Well the following spring is here, grass has started to come back. Some water remains and trickles through the old pond which is now a ditch. Oddly enough. Blue herons still walk through on occasion. (though they don't stay long... hopefully the frogs will be here in a few weeks again to attract them.  The muskrats still seem to be here and intact. I photographed them almost daily through the winter. (it's weird, never saw them in the winter before).  Also this skaggy looking opossum has been hanging around. At night and in the day. Here he meanders up to check out the muskrat. (snow is just thawing, some ice seen in the foreground.

 
I video tape the opossum as he walks up to the muskrat... just as he gets close enough. The muskrat lets out a scream and dives under the water. The opossum seemed surprised as if he didn't even see his neighbor. We've been tossing some corn out on the bank of the old pond to give the wildlife some food. The ducks have been here since winter and come and go daily. I believe they'll be nesting in the area again. I don't know if this is the same pair that has been nesting here in the past. But at least they still feel at home. 

Even if the water is a little shallow. The geese usually hang at a near by retention pond that the city just put in. (to handle flooding in a new development in the area. The making of this retention pond is part of the reason our pond got wiped out. I plan to dam up one end a bit to raise the water level a few more inches. The geese walk over from the other area and try to muscle the ducks away from their corn. They've been coming daily.








The other day we pulled up in the driveway to find the mother duck standing on a rock in our landscaping. (inches from the front of the house) and the male guarding her as he stood on our front walkway. It seems she was trying out some nesting areas. We saw her jump down into the ground cover under a bush. But she hasn't returned. Maybe it wasn't just right. We went in the house and shot this out of the front window. 

4/19/00 - updates... This cool wood pecker and a mate on a near by tree...
Heron's still visit - though they don't spend hours here like they use to when there was fish in the pond. The current streams still looks interesting. This heron struts by as the duck gives him a hiss for coming to close. 

    


This is an old guy - he's rather skiddish, looks a little ragged around the edge. Even looks a bit gray on top ;-)

   

I scare off this old guy by moving to close to the window in hopes of a closer shot. I try to let them see me after I get a couple pictures, so that they get use to my presence. We had a very young one a few years back which let me walk in the yard near him. Otherwise - 99.9% of them fly off if they see us looking at them. (not like the herons in Florida which we feed by hand). 







Just got a shot of this guy out back.. looks like a sand piper? Not sure what he's doing in our neighborhood? He's pretty tiny, so I had to zoom in all the way with the video camera to get this shot of him. (right) This guy below is nothing special, but I found it odd he was eating the corn I had put out for the ducks. Keep in mind when viewing these pictures, that we don't live in the woods, we live in a sub-development of several dozen houses, curbs sidewalks etc. It amazes me how much wild life we get here. We often find raccoons in the pond at night, one was even trapped in our garage all night and made a mess. We've also seen a fox, deer and a turkey out back - but didn't get a picture of them.

 

Today I'm in the computer room (5/9/00) and I hear a tapping noise. I look around the corner to see two geese (the pair that pays us frequent visits.... tapping on the windows on the back of the house.  I take a close up picture through the 2 panes of glass - and notice them looking at me.  I glace out to where I put the corn feed for them and found it was gone. (other birds eat it, squirrels etc.) so I figure they're trying to let me know this.  I walk out and toss out some more corn and they get busy with lunch.  


































Will update this area as the summer wears on.
I purchased a new Canon D30 digital camera and have a 640mm lens for it. So this summer, I hope to get some really good close ups.

Old camera...                  New camera...



New guy to the pond area...  Mr. wood chuck, extremely skittish, 
getting this took several attempts. Like the heron's he always
scurries off the instant he see's or hears me.












Oh my gosh - new experience...  last night we came home and I noticed a Snapping turtle on the bank, she was digging a hole, so I documented her activities. Here are a couple of dozens of pictures I shot. I hope to photograph the hatching in 60-90 days. Their were about 15-20 eggs, all just a hair smaller than a ping pong ball. She was really interesting! And a process that spanned over 3-4 hours. More photos later when I find some time to add them.




















 


  

   

 

6/3/01
 



 

July - 2001
  


1-4-2002 - The muskrats are still here. This one appeared through the ice today
And was later joined by 12 ducks.



Back again in 2002 - a pair of these guys



And a yellow finch - I believe...



5-28-02 Another gang of ducklings. (rushing to get undercover from my camera)



There are LOTS of ducks this year. The above picture was taken in May - the one that follows only 3 ducklings - taken in June



Taken today 6-4-02 - has rained for 2 days. Dark and gloomy today, yet I found some sunshine...

Some more visitors - these taken on Fathers day...  06/15/2002
           

And another group just a few minutes later... these are older goslings...


05-09-2003
The first group of the season this year so far



Mom swoops in for a landing after being hounded by 3 mallards - Com'on guys she already has her brood
Another shot a few minutes later.