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.

Return of Migratory Birds

As the ice on the local ponds melts and the open water appears the migratory water birds are starting to return. I found about a dozen Canada Geese on the pond by our cabin.



Over on Miner's Pond a flock of Herring Gulls stopped for a rest. This gull found a tasty morsel embedded in the ice.



A second gull checks out the source of a meal.



Birds of a feather may flock together, but this one isn't going to share a meal.

Snow, Snow, Go Away ...

Some warm weather has returned to the neighborhood since last week's record snowfall and the local deer are now looking for bare areas to graze.










A couple of photos from my game camera following last week's snow storm. This deer was breaking a trail through the fresh snow.



A couple more deer following the trail breaker's path through the deep snow.

Henry Charles Beebe

Chuck (Robert Charles) and Nikki (Nicole) Beebe are the parents of our new grandson, Henry Charles Beebe, who entered the world at 2:30pm on March 15th, weighing in at 7 lbs 14 oz and 21.5" long.



Chuck and Henry.



Mother Nikki and Henry.



Henry preparing to leave the hospital on St. Patrick's Day.



Ready for his ride home.



Big sister Myra meets little brother Henry.



Nikki, Henry and Myra.

Blizzard of 2017

Spring will be here in a week, but a "nor'easter" snow storm moved into our neighborhood and dumped at least 2 feet of snow. The table on our deck.



At 6:00PM we had 24 inches of snow and it is still coming down.



The view from our deck.



I spent most of the day plowing out, but still more work to do once the snow stops.



Our solarium.



My stockpile of firewood.

A Sign of Spring

So far this Winter has been mild and as the temperature in the neighborhood reaches the 50's, I found this crocus in bloom.