Ekko
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Yesterday, on my normal evening walk with da boys, I noticed a couple of the spruce trees had grown icicles. It was worthy of a trip back to the house to get the camera. The icicles were only on a few trees that missed the wind, and caught the heat from the sun, just right.
Sun setting behind da boys
The fresh snow from the last storm had da boys all excited, thinking that winter had come again, so here’s a couple photos of them, plus one I liked just as the sun was ready to set behind them.
Michele has been trying to stop looking at this blog because all the puppies are just too darn cute!
Kirsch
Hello Garth, it is so nice to find you here! Da Boys look fantastic, as usual. When I find an odd bird, I often think of you. For those of you who do not know Garth, he is our EXPERT bird man!
Michelle, don’t you think it’s about time for da boys to have a baby sister? 😉
It hasn’t been a good winter for the birds, other than a pileated woodpecker that would come to the feeder, and a few ruffed grouse, flushed by da boys, that are starting to make a comeback in this area. The number of our normal winter birds is way down, I’m not sure why. I haven’t seen any unusual birds, either.
There have been a lot of bald eagles in the area, though.
Michele has started some talk about a little brother or sister for the big boys.
Your birds have probably come to FL to avoid that nasty cold stuff and haven’t returned yet.
I think the boys need a little sister to liven up the party!
I miss reading about birds, in fact I think you have planted a seed in my little brain, because I actually think about making an effort to go bird watching. So far I only have thought about it, but that is the first step.
That is SUPER that you are seeing many Bald Eagles!!! If I memory serves me they are an indicator of environmental conditions.
Love the pictures!
I went crazy for bluebirds last year, I bought 3 bluebird houses, they have been up since early last year, still no bluebirds. 🙁
Something like that happened to me. We had no mosquitoes on our property for 10 years because we had so many Bats. So I decided I would help them out and put up a dozen or so Bat houses. So what happened? They all died. Not from the Bat houses but turns out it was White Nose fungus…I really miss those guys, now we get eaten by mosquitoes. From Wikipedia:
White nose syndrome (WNS) is a poorly understood malady associated with the deaths of more than a million bats.[1] The condition, named for a distinctive fungal growth around the muzzles and on the wings of many affected animals, was first identified in a cave in Schoharie County, New York, USA, in February 2006,[2] and started showing up in the news after January 2007.[3] It spread to other New York caves and into Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut[4] in 2008.[5] In early 2009 it was confirmed in New Hampshire,[6] New Jersey, Pennsylvania,[7] West Virginia [4] and in March 2010 in Ontario, Canada, and northern Tennessee.[8][9]
Bat colonies have been decimated throughout the northeastern US and has spread into mid-atlantic states and northward into Canada. This deprives the country, especially during the spring and summer, of a valuable natural pesticide as bats consume huge quantities of insects: as much as their own body weight each night. The Forest Service estimates that the die-off from white-nose syndrome means that at least 2.4 million pounds of bugs (1.1 million kg) will go uneaten and become a financial burden to farmers. Crop production may require more insecticide, raising environmental worries and pushing up grocery prices. Furthermore, the disease could threaten an already endangered species, such as Indiana bats and the big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii virginianus), the official state bat of Virginia.[25]
Comparisons have been raised to colony collapse disorder, another poorly-understood phenomenon resulting in the abrupt disappearance of Western honey bee colonies,[3][26] and with chytridiomycosis, a fungal skin disease linked with worldwide declines in amphibian populations.[14][27]
What handsome boys. I love the picture of Kirsch.
Me too Lynda – that was my favorite!
Hi Garth and Michele!
Wait just a second are you saying these pictures are recent??? YIKES. Great pictures but enough snow already, eh! (I am trying to talk like a Northern Michigander).
The dogs look wonderful, Ekko still a moose, and Kirsch the handsome pretty-boy.
Nice to hear from you. Now I want to see some Bald Eagle pictures. See you share a little and I just demand more! 🙂
Julie
Hi all!
Those pictures were taken this past Thursday. We had started to see ground on south facing hills, but then got hit by 16″ of new snow. I’m still walking the boys with snowshoes, but hopefully in a couple weeks I can put those away.
I’ll see what I can do on the eagles, but they have started to disperse now that the river ice is breaking up. They were gathered on Grand Traverse Bay over the winter, it wasn’t unusual to see 3 or 4 at a time. When I start canoeing in a week or so I’ll start seeing them again, but usually as pairs.
Bluebirds are difficult, you either have the right conditions or not. It’s a lot easier to attract barn or tree swallows, or purple martins, but they all tend to like more open areas. Since we’re more wooded, we’ve been able to keep a pair of king birds around by letting them nest under our eaves. They are all insectivores, but nothing eats skeeters like bats. I wish we had a few more of those around once the bug season starts.
Kirsch is our little pretty-boy, but at 90 pounds, he just seems little to us. He does let Ekko do the heavy lifting when it comes to work.
Garth
Kirsch is little at 90 pounds? I’m afraid to ask what Ekko weighs!
You need Spring to arrive so that you and da Boys can get out in that canoe. You still owe me photos! 🙂
My informal measurements put Kirsh near, but within, the maximums for the breed standard. He actually has good masculine characteristics.
Ekko thinks standards are for wimps, is around 110, right where the vet likes to see him.
Must be something in the water.
This year I’m determined to get your canoe photos.
don’t ask! I tell Garth not to tell anyone!
I know, Julie, but he’s such a intelligent, strong, athletic, intense, loyal, and energetic guy! It goes to show you that sometimes you just can’t predict how some long recessive gene will behave. What fun would it be if they were all clones?