Reed's Check-up

Another big day for Mr. Reed, our grandson, as he starts his day with a healthy breakfast. He's now 10 months old and time for a visit with the doctor for a check-up.



At the doctor's office, killing time in the waiting room with mommy.



Still waiting for the doctor... selfie with grandpa. (I now have 4 teeth)



Go to examining room #4, take your clothes off and wait for the doctor.



These scales can't be right... are you sure?



Check my length... I feel like a bass at a fishing tournament.



Checking my knowledge container...



Checking the ears...



Time for a blood sample.



Time for a shot and we are done. Everything looked good and we will see you again in September.

Blueberries

Some of the early blueberries are starting to ripen in our blueberry patch.



It looks like a good crop of blueberries this year but I also saw some signs of the bushes being raided by some of the wildlife. There have been some sightings of bears in the neighborhood.

Underwing Caterpillar

I was cleaning out weeds from my raspberry patch when I came across this large caterpillar on a dead raspberry cane. This 4 inches long caterpillar is an Underwing Caterpillar, a Catocala ilia Moth.

Caterpillars

As I was leaving our barn today, in my truck, I noticed a limb on a walnut tree was hanging low and the back side of several of the leaves were almost solid white. After investigating I could see the white colored leaves were covered with caterpillars and some of the surrounding branches had been defoliated.



The caterpillars were about the size of a very large grain of rice and packed tightly on the leaves.



A close-up of the caterpillars.

Time to mow some hay

I have been busy with some other activities this year and have gotten behind on my mowing.



Its been hard to find the deer in the tall grass.



I put the sickle bar mower on the tractor and after a couple of passes around the field I had this fawn come out the tall grass.



Almost done with this section of the field and a second fawn came out of the grass.

Painted Turtles

It was a rainy day in the neighborhood and a good day to find painted turtles along Joyce Road near Miner's Pond. I found two small painted turtles crossing the road, looking for a place to lay their eggs. Unlike the snapping turtles, the painted turtles are shy and non-aggressive.

Cooling Off

The temperature was into the 90's today and our grandson Reed got to try out his new wading pool.



This is fun ...



Reed wasn't the only one enjoying the pool. Mommy and Grandma also tried to cool off.

Snapping Turtle

I was driving up the road to our cabin and spotted this snapping turtle crossing the road.



Unlike the smaller painted turtles that are found in our neighborhood, snapping turtles have a muscular build, can grow very large and have a very aggressive disposition.



While it may look like the snapping turtle is smiling, don't be fooled ...



This turtle charged my camera and tried to bite it.

Spring Turkey Hunt

Another Saturday morning of the Spring-gobbler turkey hunting season and I'm trying a different location to see if my luck is any better.

After a couple of hours of no activity, this woodchuck came out to harass me.



At first the woodchuck was more interested in checking out my turkey decoys and would approach the decoys carefully.



Time for a close up look at a decoy.



The woodchuck returned to his hole at the edge of the field and was replaced with this squirrel. Still no turkeys harmed so far this spring.

Baby Geese

The first batch of baby geese (goslings) have arrived on Miner's pond and the proud parents are showing off the little ones.

Spring Turkey Hunt

It's another rainy/wet Saturday morning. Too wet to mow the lawn ... I guess I'll go turkey hunting. It's now the third week of the Spring-gobbler turkey hunting season and I had this hen come within 25 feet of my blind. I only saw two gobblers but they stayed out of range.



By 11:00AM I had seen a couple more hens and was watching this hen when a red fox tried to sneak up on it.



The turkey saw the red fox and made a fast exit from the field.



The red fox had to change its meal plans and headed toward my blind.



The red fox must have detected me and also made a fast exit from the field.



No turkeys were harmed during today's hunt.

Ticks

The warm weather of spring is here and with the warm weather comes ticks.



I was walking around looking for morel mushrooms and wildflowers to photograph but came back with ticks. Found six ticks and no morel mushrooms.

Autumn Olive and Bees

The flowers on the autumn olive bushes are starting to bloom and the bees are buzzing around the flower.

Spring Turkey Hunt

We are now into the second week of the Spring-gobbler turkey hunting season and I haven't harmed any turkeys (yet). It was a rainy/wet morning and I set up my hen turkey decoys before day break and then waited in the shelter of a ground blind. I wasn't able to attract any turkeys to the decoys but a did have this deer come in to check out the decoy.



Maybe I should use this turkey decoy for deer hunting.

Bird Watching

Next week is the start of the Pennsylvania spring turkey season. I was out doing some turkey scouting today and found this Bald Eagle in the neighborhood.