In the Summer of 2014, when we took possession of our land, there were so many ruffed grouses thumping away that it sounded like old tractors were starting constantly. We were in fact puzzled for a long time as to what the sound was. We haven’t heard them since, and we never really saw them either. Until a few days ago, when we heard one, and then saw a female next to the house, and then a male in the forest. I can only hope it means they are back for good.
We found this guy deep in the woods on a new trail we’re making. Good climber!
he ventures out in the woods by himself a bit further every day
All the rafters are done, tomorrow I’ll go after the cupola and do as much blocking as I can.
Vapor hole
Found a Monarch chrysalis, I’ll have to keep an eye on it in the next few days
Pollinators are busy bees.
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One is almost impossible to find.
Dead animal warning.
Robin stumbled upon our much cherished porcupine in the woods… It was the land’s mascot, had just come out of one more tough Winter, we thought it was made of steel, and that it would outlive us all. Tough to tell what happened to it, I’m not even sure what porcupines can die of besides old age.
We’ll set the trail cam back on it’s house to see what’s going on there now.
The porcupine is still alive and kicking, its tracks are in the usual spots on the land. It picked a new pine tree to spend the night feeding in this Winter, very much in the same area as last year’s. Definitely a creature of habit, it’s been living in the same house, following the same habits for as long as we started paying attention 5 years ago.
We set the trail cam at the entrance of the collapsed barn where it lives.
The poor fellow wasn’t expecting my deep track on its usual path and stumbled into it 🙂
5 minutes later… Really cool animals.
We woke up this morning and noticed a deer in the forest. It was resting. I realized I never had the chance to observe a resting deer, so we did for a good while.
Robin zooming in
Esther preferred observing bears
I found this decomposing piece of a tree from which you could separate all growth rings.
Lion’s Mane, It apparently has many health benefits (Justin found it).
Stinkhorn, if you want to be fancy, use its Latin name: Phallus Impudicus (Shameless Penis). It really does stink, but then again so do the best cheeses.
This guy is getting closer to the house every day, it would probably be on the dining table if the glass door allowed it.
