With no snow there are no animal tracks to follow. Still the critters abound around here. I just have to think that some little forest creature lives in the hole between these beautiful moss covered rocks. It looks as inviting as an ivy covered cottage.
Something has been eating my arbutus leaves. The culprit is unknown to me, but I would rather they picked some other plant for their munching. We first noticed the damage several weeks ago. Feeding caterpillars sometimes leave a similar munch pattern. Fortunately flower buds were not on the menu. Next fall we shall try to look and identify the culprit.
The top of stone walls is a popular place for animals to leave scat to make their presence known. They like to leave those special markers where they will surely be noticed. Fox are notorious for marking territory with nose high deposits. We enjoy seeing a fox but could really do without these markers.
I have to call this one the streak. I don't know for sure, but I suspect this strafing run was made by one of the group of crows that hang around the garden like gang members on a street corner. No less than a foot in length, this stripe was laid down at high speed by a bird flying really low to the ground. With no nest to tend, crows eat at the bird feeder then spend the afternoon chasing each other and generally fooling around. Of course there is always a possibility that the streak could have been made by a hawk. Our garden is large and the odds are in our favor. So far neither of us have been hit by aerial bombardment.
2 comments:
Unfortunately, I don't know of a "Glaciation for Beginners" type of book :/ but I do know a few things about glaciation. The assortment of rock left behind by glaciers is called glacial till, and it will be made of up material that can vary greatly both in size and in type. It should be pretty easy to identify, since you'll find things that don't match whatever the bedrock is where you are.
(http://mrdata.usgs.gov/sgmc/ny.html). You can use this link to find out what the bedrock in your immediate area is with relative certainty, especially if you have GPS coordinates. Feel free to ask questions if the geology jargon gets too hairy. Hope this helps!
My critters have been up to their usual tricks....deer have been eating everything in sight but now the snow is protecting the pants from the deer...voles though are busy eating the plants under the snow...
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