Tag Archives: MN North: Amity

In Velvet!

Year 7

The Amity Forest continues to delight. This buck has started hanging around our house. For those of you who have never seen a White-Tailed Deer “In Velvet”, look at his antlers. Within a month or so, this deer will wear the “fuzz” off its antlers, and he will look more like you expect.

From Science.Com: “When you see deer with fuzzy antlers, you are seeing a deer in velvet. That velvet provides nutrition and growth to deer antlers. This special tissue is a type of skin, loaded with blood vessels and nerves, that regenerates every year.”

Hoot Bait! (Raccoons Move Into White Pine … movie)

Year 7

While taking a break this afternoon I suddenly noticed motion in the white pine above our bird feeders. Apparently after last night’s big rain and thunderstorm a local raccoon family decided to look for better accommodations.  Our white pine has one section that is hollow. It was fun watching the family move in, but they may have a rude awakening tonight. Both raccoons and owls are nocturnal, and my Great Horned Owl family of five hunts in my yard every night starting at 10 pm.

While Hoot may be to small and inexperienced yet to catch a raccoon, either parent owl would find catching a raccoon, particularly the babies not much of a problem. It will be interesting to see what evolves. There are definitely more than two raccoons in the tree (two seen in the video).

Raccoons move In to hollow White Pine

Count the noses! (I do not know the total count is of raccoons)

Raccoon Movie-In … the Movie (link for email subscribers)

Morning at the Pond (Sandhill Cranes & Colts)

Year 7,

I owe one to the bugs … all those swarms of mosquitoes and deer flies. Let me explain. About one hour after sunrise this morning I arrived at the trailhead to the Great Blue Heron Rookery in the Canosia State Wildlife Preserve. Less than five minutes into my hike the swarms of bugs in combination with the thick undergrowth drenching me (thunder storms last night), I remarked to myself that my walk was definitely not fun! I turned around and bid a hasty adieu to the woods.

When I got in my car to escape the bugs, a short drive down the dirt road found me unexpectedly meeting a brand new family … two Sandhill Cranes and their two colts (chicks). They were out in the open near a pond with lots of wildflowers on the shore. I was in photographic heaven!

{Just below all the Sandhill Crane photographs and movie you will find an audio recording I took of Hoot last night at 3 am. I was standing in my bedroom next to the window!}

Sandhill Cranes and Colts

Movie! (link for email subscribers)

One final item … I have often remarked that many nights I can hear Hoot, the Great Horned Owl, from my bedroom window. I made this audio recording last night at 3:15 am of Hoot. She was screeching (two toned) and demanding to be fed by her parents.

Hoot at 3 am … audio only … recorded next to my bedroom window! (link for subscribers)