wildlife – Page 2 – A WINDOW INTO THE WOODS

Hello from Rufous!

Beautiful Rufus 2 wm's resized DSC_2002

I think this is a Rufous Hummingbird, but I may be mistaken. This little beauty loves nectar that is made up of a concoction of sugar and water. I use 1 cup of sugar to 4 cups of water, I bring it to a boil and then let it cool. The sugar needs to be completely dissolved, I imagine that with such a tiny throat, chunky nectar doesn’t go down all that well.

I normally don’t like cropping an image so drastically, but I wanted to show you his beautiful copper feathers. Like so many other birds, I marvel at the creation of such beautiful, magical creatures.

Monday!?

Ground Hog, Photography

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I told this groundhog that it was Monday and it just stared at me. To a groundhog it’s the season that matters.

It asked me what month it was and I told it July, I thought it was just messing with me. After doing a little research I found out that for these cuties the month IS important because there is a deadline of sorts for them. Winter is coming.

They spend every day stuffing themselves in preparation for winter…they will hibernate underground and so they need to build lots of body fat to live on.

We have Groundhog day here, a tradition that is built on the premise that, every year on the second of February if a groundhog sees it’s shadow, it means six more weeks of winter.

The truth of the matter is, the males come out of hibernation in February to locate females that are still in hibernation. Breeding season will start in March, so, having located the objects of their affection, the males go back into hibernation for a few more weeks.

Who wants to get out of bed before they have to?

(One more interesting fact…THEY’RE A MEMBER OF THE SQUIRREL FAMILY!)

LUNCH!!

Photography, squirrels

I think the chipmunk is going to have a much easier time eating it’s lunch, there’s no shell on it! Adorable chipmunk wm Squirrel with nut wm 0974

This is my little friend from the other day, he was so excited to have found this nut that he took it and ran far away into the woods with it. Then he ran out of the woods, back to where he found the nut and ate it there.

When the birds disappear, I know who’s here.

Birds, HAWK, Photography

The Coopers Hawk was back yesterday which explained why all of the birds had disappeared, the crows AND the blue jays were making a racket scolding this raptor. Please forgive some of the blur, I get too excited and just snap away and the winged beauty was just about out of reach.