Not Just Hawks at Waggoner's Gap

Hawkwatchers are not just hawk geeks.  We tend to be nature geeks as well.  If the hawks aren’t flying, we’ll look at any other birds that are around the hawkwatch.  Most hawkwatchers are good birders, too.  If the birds aren’t flying, we’ll look at animals or plants or clouds.  Even on days with good flights of hawks, there are times when none are in the air.

The past few days at Waggoner’s Gap hawkwatch had a nice selection of animals to look out.  I was a bit disappointed that Fred the Copperhead didn’t make an appearance, but I guess you can’t have everything.

One of the highlights was a Waggoner’s first, at least so far as any one there knew or could remember.  A young red squirrel ran up the owl pole, stuck its head in the bottom of the decoy and then ambled down the pole, nearly running over someone’s feet and hanging out on a rock for a minute or two.  The owl decoy is used to attract Sharp-shinned Hawks closer to the ridge. They are feisty little things and sometimes just have to swoop at the owl decoy, to the delight of all.

Other but more frequent visitors are the chipmunks.  They are lured by one of the regular hawkwatchers who brings chestnuts or peanuts or something that chipmunks like and places the food on one of the few flat rocks on the outcropping.  The chipmunks scamper through the rocks, used to people, chasing each other and filling up their cheeks until they look as though they have mumps.

Another visitor wasn’t a mammal, but was worth looking at, too. It is an eastern fence lizard, and it came out to sun itself for a while. I’m told three species of lizards are seen on the mountain, but this is the only one of those I’ve ever seen.

There’s always something to look at on a hawkwatch.  It’s not always the hawks.

A few visitors

Gray squirrels must be a bit smarter than I’ve given them credit for in the past. I have one that comes to the patio door, stands up on its hind legs, places its front feet on the glass and peers inside the cabin. It gives every indication that it’s begging or looking for food. I’ve seen it pull this trick twice now, both times when the bird feeders (should I call them squirrel feeders?) were empty.

It drives the dogs crazy, of course. The cats aren’t much better, though at least they don’t bark, which is something of an improvement. So far, I haven’t been able to get a photo of the entire procedure, though if the dogs didn’t scare the squirrel with their hysteria, that might be possible. I’ll keep trying.

So far, I have plenty of goldfinch coming to my niger seed feeder, but I haven’t found anything more exotic than that. I’m hoping for siskins but haven’t found any local birders who’ve had them this season. I’ll keep looking.

Cat and squirrel

Living in the woods brings not just me into closer contact with forest residents. Even my indoor cats gets to see more of them than is likely the norm. The bird feeder, of course, is an ever-fascinating source of entertainment for them. But it’s not just the birds they get to see.

Saturday brought a squirrel and cat encounter that was even closer than what you see here. For a few seconds the squirrel and the cat were within half an inch of each other, though separated by two panes of glass. Each stared at the other, and they even appeared to "touch" noses at each other. Unfortunately that was a photo that didn’t get taken, mostly because the cat’s body blocked the view of the squirrel right beside it.

Even the indoor cats aren’t limited to seeing just birds and squirrels, though. One day both were glued to the window staring outside, so I had to look, too, to see what they were finding so entrancing. That day I discovered a red fox nosing around in the brush just a few feet behind the cabin. We all got to watch it poking under downed logs and sniffing the leaves for several minutes before it finally moved on. Who knew that cats would be so interested in a fox?

Deer are commonly seen by Dog and Baby Dog during our morning or evening walks. There’s nothing that gets a dog revved up quite like the scent and sight of a deer. I have the arm muscles to prove that one. I suppose the cats have seen deer, too, but they don’t appear to care about them one way or the other.

Raccoons also rev up the dogs, and when I hear Baby Dog’s full-throated roar of outrage, I can almost bet one of the raccoons is up on the front deck. The cats tend to be more interested than outraged by the raccoons, and I’ve seen a few almost scarily close encounters between them. All that separated them was a rather rickety door screen, and I thought that was just a little too close for my comfort, if not theirs. Either side of that encounter could likely have torn through that old thing without drawing a deep breath.

Gray squirrel on a gray day

It’s a gray and overcast morning here on the mountain, so a photo of a gray squirrel seems appropriately monochromatic. This one is about to leap onto my bird feeders, scattering birds and seed in all directions. They’re such rascals. Despite it all, I enjoy their antics, even while I’m gritting my teeth.

Here at my cabin, I am still iced in. My car is parked a ways down the mountain, not quite a quarter mile away. I have spread going on 50lbs of ice melt, salt, anti-skid and various other things over the glacier that is my driveway, to so far little positive effect.

Here where I am, the trees prevent the sun from gaining much headway against the ice. Tree shadows fall across the driveway, moving as the sun traverses the sky, warming a spot only briefly before another tree shadow hits it. Since the temperature hasn’t yet gone above freezing, I am not getting any melting from the air temperature. It’s only where the sun’s rays can strike a spot for most of the day that I’ve seen any melting at all. None of those spots are in my driveway.

Walking up to the cabin from the car isn’t something I mind overmuch. For most trips, the walk is enjoyable. It’s only when I’m lugging groceries or bags of dog food or something like that when it is difficult. Mostly, it is a pleasant coda to a day spent working in the city. A walk up the mountain to the cabin is the time when those hours fall away, and I begin to reconnect with and again feel a part of the natural world around me.

Squirrel Antics

One very persistent gray squirrel has spent most of the weekend shredding the bark on a sapling near the cabin. I think the shredding was begun by non-squirrel activity. A branch near the sapling has been rubbing it for a while, but the squirrel has taken shredding far beyond that minor beginnning.

It certainly looks as though this squirrel is starting to gather material for a nest. Typically, squirrels around here nest in late winter. Normally, early February doesn't qualify as late winter, but with climate change, who knows?

Anyway, the squirrel provided entertainment for the cats (and me!). If this squirrel is nesting now, the kits could be born as early as mid-March. Squirrel babies usually aren't seen until they leave the nest, which is usually in May-June around here. If the babies are born in mid-March, that will bring them out of the next perhaps in early-mid May instead. By the time squirrels leave the nest, they are pretty much grown, so I don't get to see just how cute the little ones likely are.