Site Discussions

A fawn has been in my backyard all day. A few days ago spotted it a couple blocks away. No sign of mom. Now nestled among my peonies out of sight. Very still. Worried. Your article is encouraging, I will continue to watch from a distance. Thank you.

Question about maple seeds - this year they’re very small! I’ve been waiting for the big translucent tan colored helicopters so I can then clean out rain gutters. Instead I have a blanket of tiny red double-samara seeds. Stress??

Thanks for the information! During isolation, we have seen such fascinating behavior and sounds from the crows in our area.

We agree that ‘murder’ is an unsuitable name. Maybe you can get ‘traction’ with this name suggestion -‘crew’?

I was so saddened to return home after a birding walk to find my just-hatched doves without the mother returning for the night. They’re set low in a box planter so I covered the box with a heating pad set on low They actually settled down as soon as I did so: prior to that they were squirming as if to find warmth from the other’s body. I’ll set my alarm for 4 am to be prepared to remove the pad before—hopefully—the father returns.

Great article and comments!!!

We have a few groups coming around every day. A group of 3 young males and 2 females that come with the big Tom. Sometimes they all come together. At night they roost behind our house in the big pines. Twice over the past 2 weeks we have found random eggs on the ground in the open. Wondering why a hen would lay outside a nest?

Thanks so much for this article. I could not tell what bird was nesting on my back porch, over the lamp. The porch is under a deck, and close to the woods and water so ideal for the Phoebe to nest there. She did make a mess of mud spatters over the door, which we will clean in the fall. She is back for a second season. There was a next there last year that we took down and washed down the door and surroundings. I did not know that she would rebuild in the exact same spot.

I have a den of grey foxes under my back porch. They’ve been back every year for at least 10 years, but this year the female is alone. She has 6 kits, and I fear she can’t take care of all of them and I wander if I should discretely help a little, any ideas?

We saw five bats at dusk last week, (May 14th or 15th) near the Retreat Meadows.

Thank you for the wonderfully informative newsletter, read every word!
Looking forward to the next one!

Enjoyed your article on Wrens! They have been so nasty to the other birds that nest in my yard that I don’t let wrens use my boxes anymore I tried the throwing all the sticks out of the boxes but it really doesn’t work because then they have entered other boxes and killed the babies they are very nasty to chickadee’s so I put wren guards on all their boxes and place them away from bushes and it has helped.

My mother always harvested this for the tea, but she also taught me that if you burn the black part and inhale it (she used a towel over the head draped out over the burning Chaga) it could often stop a migraine.  My sister-in-law who hated the “old Indian stuff” tried it and it definitely helped her migraines.  It annoyed her but not enough for her to refuse to use it.

Hi, just today we had a Big brown bat flying in our kitchen. She/he was beautiful. A big bat, it had enormous ears and big, beautiful wings. We opened doors and windows and it flew out without a problem, circled the house once and took off. We cannot, for the life of us, figure out how it got in!

Just counted 17 blue jays at my feeder…crazy day also numerous cardinals, 8 orioles and a bunch of hummingbirds. Everyone seems hungry!

We had two bats circling us in the sky over our campfire last week in Thetford. It was truly a welcomed sight.

Jim:  I totally understand your feelings and attitude towards pursuing a career in natural resources.  I too returned to college after the military with a wife and young son. But because it was the Vietnam era, my fellow students did not have the same relationship with me as yours do in this modern era. Your past experiences has provided a sense of maturity not found in today’s students.  I worked for USFWS for 36 years and employed several Paul Smith grads.  Best of luck to you and your family.

Hurray for our cold but arrived spring. Saw a visiting pair of evening grosbeak yesterday. Also for about two weeks our 44th year of a returning pair of breeding (sometimes nesting in our yard) of chipping sparrows, I actually for a first time occurrance I saw the chipping sparrow fly and snatch a flying insect, yesterday. It was our first day at over 60F in over two weeks. The poor insects and frogs have had to lay low looking for warmth with the past two week polar cold.

Hi! Thanks for the info, I took noticed of the mourning doves around here when I saw how through all weather the mourning doves will still come to my feeders. It could be pouring down outside all day and my doves will bear the weather to come eat. Love their dedication, usually won’t see other breeds out during the thick of a storm but will see my doves also love how they are always in pairs. It’s very sweet to me to watch them stick together during all actions. They don’t ever stray too far from each other. Love your info!!

It is April 2nd 2020 I have just walked past several Ash (Fraxinous excelsiour) that are bursting into leaf. These are mature field boundary trees which last year did not come into leaf until early June. No other trees in the area are coming into leaf. Some of the hedge plants especially hawthorn are just beginning to show. As we are suffering widely in this area from Ash dieback I am interested if any one has an explanation for this early growth.

Really nice interview! I grew up near a pond and as a child spent much of my spare time there exploring the flora and fauna. Thank you, girls, for sharing you experiences with animals and nature.