Crazy Weather

This Winter's weather has been a roller coaster ride between extremes. The last snow storm dumped 7 to 8 inches of wet sloppy snow which turned to 3 to 4 inches of slop that turned to solid ice in the sub-zero weather that followed the storm. We saw a warm-up into the 50's yesterday which started to melt the frozen slop, but at 3:00AM this morning the weather took an abrupt "U-turn" with a rapid temperature drop and rain.

Some data from my weather station for "Weather Geeks" - https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KPAROME2

We hit a high temperature of 57.1F at 2:00AM and then the temperature dropped 30 degrees in 30 minutes at 3:00AM.

At the same time as the temperature was dropping like a rock the rain started to pour.

Around 3:00AM the wind direction abruptly changed from the south to a flow from the north.

The wind speed also picked up and we recorded 20mph wind gusts.

The barometric pressure which dropped to 29.21 inches made an abrupt turn at 3:00AM and started climbing.

Looking for Warmth

It was another cold night and the neighbors cat was on top of a fence post looking for warmth from the Sun.

Deer in the Snow

Earlier this week we got our first real snow storm for the season and the overnight temperatures have dipped below zero since then. This is the first time for some of the younger neighborhood deer to experience snow covering their food source.

This young deer is learning to dig into the snow for food.

Success!

Game Camera Photos

While some people place suet cakes out for birds, I use the scraps from this season's deer harvest. These scraps attract many different birds, raccoons and opossums. I placed two different game cameras around this years scraps and got photos of a bear and fisher.

Not many fishers in this area and I only got a couple photos of this one. The fisher (Pekania pennanti) is a member of the mustelid family that includes weasels, badgers, otters, ferrets, martens, minks and wolverines.

Apricot Seedlings

Last July, while visiting Chuck and Nikki in Iowa, we stopped at their friends Jim and Amy to pick Apricots from their trees. We enjoyed the fresh apricots so much I decided to try to propagate some apricot trees from some of the apricot pits. To start the germination process I stratified the seeds by placing them in moist paper towels and storing them in the refrigerator for 12 weeks, until the seeds started to sprout. The sprouted seeds were then placed in potting soil and placed in our solarium. The seedlings are now ready to be placed in a cool location and allowed to go dormant until spring.

Cookies for Santa

Twas the day before Christmas and grandson Reed wasn't taking any chances with Santa Claus. Time to bake some gingerbread cookies for Santa.

The cookies for Santa must have worked. Lots of presents under the tree including a fishing pole from Grampa Rob.

Reed also got a drone from dad and Star Wars items from Uncle Ryan.

Deer and Warm Days

Record breaking temperature moved into the neighborhood and with deer hunting season over the local deer have been out during the daylight to enjoy the green grass in the fields (and lawns).

Gas Drilling

Yesterday was warm and sunny, and a good day to get some drone photos of the gas drilling operation at our family trust property in Forks township.

It only took a couple of days to move this drill rig onto the well pad and start the drilling operation.

Another view of the drilling operation. Drill rig in the center, crew quarters on the left and drill pipe storage on bottom left. The operation in the upper right removes the the drilled rock tailings from the drilling "mud" solution. The tailings are sent to a landfill and the drilling mud is reused.

A close-up view of the drilling operation. In the upper left of the photo is Ernie's new deer blind that is located inside the fence surrounding the drilling operation. New wildlife food plots are being planned.

Deer Hunting

The rifle deer season started on Saturday and we've started out with two nice buck. Still looking to get a doe to fill the freezer.

I got this 7-point, with a 19 inch spread, on Sunday after I passed up on a smaller 6-point.

Matt got this 8-point this morning.

Coyotes

I was checking more of my game cameras today and found some daytime pictures of a coyote. I have seen a large increase in the number of game camera sightings of coyotes this year but since they are nocturnal hunters I rarely get daytime photos of them. These photos were taken 30 yards from my deer stand and maybe I'll see it again while I'm in the deer stand.

Game Camera Photos

I was checking some of the game cameras today and along with lots of deer and coyote pictures I found these:

This black bear, and possibly a second bear, were photographed multiple times on different cameras on the morning of November 20th, the first day rifle bear season. Maybe they were looking for a good hiding place until the season was over.

Turkeys playing Follow the Leader.

Bullfrog

With the local ditches and streams running high from the overnight rain I decided to check the pond at our cabin for any issues. We've had a warmer than normal fall this year but the last thing I expected to find in mid-November was a large bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) sunning itself at the edge of the pond.

The Rut

The whitetail deer mating season, known as the rut, is in full swing. This is my favorite time to photograph the bucks since they only have one thing on their minds. I found this buck chasing a doe and not paying any attention to me.

Bobcat

For this evening's wildlife drive I decided to park my truck on the road to our cabin to see if any big bucks would cross the road. No bucks but shortly after sunset this Bobcat walked within 5 feet of my truck. After posing for some pictures the Bobcat walked into the grass stalking a meal. By now it was getting too dark for a good photo of the Bobcat jumping at least 6 feet and missing its meal. I watched this Bobcat for another 10 minutes as it walked the road to our cabin.

Frost

After a warmer than normal October the temperatures have abruptly shifted to an unwelcome colder than normal. This morning's temperatures were in the low 20's and there was still a coating of frost on this thistle at noon.