17 October 2014 - The Games have Begun

I am not talking sports here, at least not the normal football frenzy you might assume.  I am referring to the fall wildlife games taking place in my yard. 

Both the red squirrels and the rock squirrels are getting ready for winter. They fill their cheeks to bulging with sunflower seeds then find a spot to bury them--almost always in the lawn. At night the raccoons show up and very cleverly dig them up for dinner. The squirrels leave no trace of the buried treasure. The raccoons leave golf ball to tennis ball sized divots in the lawn. 

The blue jays are also stuffing their gullets with sunflower seeds. They tuck the seeds into the shaggy bark of the Russian Olive trees where their cache is often found by chickadees or woodpeckers.

This last week has seen a lot of bird activity. Hawks are migrating and are often seen gliding above the ridge across the street. I had a flock of Evening Grosbeaks pass through for a day.  

The Pine Siskens came in last week and are still busy on the feeders. The Pine Sisken flock included other small birds such as  juncos, yellow-rumped warblers and lesser goldfinch. All of which I'm happy to see. 

Today brought the first sighting of a Steller's Jay. Just one so far, but it is early yet.  I had six regulars at the feeders all last winter, so I hope to get them back again. 

The deer are coming down the mountain regularly now. First were the does, then does and babies, and now the young bucks are showing up. 

The only good thing they have done is to clean up all the fallen crabapples. The tree had a ton of fruit this year, and most of it was fermenting on the lawn. Not sure which is worse, the soft fermenting apples stuck in the treads of my shoes or deer poop.