Upcoming Art and Photography Shows

The holiday season is upon us, and with it, a whole slew of shows and sales. Visit my "Art and Photography Shows" page for the latest news.

Pigs' Tails and Fanciful Journeys

Had a nice , quick visit with my daughter at UVM yesterday. Then we (Wayne, my husband and I) went on to look for bird on Mt. Philo and Dead Creek. Saw a few nice species, but no migrating hawks. Returning home via the Brandon gap (Vermont). however, we encountered some unusual "Wild"-life. At Forest Dale there were two pigs in the road! I slowed down and a fire dept. truck behind me stopped, presumably to "Herd pigs". A daunting task. Wayne got this picture of the porkers.

Well not long after we encountered a huge bull moose, luckily just at the side of the road. No photos- too close!. The about 30 +/- miles later we came across....guess what? No! Yes! Two more pigs in the road!! How could this be. Pig liberation day? Crazy!

This time I got out and talked to them. Th...ey were quite friendly and returned my grunts, but ran off to enjoy their freedom. I flagged down several cars, asking if anyone knew the owners, and trying to keep them from getting hit. They were having such fun exploring and finding good things to snuffle up. Finally a woman came along who found the owners, and as she took over guard duty , we moved along. Wish I knew how they fared.

Here's a picture of one, (they looked alike). I added a little warning to this one!

So, what gives? Pig liberation day??

Reassurance

In these troubled environmental times, it is with particular delight that I am witnessing the next generation of local birds exhibiting "feed me" behavior. Especially satisfying are the Evening Grosbeaks , whose presence I am honored to witness, as they have apparently declined approx. 50% in the least decade.
Also newly minted are a Hairy Woodpecker and I think , some Purple Finches and Tufted Titmice. 

New to my property today, for the first time in perhaps 10 years, a female Baltimore Oriole-quite a shock as we do not have much open land. They used to be abundant before a nearby orchard got grown over.

To see some young Evening Grosbeak, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Hairy Woodpecker photos, go to: Vermont Birds and their Fledglings

Creatures at home

Today a fox trotted through my property-checking out the bird feeder. Nobody got caught, but the Titmice were very agitated.  Here's a foxy photo. I also have a camera in the woods that takes photos of wildlife.  Three weeks of viewing yielded 2 deer videos, 2 raccoon videos and one bear video!

On another note, the resident birds are starting to bring their "kids" to the feeders, including an Evening Grosbeak, and Tufted Titmice.  The Phoebes are still sitting on their eggs on a ledge on my house, and mama Mallard had 10 ducklings last I checked at the beaver pond.

There is so much going on in these woods that I don't see too!

New Bird songs

I've posted some new bird songs on my "Birds" page incliding a Winter Wren and a new Mystery Bird.  Enjoy!

Can you tell what bird this is from the sound?

Here's a Vireo singing.  It is either a Red-eyed Vireo or a Blue-headed Vireo. Can you tell which?
http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~cindy/bird.songs/vireo.mp3

BIRDING

It's Springtime!! (More or less- we did have a snowstorm the other day. ) I've been out "birding"- checking on new arrivals, delighting in feather and song. We also have a thriving local year-round population-Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, Red and White- Breasted Nuthatches, Purple Finches......

So this winter, a flock of Evening Grosbeaks arrived and are still here. We used to get 30+ birds. Now I'm happy to see our little flock of 7-10 birds.

Other than looking for birds, one of my greatest joys (and frustrations), is to take photographs of them and record them. I hope to be posting some photos soon, and maybe even some recordings.