Greetings, everyone --
I attempted to do this post at IBF last evening, but I think Neise put a hex on me after my Halloween funning; then I tried to load up photobucket, which also failed; so then I placed all blame on the Full Beaver Moon (as the Hunter's Moon was referred to by certain Native Americans). Why I would have any reason to blame THIS full Moon shall remain a private matter. So here is my tired, post Tuesday, final attempt at a post. If anyone is so interested, remember to click the "zoom in" option on the upper left corner of the linked pictures.
After a rather harrowing Monday morning at my clinic where I had to do our payroll, end of the month reports, had to say goodbye to an old friend that I have been caring for since he was a little fur ball of a puppy 13 years ago, and then had to do a rather gruesome emergency surgery -- keep in mind, this was a day OFF -- I took my buns out to the Farm to celebrate the Full Hunter's Moon with a wonderful afternoon into evening hike.
It's been way too long since I wondered about on our Farm. Highlights included a group of frolicking Red-headed Woodpeckers in the North Oak Timber, including this little acorn cacher :
a cozy little encounter with a couple of Ruby-crowned Kinglets up by the old homestead -- here's one of the frisky little midgets:
and an at dusk fly-by of an immature female Northern Harrier.
As Matthew Winks had noted in his post, the evening sunset show was lovely:
Sadly, I came upon our great Black Oak and found it had fallen:
Respects were heartfelt and duly paid to this dinosaur of a tree, in the company of a couple of Coyotes and a Barred Owl to the north:
I then concluded my walk with the wonderful Moonrise:
Totals for this walkabout are below.
Matt Fraker
Woodford Co
11/02/09, reported on 11/03/09
Location: Fraker Farm
Observation date: 11/2/09
Number of species: 26
Canada Goose 4
Wood Duck 3
Northern Harrier 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Barred Owl 2
Red-headed Woodpecker 4
Red-bellied Woodpecker 8
Downy Woodpecker 4
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1
Blue Jay 13
American Crow 1
Black-capped Chickadee 12
Tufted Titmouse 6
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Eastern Bluebird 8
American Robin 97
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 1
Fox Sparrow 2
White-throated Sparrow 3
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 6
Northern Cardinal 5
Red-winged Blackbird 27
American Goldfinch 13