Towheeblog

Most days I don’t see more than seven squirrels in the same area at one time. This morning there were eight in our back garden at once. All chasing and swallowing seeds as fast as possible and flicking their damp tails. Not much later I re-count. This time: 10 squirrels in front, another six in back. That’s a record sixteen dining simultaneously. We are the local squirrels favorite outdoor diner, apparently.

FAIRVIEW WETLANDS
A first visit since the winter storm hit over a week ago. Much of the water is still iced over. The inflow streams and ducks in motion was not enough to prevent heavy ice formation during our sub-freezing days.

IN the far southwest corner of the main Fairview marsh pond there was some open water. There the dabblers had gathered–pintail, shoveler, GW teal. Walking around the perimeter, mammal activity was visible. First a small section of rodent roads, built beneath the snow last week. Then a beaver felled alder, with some sections devoured. The trunk was about ten inches in diameter at its base where they chewed through. This may not be this alder’s first experience with beavers–the tree has multiple trunks about the same age.

Downy at Fairview:

Lewis’s Woodpecker, enjoy while it lasts. The new name could soon be change to Pink-chested Woodpecker or Acorn-cousin Woodpecker. It is a usual wintering bird in the low elevation (below 3000′) oak forests of Jackson County. Click here for a brief video of one shared by Lee French.

In our garden today: