July 28, 2011 - Nature takes the summer heat in strideNature takes t
summer eat in stric
The heat that hit us over me past
few weeks kept us indoors, out of the
sweltering 80 and 90 degree weather.
If it wasn't the temperature that
knocked us out, it was the humidity.
Yet there was always some activity
going on around our place — like
today, when we looked into the little
pond under our picture window and
the three frogs that wintered over
there jumped out to sit on the rocks
and enjoy the humid day.
They've doubled in size since they
emerged from the bottom of our little
garden pond, which was covered
FOCUS ON NATURE
PAUL STOUTENBURGH
r for the winter. We've never seen
m catch anything, although they
under constant observation. You'c
Pik one of us would have seen then
itch a fly or bug with their sticky,
Aber -band tongues. Not to be left
as survivors of the winter, our
big goldfish also made it through
i are lazily nibbling algae around
edge of the pond. Their big job, of
zrse, is to eat mosquito larvae.
BARBARA STOUTENBURGH K
Of this doe's two fawns thought it was time for dinner but Mother had other ideas
ked her young off into the woods. They'd have to wait until later to be fed.
We have woodlands around our
home so, of course, it goes without
saying we have deer almost every
day. However, we did miss them for e
while recently and then realized why
Our daughter and her grandchildren
were walking through the woods
and they spotted a fawn curled up
at the base of a tree, not blinking an
eye. Here was the reason we had not
seen any deer around for a while:
They were evidently busy with the
Yesterday we saw two of these
new fawns frolicking in joyful play
in the yard, stopping only to try to
nurse when the mother approachec
Evidently this wasn't the time for
feeding, as she led them off into the
woods. Today, three spotted fawns
were having a drink at our fish pond
down the driveway.
Not only have we seen the young
deer around but a number of our
resident birds have brought their
young to our feeders. First to arrive
were the chickadees. The young were
so unafraid they would sit on the
table or on our knees or arms, calling
all the time to be fed. As the parents
approached with food the young
trembled with excitement. Then the
titmice family followed, along with
the cardinals and sparrows.
When they first arrived, the young
.,narrows were so noisy calling to be
hat they arrived they caught our
ation and Barbara tried to pho-
aph them. As they lined up on a
limb they were facing the wrong
and all she was able to get was
r four little butts. It rerriinded
of years ago when I was photo -
:)hing a family of nuthatches. The
.ng all decided to make their way
on a limb and wait to be served.
Slowly, one at a time, they snppeu
off. It was fun to watch and I caught
it on film as you can see.
And finally, the biggest of all,
the crow family arrived and took
over the back yard. We watched as
a young crow walked up and took
a taste of a five -inch mushroom,
which wasn't to its liking. They
walked around under the bird feed-
ers picking up leftovers and chasing
any squirrels that believed they were
there first.
In the high heat and humidity yot
could see these'large crows cooling
off with their bills partly opened.
Birds, like dogs, open their mouth
to cool off in hot weather. We've
seen the lawn ripped up where
moss was growing and believe the
crows are turning it over to find
bugs and insects to feed the young
or teach them how to find food for
PAUL STOUTENBURGH PF
sat photographing this nuthatch family, first one and then another slipped off
ch. Their mother had to find them on the ground and finish feeding them there.
At the end of the day — as we
watched for the deer to return
across the lawn, the bats to come
out for their evening insect meal,
and the fireflies all over the place
lighting up the yard — we noticed
something going up the ramp just
alongside the pond. Looking closer,
we could see it was Mr. Raccoon. He
also checked out the feeder fallout
and then was off across the lawn
to see what he could find in the
garden. A baby rabbit has been en-
joying the new lettuce leaves in the
garden and runs completely across
the lawn occasionally as if some-
thing were hot on its heels.
We ate lunch outside one nice
day outside and, to our surprise, we
spotted perhaps this same raccoon
climbing up a tall cherry tree along
the pasture fence. We could hardly
believe our eyes and were curious
what it was doing. After a while
Barbara walked across the lawn and
watched as this raccoon, 30 feet up
in the tree, stood on its hind legs and
reached for a small limb, pulling it
down as it picked off the cherries,
ate them and dropped the pits. As
Barbara stood there trying to get a
picture of this through all the leaves,
pits were dropping all around her.
That was a new one for us.
So it seems all is well with the
creatures of the wild during this
humid hot spell, for they are all
busy with their everyday survival