Rat-a-tat-tat, we're here

Winter is trying hard to stick its nose under the door. It has been snowing all morning, although there is no accumulation. However, when the clouds cleared off the Manzano mountains, there is a lot of white up there. And of course it has turned colder, yet the oak trees are still holding on to a lot of their leaves. Today is a fine day to sit back and rest.

Seems like the last couple of days has been dominated by birds. Off to the side of our house, where we look when sitting at the breakfast table, I have let the grass (well, maybe weeds, but anything that turns green around here is grass) grow tall, tall enough that when birds are picking at seeds only their heads show. Mostly right now we have Steller's Jays, Western scrub jays, at least three Lewis's woodpecker, and one starving hawk.

I have seen the woodpeckers around from time to time all summer, beautiful birds with a russet belly and wings when they fly. But suddenly a couple of days ago they seemed to attack our well house. We watch three of them clinging to the stucco sides as they explored it. Later we though someone was knocking, but it turned out to be the three of them under our porch roof testing the plaster. Susannah chased them off and I haven't seen them again, but I suspect they will show up again in a day or two.

The Steller's jays are fantastic. If you have never seen one, you are missing a great sight. Backs, bellies, and wings are deep blue, the heads are black with golden eyes. Perhaps the most striking feature is the large crest they bear, it always reminds be of a an ancient Spartan soldier, or perhaps something from long ago. They are constantly flying in and out, then hopping through the oak trees, or searching the ground for seeds. We have counted at least 10 of them, and I suspect there are more.

The scrub jays are not as colorful, but also plentiful. Turns out the young may stay around for several years to help their parents raise subsequent broods. I suspect the Stellar's do the same. All in all it makes for a colorful display while we eat breakfast.

Yesterday we had an increase in activity with the arrival of either a coopers hawk or a sharp shinned hawk, haven't been able to identify which. He (or she) has been trying hard to make one of the jays into dinner. Because of its failure, I suspect it is young, but it hasn't failed for lack of trying. Given that the jays are about 12 inches long and the hawk is no more than 14 it has been an interesting contest. The jays pretty much ignore it unless it is actually chasing them, then the two go twisting and turning through the trees until the hawk gives up. Then everything is quiet for a few minutes followed by another swoop for supper, while the rest of the jays go on feeding on the ground. Well, just saw him chasing a jay in the woods on the other side of the house, which I can see from the computer. I know that most young hawks starve to death before they develop sufficient hunting skill, and I hope this one learns quickly. On the other hand I am a bit partial to the jays, hope he learns to catch mice.

We have a large "deck box" out behind the well house. It is about 6 foot long and a couple of feet wide and deep. Susannah keeps trash there until we take it to the dump. Last year it was pretty badly mauled by a bear and since then she has kept the garbage separate. Guess she left some veggie matter in it and we found it drug about 20 feet off to the side. Couldn't tell definitely what drug it; Susannah thinks it ws a bobcat, I still suspect a bear. I am dubious of my suspicions because I think a bear would have opened it (the last one did, in pieces!) and it maintained its integrity this time. On the other hand I can't see a bobcat going after veggie matter. I did find some scat that looked like bear scat not far away, full of acorn husks. Guess I will stick with the bear theory, with the addition that it probably wasn't very hungry.

The gas furnace, which we use for cold mornings has been turned off and the wood stove has been burning since yesterday keeping the hose a warm 80 degrees. Amber is asleep in her bed on the window sill next to me, Chaco is sleeping in front of the stove, and Oliver, the not so smart tom cat, is prowling around outside, or maybe hiding under the RV. At any rate he does not want to come in. Susannah is puttering around in the kitchen, and I think it is time for another lot into the stove and a snooze in the recliner in front of the stove. It may be winter outside, but the fire is cozy that the Laing tribe, New Mexico division, is at peace.

Hugs,

Mike L

Intrusions at the Hacienda

The last couple of days have been interesting in terms of the local wildlife. Day before yesterday I heard Susannah yelling in the living room and rushed to see what had happened. She had opened the door to go out, and for some reason a humming bird had flown in and headed for the window to go back out again. Unfortunately for the hummer the window was closed and before Susannah could do anything Amber, the cat, was up on the window sill, the bird was batted to the floor and the prcess of digestion started. I arrived in time to see the tail vanish. Amber was evicted since we figured the feathers were going to quickly come back up.

I hate to lose a hummer, although the truth is we have more than enough to feed two cats. Right now the population is high enough to go through about a half gallon of sugar water a day, and the consumption is increasing as the word gets out that high quality food is available at Mike and Susannah's place. Fascinating, two feeders, 8 spots to feed from total, and both birds are fighting for the same spot! While fascinating to watch, and really beautiful, they have no manners or social graces at all.

Right now we have green birds with black heads and red throats, but any time now the rufus birds will arrive in great numbers. They look like burnished pennies, bright copper with a red throat that seems to glow like a burning coal. Nope, manners are just as bad as their cousins, they are just prettier.

Then yesterday, as I struggled to wake up over my first cup of coffee while staring blearily at the computer screen in the study there was a a scream of "Michal, there's a snake in the door!" Now I admit, I wasn't quite fully awake, and I was trying to picture how a snake could be in the door. Perhaps embedded in the wood? Anyway I rushed to the living room, and from under the front door about a foot and a half of bull snake (also known as a gopher snake) tail twisted and turned. Opening the door, hoping not to hurt it, drug it inside where it tried to make an escape. No luck! We have laminated flooring, and apparently the stuff is just too slick for a snake to make progress, so mostly it just wiggled from side to side having no success in making progress.

I guess I should have grabbed my camera and gotten some pictures since it was pretty young, only about 2.5 feet long, and its skin was bright and shinny. I suspect if we really looked around we could find the skin that it had probably just shed. Oh well, forgot about that as I put on a pair of gloved and finally managed to pick it up despite the fact that it was moving as fast as it could, but not going anywhere. I don't mind handling non-poisonous snakes but do take the precaution of wearing gloves just in case they get too frightened and try biting when first picked up. Generally they settle down in just a minute or two and after that are safe to handle.

No problem with this one, it had a one track mind and that was to go someplace else. So we carried it out into the woods where I hope it can escape both cats and dogs. And as we walked along it found it could move in my gloved hands and so headed out, from one hand to another as fast as it could go, probably about as fast as I was walking had it been on the ground. When we reached the woods near my work shop I let it go onto the ground and it kept on going as fast as it could into the trees and grass, hopefully to grow a bit and keep the mouse population down a bit. Most likely it will also have an effect on the grasshoppers, the lizards, and best of all, on other snakes. Rattle snakes have not been seen around our property, but they are most certainly in our area, so the production of bull snakes is highly encouraged.

As I watched out the window this morning while exercising, the dog and the phoebes were competing to see who could catch and eat the most bugs. At least I guess that was what they were eating. Chaco just gobbles them up, the phoebe would catch one, go bang it on a rock and then either eat it or take it up to the nest. Haven't poked my head up to see if it was feeding its mate or newly hatched chicks. Since I generally see only one at a time out, I suspect that they are still next sitting. They present quite a drama as they swoop and then hoover, standing still in the air, then dropping to grab a bug. Or sometimes swooping down to catch one out of the air. Between them and the humming birds I sometimes wonder if it is safe to walk out onto the pourch. I can picture one of them stuck in me like a arrow in a tree.

I wonder what I next adventure with the local wildlife will be.

Hugs,

Mike L