Geese Coming Home

The weather is strange here lately. The temperature has been going up and down, rising to Spring temps and then falling back to Winter cold. I wonder what the migratory birds are thinking of this.

The other day I was on my way to the store when I passed a line of geese. It seemed like they had just flown south for the winter and yet here was a flock back already. They looked as if they were walking home, wherever that might be, after a winter retreat in a warmer climate.

Today the temperature was in the high 60s but tomorrow it should be in the 30s. Will the geese be as surprised as I am about the variation in the season? Will they be confused about their decision to come back?

As the climate warms up, I wonder if the geese migration will change.  Perhaps it is inborn and they will continue in their usual pattern or they may adapt and shift when or if they migrate. Nature is always interesting to observe. Meanwhile, Welcome back geese!

https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/animal-facts-canada-goosetiming  

http://naturemappingfoundation.org/natmap/ca/facts/birds/canada_goose.html

 

                                       Squirrel On Ice

It’s been cold around here lately with temperatures in the 20s. Cars ice up overnight and we have to be careful not to slip on the icy concrete as we leave our house in the morning.

But we aren’t the only ones affected by the cold weather. Today a squirrel was trying to get a drink on the bird bath but the water was frozen over. The poor squirrel kept moving around and around, slurping along the outer edge where some of the ice had loosened and a sip was possible.

I hope he got enough to drink because the weather report shows we are due for some further cold days. I know it’s winter and it’s not unexpected but I realize that our outdoor critters are not as lucky as we are to have a warm place to shelter in. I hope that Mother Nature will be kind and help all her critters, even us, have a healthy winter.

 

                                                       This Holiday Season

This has been a rough two years. The pandemic seems to want to hang around in its various forms. Yet this time of the year is supposed to be cheerful and bright. So with that in mind, we took a ride around our local towns looking for the brightness of the season and found some homes lit up for the holiday.

This one, in particular, was a sweet illustration of the light that we share. There is nothing fancy, no multi-colored lights or air-blown snowmen or blinking snowflakes, but it seems to reflect the light that shines within each of us.

I hope it’s a reminder that no matter what is happening in the world, we can still see the brightness of existence. And, perhaps, if we shift our way of thinking, we can offer compassion to all those who are suffering and bring light and joy to ourselves.

Lots and Lots of Boxelders

 

                                            Lots and Lots of Boxelders

Everyone is worried about Lantern Flies and rightfully so. They come in large groups and destroy plants and trees. But there are other bugs that come in flocks. We have been having boxelders gathering at our front door this past week. It seems that the bugs like to find sun-warmed places to spend the winter and our front door and the east-facing side of our house welcome the warmth of the morning sun.

I can understand their motivation. As we open our front door, we are embraced by a delightful heat even when the outdoor temperature is cool. So I can’t blame the boxelders for congregating at this spot but I don’t want them here, either. 

They aren’t harmful to humans, yet having so many insects meet us at our door is not exactly a welcome greeting. They take winter refuge on boxelder and ash trees, which we don’t have, and maple trees, which we do. So we have started spraying them with diluted dish soap which was suggested instead of pesticides and we’ve noticed a slowing down of their invasion. I hope they will be gone soon. I hate to be so stern with Mother Nature but sometimes it’s necessary to balance how we live together.

 

A quick insight into boxelder bugs:

https://www.pestworld.org/news-hub/pest-articles/boxelder-bugs-101/ 

Creepy Spider Webs

Creepy Spider Webs

Fall is making itself known. Pine cones are falling all over our backyard. The maple leaves dazzle us with their bright colors and then turn brown as they let go of their branches and cover our grass. Spiders seem to be having a field day making webs up against our garage, capturing food before the cold settles in.  

I usually sweep away the webs as they appear but what better time than Halloween to let them stay? They add an eerie ambience to the front of our house which should offer a little creepiness to the trick-or-treaters coming on Sunday.

Creepy as they may be, spider webs are pretty amazing. They have an artistic quality about them, and a variety of purposes. Not only do they catch insects for food but they provide help for the spider to travel from one place to another, they protect a spider’s dwelling space and also provide safety for an egg sac.

I can appreciate a web’s value but I won’t be able to keep them around. After the holiday, whatever spiders have built the webs, I’m afraid they will have to find new places for them. Hopefully, not near my garage.

Some web facts:

https://daily.jstor.org/surprising-facts-about-spiderwebs/

More about why spiders spin webs – if you can bear to read further:

https://www.thespruce.com/why-spiders-build-webs-2656503

 

Corn Rows

I love sweet corn. I remember munching on the kernels when I was a kid and then sucking out the juicy sweetness left on the cob. It was one of my favorite things to eat.

During the growing season, fields are bursting with corn! New Jersey has lots of farms that grow corn. The stalks cover acres of fields but they only produce one or two cobs each so it’s understandable why so much land is needed.  

Now, traveling by local farms reminds me that Autumn is here. The cornstalks, so plentiful during growing season, are turning brown and wilting. Farmers are cutting them down, leaving the fields covered with the remains of summer’s corn crop. It’s nature’s reminder that all things flourish for a time and then release their energy. We need to enjoy life in its many forms while we can.

Lots of facts about corn:

 http://justfunfacts.com/interesting-facts-about-corn/

Corn facts and activities for kids:

https://www.blowingspringsfarm.com/images/uploads/homepage/Lets_Talk_about_Corn_K-3.pdf

 

  

Hurricane Ida

The cleanup from Hurricane Ida is underway. Residents of Lambertville, NJ, were putting out broken chairs and toys, damaged kitchen appliances, split tables, soaked mattresses, wooden slats from porches and shingles off houses. It wasn’t every house that experienced such devastation but enough to emphasize how strong the hurricane was.

Mullica Hill, NJ, was hit by an Ida-created tornedo that whipped through the town, causing houses and farms to be stripped or even flattened! Sometimes one side of a street was effected while the other side was left alone.  

Ida hit lots of places along the eastern coast hard and like all such storms, it was erratic. Some towns were flooded, others just wet from the rain. We were lucky in our area. There were downed trees but nothing disastrous.

Climate change is definitely happening. What we need now is a new way to look at our environment. Perhaps by changing our interference with nature we can modify the strength and number of storms in the future.

Climate change and hurricanes:

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/do-changes-our-climate-mean-more-hurricanes/