Baby Geese

This year's baby geese are starting to appear on our pond.

Even the local deer want to check out the new arrivals.

More geese and more curious deer. Two deer, four adult geese and 13 baby geese.

Star-nosed Mole

It finally stopped raining long enough that I could start working in my garden. As I started tilling the garden I dug up this Star-nosed Mole. Since the Star-nosed Mole likes mucky/swampy areas, my garden would be a perfect place for this mole.

Visiting Bobcat

I moved a couple of game cameras to a new location. I'm still working on the camera placement.

This Bobcat came in to check out the cameras.

In Search of Totality

We had witnessed the 2017 Eclipse and soon after started making plans for the 2024 Eclipse. This total eclipse would be much closer and within a 2 hour drive from home. As the day of the eclipse drew closer, the weather forecast started calling for high thin clouds and then chances of rain for the big event. When we started our drive on the morning of the 8th, it was sunny and we saw this Bald Eagle feeding along the edge of the highway, within a couple of miles of our home. I turned around to get a photo of the eagle and it flew into this tree.

Having been through the 2017 Eclipse, my plan was to look for a location with lots of parking, easy access to a return route and access to rest rooms. My logistics planning zeroed in on the south bound rest area on I-390 at the Mount Morris, NY. We arrived at the rest area at 10:00AM and only found a half dozen cars. As we waited for the start of the eclipse, we got to know some of the other people and found their planning also used the same criteria which selected this rest area. By 2:00PM the rest area was full and overflowing.

Our little viewing area ready for the big event. We were still able to see the sun peak through the clouds.

By 2:00PM the clouds got thicker as the eclipse started.

The clouds blocked viewing the eclipse but around 3:15PM the sky started to turn darker. It was the start of totality. We couldn't see the Sun being blocked by the Moon, but I did record a video of what happened. My video was 6 minutes long and I changed the video play speed to reduce it to half a minute.

Shortly after totality, this hot air balloon drifted by the rest area.

Traffic on I-390 leaving the rest area wasn't bad until we reached road construction at Dansville, NY. After leaving the road construction area, the traffic was heavy until Corning, NY.

Bald Eagles

Prior to the PA trout season opening next week, Wysox Creek has been stocked with trout. The time between the stocking of trout and the start of trout season is prime time to see bald eagles along Wysox Creek. As I crossed the bridge over Wysox Creek this morning, I found a pair of juvenile eagles checking out the fresh fish selection in the creek.

Wood Frogs

Another sign of spring. As our local weather cycles between temperatures of 15F and 70F, the Wood Frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) mating season has begun.

These Wood Frogs have converged in a small pond next to my wood duck nesting box.

Egg masses along the edge of the pond.

The Bear is Still Here

On Tuesday I had a close encounter with a black bear. After checking my game cameras today, I see the bear is still in the same area. For the past 4 nights the bear has been at my "Bone Yard", a place where I dispose deer carcasses. I have over 2,000 pictures of the bear chewing on old deer bones.

Spring Is Here

It was warm/sunny today and as I was doing some landscape clean-up near our cabin pond I found my first snake for this season. It was a Northern Redbellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata). These are very small snakes that are about the size of a pencil when full grown.

Spring Bear

Today was in the 60's but for the past few days we've had an inch of rain, high winds and snow squalls. This afternoon I drove around our cabin property in the ATV looking for storm damage. I didn't find any storm damage but I did find a large black bear bedded under a pine tree, just 40 feet from me. The bear got up and ambled into the nearby brush before I could get my first picture. The bear looked and acted groggy like it had just come out of hibernation. The bear stood about 70 feet away in the brush for about 5 minutes before walking off.

Skunk Activity

It was a cold, damp day and not much activity. I did find this young skunk during my evening wildlife drive.

Turkeys

The temperature dropped to 13°F overnight and as I headed out to run some errands this morning the turkeys were out warming up.

This flock of turkeys, mainly gobblers, was in the field behind our barn.

I found these domesticated turkeys wandering through Rome Borough.

Rodents and Electrical Wires

The "Check Engine" light on my truck came on last week and since this new truck had less than 3,000 miles I took it to the dealer to get the problem corrected. The engine code was P2418, defined as a Evaporative Emission System Switching Valve Control Circuit/Open. I assumed this repair would be covered by the vehicle warranty, it wasn't because it was rodent damage and not a part failure. The cost of this repair was $662.04. $61.82 for a new connector, $563.50 for labor and $37.52 for taxes. Luckily this was covered by my auto comprehensive, minus the deductible.

View of the damaged wires located above the fuel tank.

Damage to the connector.

The repair bill for rodent damage.

Wood Duck House

Last summer I started planning on putting a Wood Duck nesting box in a swampy area of our property. After studying the swamp for placement of the nest box, I found a spot in the water surrounded by Tussock Sedge mounds. The big problem with this location was accessing it to drive in a support post. My plan was to wait until the swamp freezes in the winter, drill a hole in the ice and then drive the support post in. The only problem was lack of ice this winter. Today's temperature was 59F and the Wood Ducks will soon be here looking for nesting sites. I put on my chest waders and trudged through the swamp muck to install the nesting box today.

Honey Bee Tree

We've had some high winds here and the top of this large pine tree came down.

The pine tree had snapped off about 15 feet above the ground.

While inspecting the fallen tree I could see some honey comb inside the hollow tree.

After taking some measurements inside the hollow of the tree, I cut off 4 feet of the tree to expose a packed layer of leaves and rotting wood just below the honey comb.

I was then able to remove the plug of leaves and rotting wood and view the honey comb. The impact of the tree hitting the ground had dislodged at least one of the honey combs from the tree cavity.

I didn't see any honey bees, dead or alive, and removed the fallen honey comb, which contained a small amount of delicious honey.

As I prepared to remove more honey comb I found live honey bees that had been hiding under the fallen honey comb.

The overnight temperature had dropped to 18F and the bees had huddled together to keep warm.

Over the years I've located and monitored other wild honey bee trees on our property. We've had a decline in wild honey bees in this area and I decided I needed the honey bees more than their delicious honey. I closed off the open end of the tree and placed a protective weather cover over the entrance hole. Hopefully this will keep the bees warm and safe from bears, raccoons and other animals.

I'll continue to monitor these wild honey bees. If this bee colony survives maybe I'll be able to remove the plywood end covers and remove small amounts of honey.

Deer Enjoying The Warm Weather

The local deer are enjoying the current warm weather and lack of snow. I found these deer out early feeding while I was on my evening wildlife drive.