HollerPhenology

Eastern cottontail comes to feast on clover and spring greens

Last fall I tossed out some microgreen seeds that were getting pretty old. A few weeks ago, I noticed some plants that I didn't recognize had come up near the porch and seemed to be thriving. After a closer look and some internet research, I discovered that I now had some red amaranth, arugula and a couple of other greens I haven't identified yet. I thought to myself, jokingly, that maybe I'd see some of the Holler's rabbits a little more often.

Eastern cottontail on April 27, 2024. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

This one came around this afternoon and mostly ate clover, but I'm pretty sure I saw her or him take a few bites of arugula.

A scarlet tanager is back in the Holler

I have been hearing a scarlet tanager very close to the house for about a week. Today he flew in for some suet, and stayed long enough for me to get a photo.

 

Scarlet Tanager male, April 23, 2024. [Photos: Cathie Bird]

 

More wild turkeys in the Holler

When wild turkeys started showing up in my yard last spring, it was difficult to get any photos. If they saw my slightest movement inside the house they would usually make a hasty exit.

With time, they began to tolerate my presence, and I would see them stretching their wings, flaring their tails, chasing each other and, especially when it was hot and humid, lying in the shade or the dusty driveway for a bit. But, if I reached for the camera to get some photos, they would stop and extend their necks and look all around before returning to foraging.

In the last few weeks, though, I've finally managed to get photos of them doing something other than browsing:

Wild turkey lying near the edge of the woods, September 9, 2023 [Photo: Cathie Bird]

 

Wild turkey on the gravel at the edge of the yard, September 9, 2023. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

 

A wild turkey stretches its wings and flares its tail, September 28, 2023. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

 

A wild turkey scratches up some gravel and flares its tail feathers, September 28, 2023. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

 

Snakes in the Holler

My last post on June 6th focused on a visit from a Mama Turkey and four babies. That same day, a short time after I saw the turkeys, I saw a rat snake crawling out of the grass and disappearing under the porch. A couple of minutes later, I saw what I think was one of the water snake species that live around here. Three days later I had this experience:

I took a break to gather and load trash around the planter garden. I used my cane handle to lift part of a broken bird bath so I could pick it up and bag it, and came face to face with a copperhead. She kind of came up out of the leaves underneath the bowl, twisted around a bit, moved away from me then turned her head back toward me. For a moment she was looking right at me – seemingly right into my eyes – with her mouth open, and hissing a bit. Then she crawled off.

After another week or so, I came home from town and found what looked like the same snake lounging on top of some bags of garden soil. Since then I've seen her often in that same spot.

Yesterday I saw her again and took a photo, noting some odd shaped bulges, and guessing that she had caught some food recently. As I got ready to share the photo later in the day, I decided to look outside the window to see if she was still there. There was indeed a snake on the soil bags. Since the light was a little better, I took some more photos.

When I uploaded them to edit, I couldn't believe what I saw:

Two copperheads curled up together near my planter garden. July 9, 2023 [Photo: Cathie Bird]

An unexpected gift from Mother Nature.

If you want to know more about copperheads, check out this great Northern Copperhead page at Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute

Baby turkeys in the holler!

I suspected that one of the turkey hens I'd been seeing in the holler was nesting close by. Today she brought four little ones into the yard to forage:

[Photo: Cathie Bird, June 6, 2023]

 

[Photo: Cathie Bird, June 6, 2023]

 

Photo: Cathie Bird, June 6, 2023]

 

[Photo: Cathie Bird, June 6, 2023]

 

Scarlet tanagers are back in the holler!

I thought I heard a scarlet tanager call when I was outside yesterday -- today, no question, they're back!

Scarlet tanager male on May 19, 2023. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

 

Trout lilies, trillium, hepatica and rue anemone are blooming in the holler!

Last week the holler had a string of freezing nights. Now it's warm again and it looks like most of the plants that were up survived the chill and have buds or open flowers:

Trout lily colony, March 24, 2023. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

 

Sharp-lobed hepatica on March 24, 2023. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

 

Trillium grandiflorum on March 24, 2023. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

 

Rue anemone on March 24, 2023  [Photo: Cathie Bird]

 

Wild Turkey in the Holler

I've been waiting almost 23 years for this shot:

Wild turkey hen (Meleagris gallopavo), March 11, 2023.  [Photo: Cathie Bird]

Robins? In the holler?

In all the years I've lived in the holler, I have never seen a robin in the yard around my house. At the moment I took this photo, there were four of them foraging together outside my window, eating seeds I scatter for ground feeding birds.

American Robin (Turdus migratorius) on March 1, 2023. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

Raccoons in the holler and recent spring arrival report

Last summer, two raccoons -- a mama and her baby -- started showing up around my bird feeders. The young one is now around 9-10 months old and comes by itself. The mama still comes by as well.

Last week she came by earlier than usual and climbed into a hanging platform feeder.

Adult raccoon. February 18, 2023 [Photo: Cathie Bird]

Not long after she settled into the basket, a titmouse came along. This little titmouse, not much bigger than mama raccoon's hind foot, hopped and flew all around the raccoon until she finally left and the titmouse could get a seed.

Tufted titmouse eyes an adult raccoon from below. February 18, 2023. [Photo: Cathie Bird]

A couple of days later, the young raccoon came by for some nuts. This one doesn't stress the feeder hanger so much. In the photo you can see some colored wire cable key rings that I had to install after the heavier adult broke it several times. They are holding up really well so far. I'm sure the feeder engineers did not anticipate that larger creatures would be using their invention.

The younger raccoon that visits. February 18, 2023 [Photo: Cathie Bird]

 

OTHER SIGHTINGS IN THE HOLLER THIS WEEK:

Two carpenter bees, four eastern gray squirrels, and couple of eastern chipmunks. Farther down the holler today, I founded the first cut-leaf toothwort and a whole bunch of trout lilies popping up through the decaying leaf litter.