On Thin Ice

We had some unseasonably mild weather on Thursday and Friday, so I took the opportunity to get some fresh air and visit Spring Valley Nature Center in Schaumburg. Sadly, with an arthritic back and/or hips, walking is not quite such an enjoyable activity for me these days. If you haven’t already done so, you might want to join me at my blog ‘Incidentally’ where I have some Thoughts on Walking. However, I’m not about to give up on one of my favorite pastimes just yet. As long as I can sit down every once in a while, I can still manage to get around places like Spring Valley.

Over by the lake, I was pleased to see that the water levels had risen since my last visit. The ducks and geese were starting to gather, and what ice there was on the water was paper thin.

By Friday, there was even more open water and, as I neared a conveniently placed bench by the water’s edge, I heard something making a hasty exit with a splash. I decided to sit for a while and wait to see if whatever it was would make another appearance. Eventually a turtle poked its head out of the water but sank back down again and I was left with a couple of mallards and a goose that seemed to be giving my presence some careful consideration. Just before I left, a water rat swam up to the bank but it didn’t give me the opportunity to take a shot.

In the wooded area over by the farm. I spotted a deer. I had a hard time getting a clear shot but I knew if it kept going in the same direction it would have to come out in the open so I waited. I was quite close and although it did emerge for just a moment, it soon turned around and headed back into the trees, only giving me time to capture a couple of fleeting images.

They have been clearing away small trees and brush recently in an effort to allow native plants to grow. It will be interesting to see how these areas develop. Part of the nature center used to be a peony farm many years ago, and there is still one patch that remains where the flowers appear every spring.

Inundated

We’ve been inundated with squirrels just recently, including one with a distinct mohawk hair-do on its head and back and one little guy with only half a tail, probably as a result of a close encounter with a hawk.

Speaking of hawks, we have been noticing a different species of hawk in the garden for the past few weeks. It is slightly smaller than the Cooper’s Hawk and is very adept at flying through the shrubbery in pursuit of its prey. I’m thinking it might be a sharp-shinned hawk but I’m no expert so if anyone knows what it is, I’d love to hear from you. The picture isn’t very sharp as I had to take the shot through two sets of windows and a screen in order to get it.

We still see the Cooper’s Hawk every once in a while. I happened to look out of the window the other day and saw one chilling out on the bird bath. It looked very relaxed, standing there on one leg, without a care in the world. All of a sudden a flock of pigeons landed nearby. Bad idea! Out came the other claw. You could almost see it flexing its muscles and cracking its knuckles. Off it went, like a shot, after the pigeons, but imagine my surprise when just seconds later, a larger hawk stepped out from the adjacent shrubbery. Could it have been an adult teaching a juvenile how to hunt?

It’s always nice to see a blue jay in the garden. They make these drab winter days a little brighter. And two are twice as nice. This pair has been visiting the garden regularly for several weeks.

If you haven’t already done so, I hope you will join me on my other blog, Getting the Picture, where you will find the 4th part of my series on the Sanfillipo Estate in Barrington, Perfume and Music.

Garden Notes

Now that the flowers in our garden are finished for the year, and everything has been safely tucked in for the winter, our attention is focused on the birds and critters that visit us either on a regular basis or are just passing through. I had just about given up hope of seeing a praying mantis this year but this one showed up as I was digging up the Brazilian blue sage for indoor storage.

The rabbit must be wondering what he has to do to get of bit of peace and quiet around here. If he’s not being mobbed by sparrows, he’s being photo bombed by squirrels.

Speaking of squirrels, they are now in their late-autumn dashing about mode, stocking up on their winter reserves and eating as much as they can before the really cold weather sets in. It’s not unusual to see four of them chasing each other around the garden, while the fifth one takes advantage and mops up whatever is left on the ground.

Com Ed recently discovered that our utility pole needed to be replaced and we had a front row seat as we watched them switching everything over to the new one. We were pleased that our power lines had been safely secured but the woodpeckers were rather disgruntled that their old feeding post had been removed. The new one obviously doesn’t have all those tasty bugs that they so enjoy. Hopefully it will mean that they visit the suet feeders more often.

Meanwhile, the juncos are back and the blue jay has been stopping by occasionally. I saw him chatting up the little garden fairy the other day but she wasn’t interested and just gave him the cold shoulder.

The hawk has been paying more visits just lately but I haven’t seen it make a kill for some time. It is either not very efficient at making a catch or is finding its meals elsewhere. It doesn’t really seem to be trying that hard, although it does love to swoop through and give all the other birds a scare. When it’s not hanging out on the neighbor’s fence, it’s hiding in the shrubbery.

Although I often hear it when I’m out and about in the neighborhood, we rarely see the flicker in the garden. I just happened to look out of the window at the right time the other day and managed to catch it at the feeder before it flew off.

Hop On Over

If you haven’t done so already, I hope you will hop on over to my other blog ‘Getting The Picture’ where you will see my most recent post about a fascinating place called The House On The Rock in Wisconsin. This little critter was hanging out there, in the garden.

Autumn In Our Garden

The drought this summer really took a toll on the seeds that I planted in the hopes of having lots of flowers this autumn. I spent a fortune on some fancy new seeds most of which didn’t even germinate. Ironically, the seeds that I gathered the previous year from good old faithfulls like zinnias, cosmos and marigolds survived and I was thankful that they, at least, stayed around long enough to brighten the garden.

Typical of the weather gods, we have now had several days of rain and the only things to benefit from it are the lawn which until recently was almost brown, and a fine crop of mushrooms that have been popping up all over.

As I was clearing away some of the dead leaves from the irises and daylilies, I came across this spider. I’m not a huge fan of spiders especially when they’re indoors but this one was a beauty. There are still one or two butterflies hanging around and this one landed on what remains of the butterfly weed.

It’s that time of year when we are starting to see more and more squirrels in the garden, gathering their stores for the winter months. I’ve been putting out critter food along with the bird seed and thanks to the squirrels burying corn niblets all over the garden, we had quite a few corn stalks growing amongst the flowers. I left them to mature and now the squirrels are reaping the harvest.

The birds are enjoying the critter food too, and the other day a flock of grackles spotted the corn and landed in the garden. It made a change from the mob of sparrows that we usually see. It makes me laugh when I read on the seed bags all the different kinds of birds that the contents are likely to attract. Anything from nuthatches to ostriches from what I can make out. But they don’t stand a chance. I hardly get back inside the house when the sparrows are down and mopping up everything in sight.

But if we are going to see something other than sparrows, now is the time of year when they’re likely to show up as they make their way south for the winter. I was surprised to see a male rose-breasted grosbeak on the feeder the other day. I’m no expert when it comes to bird names so I usually rely on Google to set me straight. Hiding in plain sight among the sparrows are two that might easily be overlooked. The one pictured left is what I think they refer to as a lark sparrow and the one on the right, a white crowned sparrow.

Other birds just passing through are the feisty redwing blackbird and the blue jay, that likes to imitate the call of the hawk to frighten all the other birds away.

Speaking of hawks, we have seen them in the garden more frequently since the beginning of autumn. There are two kinds that appear to have taken up residence in the neighborhood, the red-tailed hawk and the Cooper’s hawk. The Cooper’s hawk is the one that usually lands right near the house, sometimes on the neighbor’s fence or occasionally on my fake tree, which is also favored by the downy woodpecker .

One of the last plants to remain flowering in the garden is the Brazilian Blue Sage, and the hummingbirds, that it attracts all summer long, paid one final visit before leaving for warmer climes.

This is always a busy time of year in the garden, clearing up and preparing for the spring, collecting seeds and dividing plants that are perhaps taking up too much space. Any plants that are surplus to requirements I like to put out where people can help themselves. I’d much rather give them away than throw them in the bin. I even have people stop by and tell me how well the plants are doing in their new home which is always good to hear.

Summer In Our Garden

With autumn rapidly approaching, I thought it was about time to look back at some of the things we’ve seen in our garden over the summer. The flower beds and lawns have really suffered from lack of rain and the majority of the flower seeds that I planted in the spring didn’t survive but most of the perennials like the daylilies and Asiatic lilies did well.

Despite a major bunny boom in the garden (at least three families) many of the plants managed to survive being nibbled on. We seem to have reached a reasonable compromise. I put a certain amount of critter food out when I feed the birds and leave some areas to the weeds and wildflowers and the rabbits have agreed to leave most of the other stuff alone.

I always make sure that I have some Brazilian blue sage growing in the garden. It’s a hummingbird magnet and once again it has attracted several of these little gems to the garden. A little house wren was enticed by the peanut butter that I pasted into the fake tree. So was the squirrel, and it was quite entertaining to watch how it tackled the problem of reaching into the holes.

The butterfly bush and weed both lived up to their name and the Joe-pye-weed attracted at least one monarch that stayed around long enough to produce some caterpillars. Although there haven’t been as many butterflies as we would like to see, it’s nice to catch a glimpse of them every once in a while. There have been plenty of bees, though, which is good.

Summer Walks In Spring Valley

Between processing pictures and a couple of other projects that I’ve been working on recently, I’ve been spending quite a bit of time at my desk, so I was happy to take a break and stretch my legs with some walks around Spring Valley Nature Center in Schaumburg. The weather on the first trip was overcast but the second visit saw clear blue skies. Despite one or two good downpours just lately, the water levels in the pond are quite low.

Despite the rapidly receding waters, there are still plenty of frogs around and I am able to get quite a few mug shots as they smile wryly back at me from the duckweed.

Speaking of ducks, I rarely see anything other than the usual mallards by the pond but, on this occasion, I sight a mother wood duck and her brood. Unfortunately, the more colorful male is nowhere to be seen.

Leaving the pond, I walk through the woods, up to the farm where I stop to talk to one of the docents as we watch another gentleman demonstrating how to carve a wooden spoon. I’m told that, ever since the Covid pandemic, they have had a hard time getting people to come in and take care of the animals which explains why they only have a couple of cows and a few piglets now. The horses have been sent out to a farm in Indiana for now.

Walking back through the prairie area, I always marvel at all the different wildflowers there are and, although I hardly ever see rabbits at Spring Valley, on this occasion I spot two young ones.

Meanwhile….Back In Our Garden

There has beeen a steady procession of flowers in bloom in our garden over the past couple of months. It’s hard work but good exercise and the results of all the planting, weeding, pruning and dead-heading are well worth the effort.

Among the star performers every year are the irises and poppies. At the end of the year, when I’m overhauling one or two of the flower beds, I usually put out a few iris and daylily roots for people to help themselves. Last night a lady came to the door and said that she had taken some last year and was thrilled to see them blooming now in her garden. I’m always happy to know that these transplants have been a success, and have received many such kind notes and messages of thanks over the years, for which I am truly grateful.

These early bloomers are all perennials and many are starting to fade, so I have spent the past few weeks planting annual seeds such as cosmos, zinnias, marigolds and 4-0-clocks. These will take a while to germinate and flower. In the meantime we continue to enjoy the peonies, false indigo and nigella (grown from seeds that fell last year) as well as some late blooming iris and poppies.

On the wildlife front, we have had one or two unusual sightings (for us, anyway) including a white throated sparrow, a female rose-breasted grosbeak and a performing rabbit. Unfortunately we had to take out the improvised duck pond as shown in an earlier post, when a baby sparrow fell in and nearly drowned. Luckily we were there to see it floundering and managed to scoop it out without further damage, but I didn’t want to risk it happening again. The new bath isn’t big enough for the ducks to actually climb in, but they still visit even if they are rather disgruntled, and I’m sure the other birds, especially the young ones such as this grackle , appreciate the new safety measures.

Sightings At Spring Valley

Last week, the weather warmed up sufficiently to give us a brief reprieve from winter, so I thought I’d make the most of it and take another walk around Spring Valley Nature Center in Schaumburg. The lake was still frozen over.

Because of all the damage done by the beaver, the staff at the Center have started putting wire cages around some of the trees. Unfortunately it comes too late for some.

Walking through the woods, I saw quite a few birds including nuthatches, woodpeckers and, enjoying a bath in some open water, a group of robins.

Still not much action over at the farm, but as I was walking back down the track I spotted a hawk sitting on a low branch of a tree. Usually, when presented with this kind of opportunity, I take a picture right away, just in case I’m not able to get any closer, but this time it obliged me by staying put, and allowed me to creep up quite close until I was almost underneath it. Great!

In fact, at one point, I thought I’d let myself in for more than I’d bargained for, but it eventually settled down and I continue to take dozens of shots.

Eventually it moved off to a tree further down the trail but it waited for me to catch up and I was able to keep on shooting. It really seemed to be enjoying having its picture taken and even turned around to give me a different angle.

All the time this was going on, the ducks in the nearby creek were kicking up quite a racket. I think they must have been aware that the hawk was nearby and you could almost see the hawk thinking to itself, “Hello. Grub’s up!”

Finally, after quite some time, it flew off, and as I turned to look back up the track, three female deer stepped out of the trees. The perfect end to a successful afternoon.

Warmer Days In Spring Valley

Although you couldn’t exactly run out there in your bathing suit, the weather was certainly warmer yesterday than it has been for quite some time. This prompted me to take a trip to Spring Valley Nature Center in Schaumburg and, although it was still rather icy underfoot, it was quite a pleasant walk.

There was no sign of activity over by the beaver lodge but there was clear evidence that it had been quite busy since the last time I was here. It had made short work of some of the smaller trees and I was surprised to see that even the larger ones had come in for some attention.

Because the pathways were still slippery, I didn’t take my usual route but stayed down near the cabin area. There was just enough snow left to make the wintry scene appealing.

Midway through the walk, I came upon two deer, one with an impressive set of antlers, the other with only one. We were both wary of each other but they didn’t run off and we followed each other along the path almost all the way back to the parking lot where we said our farewells.