Owl Nesting Box

Grandson Reed is spending his Christmas break with us and it's a good time to work on an outdoor project. An owl nesting box.

Last spring I was lucky enough to see and photograph a Barred Owl on our property. I have also got some night time photos of owls on game cameras. Since I know there are owls in the area, let's see if they need a nesting box.

The hard part of this project wasn't building the nesting box, it was installing the nesting box 15 feet up a hemlock tree.

The plan was to use a 15 foot high ladder stand as a working platform to install the nesting box. The plan was working OK until I pull the nesting box to the top of the ladder stand and realized a one person stand didn't give me much room to maneuver and install the nesting box. After a few close calls I was able to finish the installation.

Local Bucks

This fall I gathered a lot of photos of deer on our properties. Today is the last day of rifle deer season and I hadn't posted these photos until now to avoid encouraging other hunters to come looking for them.

A wide 7-point

A different wide 7-piont

A nice 8-point

A big beefy buck

Deer Hunting

I'd been watching the local deer prior to the start of rifle deer season and found a few nice bucks. This big buck is only a six point, but on my list of choice bucks.

On the first day of rifle season I passed on shooting a small 8-point buck since I knew of bigger bucks in the area. I didn't see any more legal bucks for the next 4 days. I did have a flock of turkeys watch me for over an hour one day.

The waiting for "Mr. Big" paid off and I was able to drop the big 6-point with one shot.

Fall Turkey Season

This past Saturday was the start of the fall turkey hunting season. Prior to the start of turkey season I was informed by our neighbor NOT to shoot her turkeys. A small, local flock of wild turkeys has been roosting behind her house. After hunting most of Saturday, we twice encountered our neighbor's flock of turkeys in the township road, near her house. Although these were the only turkeys we found for the day, we passed on shooting them.

I had a few errands to do this morning and as I traveled about a half mile from our property I found this flock of turkey standing in the township road. There was a very heavy frost this morning and the turkeys were reluctant to leave this sunny spot in the road.

I was able to inch closer to the turkeys with my truck for some better photos, but another car approached from the opposite direction with what looked like a plan to take out a bird or two with the car. The turkeys avoided injuries by moving over enough to let the car pass.

The slow moving, jaywalking turkeys eventually exited the township road without any injuries.

Checking Out The Locals

This 8-point has been in the neighborhood for over a week, checking out the local girls.

Winter Firewood

After last year's mild Winter, I still had firewood left over. With a forecast of rain this weekend followed by colder weather it was time to add to my firewood stockpile.

I stopped to take a break from splitting wood and this curious young deer came over from the nearby brush to investigate.

The Buck is Back

The buck from last evening's wildlife drive was back in the neighborhood this evening looking for love.

Let the doe know you're in the area by building a buck scrape.

Place your scent high so it will carry.

The buck scrape is in place, time to show off for the "girls".

Check for the scent of doe in the area.

If you build it (a buck scrape), they will come.

Bucks in Rut

Last evening was another rainy day and a good time to take the ATV for an evening wildlife ride. The does and fawns were out feeding when this buck with a dazed look appeared. The buck walked closer to us and got within 15 yards of us. The blur in the background is one of the does scattering.

We continued on the evening wildlife ride and after a short time found the buck had moved to a different location, but still looked to have the same subject on his mind.

The Turkeys Have Landed

I was watching college football on TV when a flock of turkeys flew over our house and landed in the backyard. After a few minutes to regroup, the turkeys moved closer to the house searching for food. Two more weeks until the start of fall turkey season.

"The Rut" Has Begun

The white-tailed deer mating season has begun and some of the local bucks are acting "strange".

I went to check the memory card on one of the game cameras and found this buck standing next to it and paying no attention to me in my ATV.

After a few photos the buck moved out of view. I restarted the ATV, moved forward and again found the buck paying no attention to me.

I now had a few photos of this buck and moved to a location with a better view of the buck. Again, no reaction from the buck which is about 25 yards away. After about 25 minutes of watching this buck, he decided to move off, into the brush. I never did get a photo of the buck with the game camera.

Mourning Dove

We've had a family of mourning doves at our barn since this Spring. The mother hatched several broods this year and now they wait for me to feed them each day. This young mourning dove is just starting to fly and I'm able to hand hold the camera within a foot of the bird.

Blue Mushrooms

Matt found this lone Indigo Milk Cap (Lactarius indigo) along a trail on our cabin property this weekend.

I went back today to get a few more photos of this distinctive mushroom and discovered several more blue mushrooms a short distance up the same trail.

While the outside of the Indigo Milk Cap may be a pale blue, the inside is a deep blue and will ooze a blue "milk", or latex. These mushrooms have a firm/meaty flesh and are delicious when sliced and cooked in butter.

Building Habitat for Homeless Bats

While Matt was in the woods for the first day of archery deer season, grandson Reed and I were building a habitat for homeless bats. I found plans on the Internet to build a bat house from three 6-foot cedar fence boards.

Cut one 26 inch board and one 22 inch board from each of the three 6-foot cedar fence boards. The 26 inch boards form the back and the 22 inch boards will form the front. I used a biscuit joiner and wood glue to form each panel.

A ventilation strip is cut 6 inches from the bottom on the front panel.

The instructions called for cutting grooves or attaching plastic mesh on the inside of the panels, making it easy for bats to grab on and nest comfortably in their dwelling. I stapled stainless steel wire mesh to the inside.

Reed attaching additional supports to the inside of the bat house.

The back panel is complete, now attach the front panel.

Assembly is complete, time to paint and add hangers.

Reed and completed bat house.

The bat house was hung outside the south facing, second floor window of the barn. This puts the bat house about 20 feet above the ground.

West Hill Bathtub

Archery deer season starts this weekend. Time to check the West Hill game cameras. This summer we repurposed an old bathtub into a wildlife waterhole and here are some of the game camera photos.

A black bear stopped for a drink.

Mama bear and cub.

Bobcat

Coyote

It's Not Easy Bein' Green

I was doing some clean-up work near a wetland on our property and found this baby green tree frog. (Shown on my hairy arm)

This little frog on the tip of my finger.

'Eat or be Eaten'

One of the laws of nature is 'survival of the fittest' and the titles of prey and predator can sometimes change very quickly. I was mowing a field of dead grass and goldenrod when I watched a preying mantis fly by and into the web of a Black and Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia). The preying mantis suddenly went from a predator to prey and a sizable meal for the Garden Spider. I stopped my mowing to take a few pictures and release the preying mantis from the spider's web.