Month: February 2020

This photo of Bambi was taken the morning after my last post; it was a sunny day, but cold. Since then—until today—the highs have been mostly in the mid- to high 50s. This morning it snowed again and will likely not get much above 40°, but the sun is out and most of the snow is gone.

2-21-20

2-23-20

2-24-20

2-25-20

2-27-20

The deer were waiting for me this morning.These are the regulars. Some of them approach me as I walk (carefully) down to the meadow, and I toss apple pieces to each one, near and far. Bambi and his mom will walk right up and beg for a slice. Of course I oblige! Most of them gather around as I pour corn into the first pan, although the ones who are lower in rank or more skittish wait until I move on. After they finish one pan, they run en masse to the next one; one day I will be quick enough to get a video. Eventually they split into smaller groups.

When they aren’t already waiting, the regulars will often come when I call.

Sometimes I also see them on my rambles,

sometimes they are waiting when I drive home from school,and they often walk right past the house on their way to and from the meadow.The sun’s out now, and the only snow I can see is in the shadows on the north-facing slope. The deer are starting to gather, and the bird feeders need filling. The forecast calls for a couple more days in the 40s, then back into the high 50s and 60s. We’ll have to wait to see when spring will come to stay.

2-21-20

2-23-20

2-24-20

2-25-20

2-27-20

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It’s snowing. And the temperature’s dropping. This is actually what they forecast(!), and yesterday I decided to get some photos of some of the colors and textures that are off the road. (Not everything is really gray and brown, as I have posted previously.)

2-16-20

2-17-20

2-19-20

2-20-20

If you have followed this blog for a while, then you’ve read about mosses and lichens (and mushrooms) before. I use iNaturalist.org to try to identify them, but sometimes a long-fallen log or stump is home to so many things that I just can’t do more than to admire nature’s diversity.

Rough Speckled Shield Lichen Punctelia rudecta

Delicate Fern Moss Thuidium delicatulum

Rough Speckled Shield Lichen Punctelia rudecta

And other times, I am simply intrigued by tree bark and the way trees grow…

There are Christmas ferns, evergreen trees, this river cane, spotted wintergreen and my favorite putty root orchid to add green, too. Yesterday I identified the only  American Holly I’ve seen on my rambles!

The most surprising sight yesterday was to see these Chickasaw Plum(?) blossoms!

But as for today, it started snowing harder after I began this post, and I was happy to see the deer show up. (The turkeys have been hanging around all day.)

It’s still snowing and forecast to be below 20° tonight, so it will be a cold and slippery walk down to feed the deer in the morning.

2-16-20

2-17-20

2-18-20

2-19-20

2-20-10

The deer have stayed away a few mornings when it was pouring rain. (I was happy for an excuse to stay indoors with my coffee.) Not today! It was 18º when I went downstairs, and the herd showed up before I finished my second cup. (You can see how frosty it was in the photo above.) The temperatures have continued to fluctuate wildly with more heavy rain, but at least we’ve had sunshine for the last two days. 🙂

2-9-20

2-10-20

2-11-20

2-13-20

2-14-20

2-15-20

I was at my school three days this week (volunteering once and substituting two afternoons). You can be sure that I washed my hands frequently! Being at school cut down on my walks, and I was happy to get out in the sunshine yesterday, despite the cold and the wind.

Except for the weather and the deer, there hasn’t been much to write about lately. The 2019 fawns are getting bigger, and it looks like several does are pregnant with this year’s group. Tom the turkey continues to show up most afternoons. Winter should be a time of rest, and I’m just as happy that there’s not too much excitement right now.

The bridge used by the neighbors in Dark Hollow on the other side of the ridge is back open, but the gate has stayed open, too. More rain is forecast for this week, so it may be that way for a while. Maybe it will be closed in my next post!

2-9-20

2-10-20

2-11-20

2-14-20

2-15-20

It started raining the day after my last post, and it rained and rained. Thursday it poured rain, and I stayed in the house (except to feed the deer and to walk to the mailbox when it let up for a while).

Below is water running in my “water feature.” It channels water from one of the ravines above the house and is usually dry.

The intermittent stream next to my road that is usually no more than a trickle was full enough to overflow its banks in a few places.

With over six inches of rain in the Hollow so far this month, the meadow is a mess. The ravine that runs on one side became a large stream on Thursday.

When I next rambled, the river was very high…

2-7-20

2=8=20

and roaring!

The rain was ushered in by heavy winds, and the Hollow had at least one downed tree and a small landslide. The road used by the neighbors in Dark Hollow (on the other side of the ridge) was flooded, and they had to come through the field and use our roads. (This is the gate where I take the photos at the end of each post; you’ll see the gate in the ones in this post.)

2-7-20

2-7-20

On the rainiest mornings the deer stayed hunkered down somewhere, which meant I didn’t “wade” down to feed them. When I went down Thursday afternoon (after the rain eased up a bit), I could see that fallen branches and brush had dammed the water in the flooded ravine and made some large puddles. I didn’t see deer until after I got back up to the house. Then I watched as several of them came down from the woods and jumped over the flooded ravine. Later I noticed some commotion near the ravine and laughed as I saw Bambi, Espy, and the other young deer playing in the big puddles. Unfortunately, it was too far away for me to get a good video, but it looked a lot like this one posted by Atlanta’s WSB-TV:

The rain finally ended—-or paused (more expected beginning Monday)—and it was 21° when I got up this morning. The meadow was frozen in some places and still muddy in others. (I think there must be at least one “wet weather” spring in the meadow.) The deer were happy to see me (and my bucket of feed and apples).

Spooky

I just walked down to feed them this afternoon, and they were ready to eat (especially Bambi!). You can hear Tom the turkey pecking in a pan behind me.

Snow was forecast for this afternoon, so I walked in the morning. It was still cold, and I thought these ice crystals in a muddy bank were interesting. I hope you do, too!

It was snowing when I started writing this post several hours ago (hence the title), but it didn’t stick. And I’m not going to stick around any longer, either. 🙂 I’ll post again soon!

2-7-20

2-8-20

2-2-20

2-2-20

Punxsutawney Phil may have forecast an early spring for Pennsylvania, but Groundhog Day in the Hollow was clear and sunny—enough to chase any animal afraid of its shadow back into the den, and Pisgah Pete, the white squirrel seer in nearby Brevard, called for more winter. Not that we’ve really had much of a winter yet. Yesterday’s high of 71°, although not a record, was 20° above the average. I’m not complaining, but I did start to wonder if I should start checking for ticks after walking through the brushy plants in the meadow.

1-26-20

1-27-10

1-28-20

1-30-20

1-31-20

2-1-20

2-2-20

2-3-20

2-4-20

The deer don’t mind the brush. I often see them grazing—and resting—in the meadow. As I’ve posted before, they don’t stick to the meadow; one morning, while birdwatching as I walked through the house, I looked out the window and saw Lil Buck and one of the 2019 fawn eating the birdseed I had thrown onto the patio! You should know by now that I took their breakfast down to the meadow, but Lil buck had fled into the woods. I wisg he’d stick around; there’s not much left in the woods for the deer to eat, and although the doe below might seem well-fed, I suspect she is eating for two (or more!).

Pregnant doe

Breakfast

I want an apple!

Fuzzy 2-1-20

Grazing and resting

I just went down to feed (trying to beat the rain). The small 2019 fawn was late but came in time to eat.

Tom the turkey also showed up as usual.

That’s about it for now. I guess I should get back to my tax preparation!

1-26-20

1-28-20

1-30-20

1-31-20

2-1-20

2-2-20

2-3-20

2-4-20