Enough Different Stuff

I haven't been pleased with any cam's recent catches, but I suppose now that I have several days of photos and videos, there's enough different stuff for a new blog entry.

My idea for the next 3 photos was to watch the mushroom grow over time. Instead, we get to see it destroyed. The plan may have worked if I hadn't thrown critter mix on the ground near it.

Next up, a couple of blue jay videos where you'll learn that they swallow kernels of corn whole and like peanuts in the shell.

The last day of September was an overcast dreary day. In the woods it was dark enough that that the cam shot black-and-white. The first video below shows a bird with what seems to be a white head - a bird I can't identify.

Watch for the squirrel to go racing from right to left in the background about 2 seconds after the bird flies away.

It's rare that my cams catch one of these field mice. I'm guessing that they move so quickly that they're normally gone before the camera can come to life.

And finally, if the bird is flexing in an attempt to look bigger and intimidating to the chipmunk so it will leave, the effort is fruitless.

Critter Mix Brings a Mix of Critters

I'm disappointed that the cam didn't catch a buck headed down to Amy's Crossing but pleased to have a variety of visitors to this spot.

I bought 10 lbs. of Critter Mix and 10 of Woodpecker Mix at White's Mill. It works!

These birds were there for hours. I'm guessing they're crows.

The sunlight really varies at this spot. This doe picked a good time to stop by.

This fellow needs to fatten up before Winter!

Not a great chipmunk photo - but it's the first of the year so it will have to do.

CreekWalk: The Log Jam

Although the creek is small, it can really get roaring at times after heavy rain, pushing trees and logs downstream with the current. Today's stop is at a spot where a lot of wooden debris got hung up after one of the last floods. I placed the still-photo cam near the bigger pile and just for curiosity sake, left an opened can of cat food in the middle of it. (Sorry, Luggage.)  As you can see, the first visitor took the can (it's under the big log in the 2nd photo) and left.

I pointed the other camera toward a gnarly bit of wood just to the left of the main jam. There were lots of squirrel videos during the day, and I've included two of them, but first a nighttime visitor.

The first squirrel knows there's more food to be had and just needs to find right angle of approach. The second squirrel - let's just call him Twitchy ;)

Last Stop Before The Creek

You can see the creek in the still photo. The shore on this side of the water is Luggage Beach and that's where the February CreekWalk will begin.

In today's videos we learn how a squirrel finds food after a fresh snowfall, and see a couple of scenes interrupted by late-arriving visitors.

It's easy to find food when there's no snow on the ground, though an annoying itch can slow things down a bit.

When the snow falls, the nose knows what to do ;)

Up next, a small bird nearly gets squashed.

And finally, the camera is recording before the squirrel arrives.

Another Over and Under Stop

Closer to the creek now. Will be there in a day or two. Here's another couple of logs with some open space underneath.

Like yesterday, a shot from the 'over' and video from the 'down-under'. We even have a couple of visitors we didn't see yesterday.

First new visitor is a chipmunk.

Also new, downy and red-bellied woodpeckers.

 

The small birds of the woods like the way squirrels eat shelled corn. Their nibbling causes lots of small pieces to fall to the ground where others can clean up the scraps. The bluejay, on the other hand...

In The Woods; Over and Under

We're done with the loop and I'm now moving the cameras to the creek. With rain coming tomorrow, though, I decided to make a couple of pit stops along the way; sure don't want the cams to get washed away by melting snow water!

I found a couple of broken pine logs that overlapped just a bit, creating an opening under one of them. First up, a couple of pics to show you the basic spot, and then, a few videos to show you some of the activity under the logs.

In the first video, a male cardinal who thinks he's the boss.

Who's the tough guy now?

I had to watch the next one a couple of times. There's only about 18 inches of clearance under the log. The Air Force would be impressed!

3 More Stops on the Loop

I should mention that the Loop is roughly a quarter-mile around, very similar in size and shape as the track around your high school's football field. Inside the Loop is a jungle of vines and pines, but over the years we've maintained what I call the cut-acrosses. Each one lets you go from the low side of the loop to the high side. When fitness walking, taking each cut-cross when you come to one adds variety and distance to each trip around the loop. Here's a look at the first of them.

Next is simply another of those spots I always drop some feed when walking by. I didn't quite have the camera aimed right to cover the ground, so all you get are a couple of tree shots. I found 5 cardinals in the first photo. Can you find them all?

Finally, the camera that started on the high side of Loop has now rounded the back bend and is headed for home. While the deer photo is not very clear, it does show that Unicorn has not shed his other antler yet!

The Ends of the Path of Least Resistance

With these photos, the walk of the path is over. The first pics show the original starting point where I began during the 2nd Winter I was retired, mainly just to give me something to do during cold weather. (Note: the days/times are finally correct on both cameras!)

Four Winter-only work seasons later, I finished the path, linking it to what we call the lower loop path. Nothing much to show you from this end of the path today. The lower loop has been here for years, so before I move the cams to the creek, I'll use them to walk the loop and show you some of the spots I've been dropping feed for years.

Upper Route, Section #34

Many of you have seen this stump before, as it's a spot where I drop some feed every time I walk the path. The visitors are familiar ones, but I've added captions to a couple of the pics.

As of tonight, each camera is now pointing to a different end of the path, so the next two postings I do will show the two entrances...and conclude the Walk of the Path of Least Resistance. What's next? Not sure yet, but I'm leaning heavily toward using the cams to show you a Winter Creek Walk. I have brand new steel-toed rubber boots and can't think of a better way to break them in.  We'll see...

Note the solid red head. You'll see something different a few photos lower down.

Black stripes on the head? Don't think I've seen this before.

This one has a bit of red while the next one doesn't. Male and female?

Upper Route, Section #33

Just a few more moves and this camera will have covered the entire Path of Least Resistance. The creek is down a steep drop to the right of these photos. It's a difficult stretch of the path for the camera since there's no way to aim at the path without catching the late-afternoon sun.

Very little new today except for one woodpecker (the first pic). I think it's the first Downy woodpecker we've seen along the path. They are similar to Hairy woodpeckers but have much shorter beaks.

Pretty nice catch of a bird in flight

 

3 different bird species in one photo

Lower Route, Section #27

Here are the first photos from my new Stealth camera (Model #STC-P12). There were 254 photos snapped in the first 48 hours, so it clearly works. Ignore the dates/times however - guess I forgot to set them. Images are crisp in daylight and I'm impressed with the shots captured at night. Today when I moved the camera, I also switched it to video mode, so there should be some interesting short movies later this week.

Luggage manages to show up in the very first photo taken by the new camera!