Crumbly Acres Critters

Saturday was the Christmas Bird Count in our area. I could find some of my previous data.

Mourning Dove - 13 
Downy Woodpecker - 1
Blue Jay - 3 
Black-capped chickadee - 8 
American Goldfinch - 1 
American tree sparrow - 1 
Dark-eyed Junco - 4 
Cardinal - 2

Alison, who coordinates it for our area, sent out a message. She reiterates that we can only count the highest number of birds we see at any one time. I did have to look up 'sexually dimorphic species.' (Critters that look different, depending upon their sex.) I spotted both a male and female Downy, but not together. I couldn't count 2!

At my age anything new is good. I turn 69 on Friday! Joseph Brian (my much older husband) and I had a giggly discussion about this. 

Our cottontail rabbit appeared, 2 Gray squirrels (black morph), and 1 red squirrel. It was a busy spot! Everyone wanted on the list. Some did not fit!

The deer, mother and fawn, had a nap in the yard.

I spotted this rounded brownish thing in the front yard. Turns out it was Labbit! She hunkered down in the deep freeze. Labbit spent her time cleaning up the mess the birds made. She seemed quite happy to do so.  

There was a truce under the tree, both Gray Squirrels (black morph) were similarly cleaning up.

We had so much snow, and then a melt! I thought I should show these from December.

 

 I was crowing that I captured deer actually making their beds in front of the trailcams. Apparently, I not only captures another deer making its bed, but one reusing a bed. They tend to move about, what with they coyotes. I'll find beds all over the forest.

 

Apparently this pair had to inspect the bed, sniffing them thoroughly!

 

Since a neighbour feeds deer to shoot them, we like to support our winter herd. (They disappear and spread out in the forest in summer.) We had 7 visitors on Dec. 16th, then 9 on Dec. 17th. I guess word had spread.

 

During our melt, I shuffled on down to the frog pond. The deer poked a hole in it for a nice drink.