Here’s a picture similar to the American Bald Eagle seen today in our yard and yesterday at Lake Siog. My husband witnessed today’s Bald Eagle was flying about 5 feet off the ground, coming down from a large pine tree across the street and flying over the driveway near our car between our house and classroom space in the shed. The day before yesterday, while we were reading The Books of Enoch – The Angels, The Watchers and The Nephilim at the lake, (or rather my husband was reading to me), we both stopped to watch a beautiful Bald Eagle majestically soar high in the sky from one huge pine tree on one side of the lake to another pine tree on the other side of the lake. Yesterday we watched a Bald Eagle, (my guess is that it is the same one), fly low above the water, probably looking for a fish dinner.
Today the Bald Eagle flew low off the ground and between the house the classroom space in the shed. There are so many little critters around here it probably wanted for dinner. I discovered that the Bald Eagle’s eyesight is about 8 times keener than that of a human.
A beautiful Fox more golden in color to the one shown here, ran through our yard yesterday. Foxes runs by our house frequently, morning and evening. Once I saw two young foxes trot off the road, into our front garden and go under our house, then ran back out onto the road. Neighbors tell us that they have seen a beautiful Fox sitting peacefully in our front garden at dawn. One day my husband and I were driving home, riding on the back roads, when I thought to say out loud, “I’d love to see a Fox.” We rounded the corner, a Fox came out of the bushes, looked at the both of us, then turned and trotted back into the forest. This year we have no problem with mice, which is the favorite food of fox! I LOVE fox!
A big black bear walked right in front of our house, probably looking for the bird feeder with suet the other day while I was teaching a high energy New Paradigm Multi-Dimensional Transformation class. Students were in the driveway during a break. One interpreter for the deaf took this picture. One student had missed seeing a big black bear the previous day when her roommate had seen it in their yard just three towns away. I think her wish and my wish to see a big black bear manifested in the experience we shared that day. The neighbors thought we saw the bear because of the high-energy class I was teaching. That’s our car parked on the lower left which the bear strolled slowly by, but not before stopping and turning to look at the people standing about 5 yards away. The bear assessed we were not a threat, then moseyed on past us. Their cars were parked in front of the bird feeder which probably served as a deterrent, or the bear simply was not hungry. Let’s just say this particular class was definitely a high-energy class!
Mama Bear footprint found last winter about 3 inches away from the back corner of our house, and about 1 foot away from my sleeping head.
Here are baby bear footprints which were following Mama Bear. I followed the mama bear and baby bear footprints into the back yard and up the hill to our neighbor’s yard. I told them about this the next day.
We have bunnies in our yard, which we usually see by the winter footprints, although this year I saw as a very large bunny come out from under the car parked in the driveway and hop into the garden. Ours was a very big bunny. This week while walking on the high school paths by the pond, we stopped to watch a small bunny eating a blade of grass. It stopped for a second to assess if this was a problem, then continued eating the grass before it hopped into the thicket around the pond.
In winter we see bunny and bird footprints crossing the driveway from the wooded side to the garden side, probably looking for dropped sunflower seeds just like the squirrels and chipmunks do.
Last week we thought we heard a child screaming for help several times and went to check to see if any neighborhood children were in trouble. Then we realized this awful sound must have come from a Fisher Cat, which sounds like that. The sound is absolutely frightening! We did not get to see it, but this is what they look like.
Last month as I was driving, I watched a Bobcat run across the street on the other side of the lake near the dam. I like that they eat snakes, among other things. Our yard has had a few snakes in it, but not this year, due to the Bald Eagle and Bobcat, which is OK with me. I don’t mind if they live in the acres of old forests around here, but not so much in our yard, although last year I literally saw a pure white snake as I was raking the leaves and mulch off the side garden near the woods! Has anyone ever seen a pure white snake the size of a garter snake??? What does that mean, metaphorically??? Back to the Bobcat, I knew this was no ordinary cat crossing the road because of its huge hind quarters. I have also seen a couple of colorful signs posted on trees about small missing dogs. People need to be aware not to let their pets roam free out here!
YIKES!
This is a copy of Bobcat footprint similar to the one I found last winter in our driveway last winter.
This Pileated Woodpecker is common to the old forests around here. We hear it a lot. This was taken about 10 years ago. Look at the size of the heavy-duty post holding up the bird feeder. After this picture was taken a big black bear, or more than one, pulled down the pole with had been cemented into the ground. The pole was not simply pulled to the ground. It was bent severely, which could only be straightened out by my husband pushing it back into shape between two trees. The thing is, we had four such poles on each side of the house. All of them were in the same condition. We had to replace a couple of the thinner birdfeeder poles though.
My husband very well may be a bird whisperer. We often have birds crash into our glass sliding door and our large picture window overlooking the garden, despite all of the colorful stained-glass window hanging decorations on them. In this case, a Mockingbird knocked himself out after crashing into the sliding door and laid unmoving on the front porch. I thought it was dead and thought my husband was getting a shovel to move it off the porch. Much to my surprise, he went for a small piece of bread and a seashell full of water.
The bird looked up at my husband as he was speaking very softly to it.
The bird ate the bread and drank some water, then looked up at my husband as if to say, “Thank you!”
The next thing that happened shocked me. I had never before seen anyone, except maybe one of my grandchildren and my father, who had the ability to sit still outside and have birds land on their shoulders. This bird allowed my husband to pat it gently before it flew off!
Colorful stained-glass window decorations also bring in the Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds and bees which especially like the bright red silk rose, a symbol of love between me and my husband. I guess we are not the only ones who love brightly colored silk flowers. I might add here that I went to hear Dr. Judith Orloff speak at Southern College in Connecticut about 15 years back. She was giving a talk on her latest book at that time called Second Sight, which is something that I also have. The college auditorium was packed. I sat in the middle section more to the back of the auditorium. As she gave her presentation, she picked up a bright deep pink silk flower out of the tall vase of flowers in front of the empty seat next to her and placed the flower on the seat. When she was done with her talk, I was in a long line to have her sign the 3 books I bought. As I walked up to the table where she was sitting, she handed me the same flower she had picked up and placed on the seat beside her during her talk. I asked her why she was giving me the flower. She said that I had the brightest and most beautiful white aura all around me. I humbly accepted the flower.
This photo of a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird was taken by Paul Freidlund. They come around a lot in the front garden. They particularly love the purple pansies. They do seem confused by the brightly colored silk flower in the vase in the picture above this one.
I regularly see Red Tailed Hawks everyday often in pairs, and sometimes being chased by smaller birds to get them away from their nests. It does not matter where we ride to. I see them everywhere. Last year we noticed that there was a red-tale hawk nest on our property. It was easy to tell the cry of the mature hawks and the cry of their young. It always made me smile. It is not uncommon to see them daily.
It was as if this beautiful red cardinal in our front yard was posing on a green pine tree branch just for this picture. Cardinals are common sightings around here. I love their songs. They live all around the lakes and rivers here. Dramatic color is also noticed in the much-needed yellow sign at the intersection of roads near our property which says, “LOOK! MOTORCYCLES ARE EVERYWHERE.”
Bluebirds are only transient visitors to our garden. They arrive as a flock of about 6-8 of them, eat at the feeders for a few days, then move on, like the Grosbeaks, although the Grosbeaks around here are bigger than books depict, making them prey, because they also appear to fly slower than smaller birds, making it easier for the local cats around here to catch an unsuspecting meal.
This is a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak which is the variety of Grosbeak that comes to our birdfeeders. They have gone away, since we put the bird feeders in the old shed which holds such things. But maybe they have simply moved to the neighbor’s yard, since they also have birdfeeders out. With the big black bear walking so close by our house, I don’t trust the birdfeeders to be attacked by bears anymore during the warmer months. Juncos, robins, chickadees, song sparrows, marsh wrens, and doves continue to grace our property.
Juncos are the original winter bird. They absolutely love the snow, like me. They arrive every winter here, loving to eat the dropped sunflower seeds under the birdfeeders. They hop under and on branches of the endangered Mountain Laurel bushes that grew very tall this year. Since we had to drop a few dead trees last year allowing the sun to shine in, the Mountain Laurel bloomed prolifically this year. I think we even have a couple of Juncos that decided to stay into the summer this year.
Robins arrived in early spring and still love it around here. There are lots of them here.
Here’s a Black-Capped Chickadee eating seeds from a hand. It was fun watching chickadees use the cowboy boot birdhouse in the large pine tree we nurtured back to health with the use of Job Tree Spikes. I would rest in the hammock hung between two trees and watch the chickadees go in and out of their secret nest in the cowboy boot birdhouse. I could also hear the sweet chirping of the baby birds.
Purple Finch and Gold Finch feeding. They have beautiful, delightful songs enlivening the forests here.
Both sparrows and wrens build nests around here. Last year we had wrens making nests in some of our wreaths on the house and shed. I watched them gather twigs, fly up to the large wind chimes, and fly up to their nest in the wreath on the outside of the classroom shed. Unfortunately, the nest was disturbed by a predator, other bird, or squirrel. I found an egg that fell out of the nest and cracked open. While the Song Sparrow and the Marsh Wren are both brown, the Sparrow’s breast is dotted brow and its tail points downward. The tail of the Wren is shorter and points upward. Notice the difference in their beaks as well.
Mourning Doves always grace our yard. Sometimes there is more than one set. I love their cooing. They are ground feeders, much like the Cardinals, yet both have no problem flying away in time to avoid the local pet cats.
Then there were the days a couple years back when we began to hear loud Snowy Owls began calling to each other on either side of the front and back of our house. One day we saw the owl fly very low and close to our house, flying into the back yard on the left side of the house and returning on the right side of the house. This picture does not do justice to the 6-foot wingspan it displayed. This Snowy Owl looked massive.
I have seen the Great Blue Heron in the waterways around here. It is majestic in flight as well as simply standing in the ankle-deep water.
It seems there are more Grey Herons than the Great Blue Herons in this New England area, at least by my observation. I see them from time to time at the dam on the other side of the lake.
Perhaps the most stunning sight is the Great White Egret in flight. It can take your breath away to watch this graceful bird fly. It’s quick darting as it fishes is quite accurate.
Before two of our grandsons crossed the country to live near in the Cascade Mountain Range, aka the Rocky Mountains, a few years ago, we took them on a moose and deer adventure in moose country in Pittsburg, New Hampshire, on the border with Canada. This moose posed for us. It was such a memorable trip, not just to see all the wildlife, but to share memories before they left with family to the other side of the USA.
The white-tailed deer on that Pittsburg, New Hampshire trip were much more plentiful on that family trip! We also see them often in our area.
The last entry here is the toad who loves living on our front porch, especially when it rains. Sometimes it hops on the table next to the picture window. Let me tell you that is quite a leap! There have also been times it hops onto the windowsill as if it is watching TV with us.
I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane. What a wonderful kaleidoscope color of animals appeared to me recently. It’s hard to believe they all crossed my path, but they did.
So, I am thinking these are my 27 new totem animals and birds that crossed my path for specific reasons.
We also have lots of gorgeous Lady Bugs who live around our home. I usually find them resting on the front doors to our home and classroom.
Namaste