We call it that because squirrels like to shelter inside. And each spring, at least one new family grows up there. One year, a pregnant raccoon took over the entire tree. But otherwise, for some twenty years, we have watched squirrel mamas, and eventually their pups, scurry in and out of the largely hollow tree.
But last week, I wondered if wood ducks might be moving in.
Continue reading Duck DramaThe Red-breasted Mergansers put on quite a springtime show. They scoot. They splash. The handsome boys bow to impress the ladies. I never tire of watching their annual courtship display.
Continue reading A Red-breasted Ballet… For NowImage Credits: Carol Doeringer.
That’s our weather of late. But sitting in my snug office, just steps from soup, sourdough, coffee, and more… I’ve no reason to complain. The weather may be harsh, but I’m not suffering.
Can the same be said of the wildlife I watch through my window?
Continue reading So Much for SharingImage Credits: Carol Doeringer.
But that’s not what this juvenile Bald Eagle is watching. Perched on the high bluff behind our Lake Allegan home, the raptor has a sweeping view of the water below. That view includes Eagle Island.
You can probably guess how that island got its name.
Continue reading From Shallows to Swamp?Image Credits: Carol Doeringer.
The snoop at my sliding-glass door made no attempt to conceal herself as she stared. I wondered: Was she looking through the glass or at it?
Continue reading A Cowbird Cases the JointImage Credits: Carol Doeringer.
The poo’s origin was no mystery. Robins had nested overhead, on our pergola. But still, I wondered why I was seeing so much of the sticky stuff. Robins, like many bird parents, remove their nestlings’ excrement after each feeding. It comes out wrapped in a fecal sac—a convenient package that parents swallow during the first week and then carry away from the nest as fecal quantities grow. In addition to helping keep the young ones healthy, nest sanitation minimizes any scent trail that might lead predators to the nest. And yet, just a few feet directly below the nestlings lay a stinking pile of poop.
Was I looking at the dereliction of parental doo-ty?
Continue reading When the Poo Piles UpImage Credits: Carol Doeringer.
The beautiful birds were not a precious gift from my true love, as the holiday song suggests. Instead, Mute Swans are quite common on Lake Allegan, which our home overlooks. Their graceful movement and luminous white plumage always command my attention. While not totally silent as their name implies, Mute Swans are blissfully quiet compared to the loudmouth Canada Geese that also frequent our lake.
And then there’s the ugly part: These lovely birds are invasive thugs.
Continue reading A Surplus of Swans
Image Credits: Carol Doeringer, E. Spicer.
Warm(ish) weather has reached our lake, melting and fracturing its icy cover. Ice floes of all shapes and sizes meander by. Some floes rival a sculptor’s art. Others carry creatures at rest, floating like innertubes on a lazy river.
They all send a most welcome signal.
Continue reading Winter Goes with the Floe
Image Credits: Carol Doeringer.
I don’t picture wildlife muttering silently about insufferable snow and icy wind. Instinct and biology play key roles in keeping creatures warm and fed. But animals are intelligent, too. Do they think about the seasonal discomfort?
That’s what I’m wondering as I sit by my fireplace, snug in my home and shielded from the cold and snow.
Image Credits: Carol Doeringer.
The tree was about fifty-five years old* when we bought our home in 2004. On our well-wooded property, it didn’t command any particular notice. Then in 2015, Pileated Woodpeckers chose it for their nest. That was quite a show, which I filmed. But the poor tree! The woodpeckers removed about five gallons of wood to dig a cavity some 19” deep.
That’s when the tree’s trouble—to my eventual great delight—began.
Continue reading Farewell to a Favorite Tree
Image Credits: Carol Doeringer.
