybe next time.