We keep feeders out for the birds until some other animal knocks them down. I’m imagining a small, overzealous chipmunk, but I could be wrong.
This morning, a male Northern Cardinal was hanging around and collecting the discards from the birds above. Both feeders are on very fragile limbs and only the Blue Jay is daring enough to try it.
The Cardinal was much more discreet, first hiding in the rhododendron.
Should I consider this a harbinger of Spring?
I get excited by nature’s wonders. Yesterday, we got to see a portion of the annular eclipse in the morning. First I made my pinhole camera.
Then I headed outside to wait and watch. The last time I experienced a solar eclipse, we were on Protection Island in the Strait of Juan de Luca. My technique was a little different this time. I used two separate pieces of cardboard.
And it worked. Photographing it with one hand was little tricky.
Then I tried to get a little creative.
When I returned to the cabin, I took another look a half hour later and it had changed to this.
It transitioned from an Apple computer apple to a heart. What a day!
We have come to realize there is no need to rush at anything we do because we don’t have anything else to do. So we can take our time and enjoy. Already, the nights are colder and frost covers everything until late morning.
The days are quickly growing shorter. The sun rose today at 8:22 am and will set at 6:40 pm. This is already 2 hours shorter than when we first arrived in late September.
I thought it was quiet at home, but here the only sounds we hear are made by us, the birds and the squirrels, since there is no one else within hundreds of miles. We got hear a wolf howl one night. I have already begun talking to the birds with a call and response. The other day I had nice chat with a Greater Yellowleg. We are sure to become great friends. The Canada Jays follow us around. And I never realized how versatile a Raven’s call could be. You’re never too old to learn a new language.
I strapped on our chainsaw chaps, which were still set for my waist, donned the helmet and got to work. I immediately felt like a tough guy. Tim gave me lots of tips and we made quick work of a large fallen branch on the lawn, and got three!! pieces of firewood.
I hope the tree survives. I believe it is a copper beech and it is a beauty. It holds its leaves until January and then they fall after they have turned a beautiful, golden copper color.
We used to hang the bird feeders on it but recently moved them closer to the house. It’s better than Netflix. Yesterday, a chipmunk stuffed its cheeks and only stopped when it couldn’t poke its head back into the feeder because it was too big. We’ve had cardinals, too many blue jays, goldfinch, who are almost fluorescent now, chickadees, nuthatches and tufted titmouse.
The blue birds picked the perfect box to build their nest. We won’t be here to follow their activity though and the hummingbirds and bees will be on their own. Who knows what mischief they will get into.
This is my last weather post for a while. It should settle into normal spring weather at this point, right? No more snow. 
Good old thunderstorms instead.
We had a slew of visitors, 4 sets, last week! The first set arrived the day we learned our well had bacteria in it. Ouch. I began boiling water and advising guests. Then the rains came and the rivers rose.
It was very dramatic at the local gorge.
I found a quiet moment or two to get back to spinning. The funny thing is, I don’t think I took this photo but there it was, on my camera. Very nice. Andre?
I am spinning a local alpaca fleece from the lock. I washed it last year or so and now I just grab a lock, flick it on a brush and spin away. I have been plying it with some Blue Faced Leicester and may dye it with my lichen stash. What will it be, what will it be?
The Indigo Bunting woke me yesterday and I managed to get a better photo of it later in the day. Dawn is about 4:30 here and the birds sing their little hearts out. Better than an alarm clock but I wish I could set it a little later.
Avian and mammal. Spring brings feathered friends and family. All welcome.
Bluebirds found the new house by the cabin and are making a nest. 
My sister-in-law and I walked through the grasslands and she spotted a Chestnut sided warbler by the road. You can just make it out hidden to the left in the brambles. It’s not the large tan leaf in the upper right
. 
She also spotted an Indigo bunting just outside our screened in porch.
The lilacs are in bloom all around us. Their scent is the harbinger of spring. With nice weather, cool (40f) nights, visitors return to the Adirondacks in heaps. I love hosting guests during this time of year although there was snow in the forecast for tonight (Memorial Day Weekend)!
So I clean my house before guests arrive. Tim likes to wait until they leave. Any thoughts?
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The temperature is below freezing again but hasn’t stopped the bird migration. It seems every day we hear new songs and see more species at the feeder. This morning a flock of common redpolls stopped by for a frenetic visit. Mourning doves have returned and their song echoes in the woods.
Today a plump, Tufted Titmouse was stopped by and settled in the tree among the spring buds.
As long as the birds don’t care about our Hazardous Weather Outlook, neither will we.
The critters and I spent the day close to home. We had much needed rain and thunderstorms so I headed to the cave and finished weaving my placemats. They are off the loom and drying now.
During the height of the storm, the hummingbird feeder was the place to be.
And even the grasshoppers sought cover.
Blue jays and a female hairy woodpecker ate like birds at our feeders today. The blue jays are especially crafty. One pecks from above and makes a mess while another cleans up below. A pair of chickadees were flitting around and we only saw the tail end of a new arrival with a white belly and long tail. ID to follow if we ever see its head. It was hidden behind one of the feeders and ate for about 5 minutes. Even though we awoke to snow this morning, spring is definitely in the air. Just to prove it, we lose an hour of sleep tonight. It was too cloudy last night to see the Aurora Borealis but maybe today? I’m forever hopeful.
Below is a recent weaving disaster. I had problems when I “dressed” the loom. So bad and the weaving was so unpleasant that I employed a desperate measure. Rather than waiting to weave the whole mess off the loom, I “undressed” it. What would have been four placemats became a mat for under one of the cat bowls.
In better progress is the Na Craga sweater for my son. He asked me to lengthen it so I frogged back the neck and shoulder decreases and lengthened the front and back. Now the front will become the back because there is a minor flaw in what would have been the front. I’m sure only I will see it, but it’s all I will see. Not even a flaw, just one stitch which looks looser and may block out. But just in case.
Loki spends a lot of time sitting on the windowsills and basking in the sun. He is actually not all that interested in the birds at the feeder and in fact the crows and blue jays scare him away. We’ve had some lovely snow and the birds spend a lot of time at the feeders. I heard robins this morning and a woodpecker tapping a tree across the road. We seem to be feeding all the wildlife. I saw deer tracks around the tree and only hope they are eating from the feeder’s spill and not the tree itself!
Goldfinch on the sunflower feeder
There must be something good in the feeders because the birds leave the most colorful eggs. This batch has been sent south in search of the Easter Bunny. I believe in spring, fertility and rebirth but never understood why a bunny delivered eggs. Why don’t we have an Easter Chicken?
Island and North Country Life 