[Magdalen] Rodent patrol news and wildlife update

[Charles Wohlers]

Red-headed woodpeckers are very rare in Vermont, and then only in the 
Champlain Valley. None right where I live. Lots of downy and hairy 
woodpeckers, however. Judging from the commonly found distinctive holes 
they leave, we also have pileated woodpeckers, but I have yet to see 
one.
The robin's nest at our house again produced baby robins, and our 
resident phoebes had a successful nest again right above our front door. 
At church in Montpelier mama robin is starting her second brood in a 
nest right above the front door to the church. Sundays appear to be 
stressful for poor mama robin.

A friend reports that the peregrine falcons on Nichols Ledge here in 
town again appear to have a successful nesting.

As we were leaving a friend's house last night in E. Montpelier, saw a 
mama deer with nursing fawn right in the open at a crossroads. Not a 
normal thing you see while driving along.

The very wet spring we've had shows promise for abundant crops of 
strawberries, blueberries, apples and wild blackberries. OTOH, we've had 
an infestation of ticks this year - first time in the ten tears we've 
lived here.

That's all from northern Vermont -

-- 
Chad Wohlers
chadwohl at satucket.com
Woodbury, VT   USA


On 24.06.2019 11:16, Jay Weigel wrote:
> They're quite beautiful and distinctive. The males and females are
> identical in appearance. When it's quiet (which is seldom) you can now 
> hear
> the babies clamoring for more food whenever mom and dad leave the nest.
> 
> On Sun, Jun 23, 2019 at 10:19 PM Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> Red-headed woodpeckers? Lucky you!! I’ve never seen one. I have five
>> different species here, but never one of those!
>> 
>> > On Jun 21, 2019, at 4:58 PM, Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > The Northeast Broadway division of the Rodent Patrol has a new officer.
>> > With the departure of the two felines known simply as Captain and Deputy,
>> > possibly for Rainbow Bridge as we haven't seen them for over a year now,
>> > and the fact that we haven't seen the one we called Rookie for quite
>> > awhile, our yard seems to have been handed over to a long-bodied brown
>> > tabby and white kitty we've christened Officer Whitefoot for his very
>> > spiffy four white boots. (I presume it's a him, though I haven't gotten a
>> > good look yet!) I'm assuming he comes up from the neighbor's barn,
>> though I
>> > don't know. He patrols the yard in a very businesslike manner and then, I
>> > presume, goes off to patrol some others. Rookie, female by her
>> coloration,
>> > may be off training a new generation.
>> >
>> > We have been graced this year by a nesting pair of red-headed
>> woodpeckers.
>> > We have not, in my time of residence here, had them as more than
>> occasional
>> > visitors, although we have all the other varieties as permanent
>> residents.
>> > However, this year they've come and stayed, and we're pretty sure we've
>> > spotted their nest hole. Mama and Papa (they're indistinguishable) are
>> > extremely busy at the moment and rest frequently on the stump of a branch
>> > outside S/O's office window, looking visibly exhausted. They must have a
>> > nestfull! There's something else with a nest in a hoe in a tree up the
>> > driveway, but we haven't spotted what, just seen the droppings at the
>> > entryway.
>> >
>> > We've also observed a pair of possums strolling about looking pretty darn
>> > well-fed. There are a lot of ticks this season already, so that may
>> account
>> > for it. And it's baby bunny season, making both driving and lawn-mowing a
>> > bit hazardous. The wee squirrels should be making their debut soon too.
>>