Blog Archives

A hare brained idea

3/31/2021

A sunny and warm spring day provided a backdrop for the Applegate canines' annual Easter photos. Click on photos to enlarge for the full effect!

I have leaned some lessons from previous holiday photo sessions.
I made sure I set up the holiday hat ambush after the dogs had been on their walks.
That way any pent up energy should have been spent before they had to "sit" for photos.
Treats were on hand and everyone sat.

Sherman, however, gets "sit" and "speak" confused. He sits, but if does not receive treat as soon as he thinks he should he starts speaking. He doesn't stop speaking until he gets what he wants. I'm sure we all know someone like that.
Clem turned out to be the best poser so to speak. His stoic expressions made for hilarious pictures.

My former petunia bucket was a very useful prop. I was able to place some artificial flowers to provide a little spring color.

This bucket had been very useful over the past year. I found it in a garbage pile in the woods. While it had a crushed backside, it still held water.

It housed several petunias during the summer, a chrysanthemum in the fall and fake poinsettias over the Christmas season.

However while it was sitting against the house this spring, a strong windstorm in late March upended it. The handle broke. Its days of gracing the mailbox were over. It was hard to believe that a bucket that had been exposed to the elements for decades finally succumbed.

Nonetheless as I was arranging the fake flowers, I noticed that the chrysanthemum that was placed in the bucket last fall was actually starting to sprout. So the bucket will find another use as a planter, just not as a hanging basket.

Back to the Easter photo shoot, I decided not to include the goats in this year's outing. It was just too nice of a day to have it ruined by their bad attitudes.

However, feline Lil' Bit did not escape the bunny ear humiliation.

Meanwhile, my mom's blooming daffodils provided yet another opportunity for spring dog photos. My daffodils are always a little behind hers as they aren't lucky enough to get that much sunshine.

This time Sherman was able to shine with his St. Bernard smile.

Clem again struck his nonchalant pose and appeared to be disinterested in the daffodils.

Sadie also was sitting pretty behind the showy yellow flowers. Regrettably, two daffodils were harmed during this filming.

I'm sure that the Applegate critters are thrilled that the rabbit ears are put away.
The gang and I wish all my readers a Happy Easter and time to get out and enjoy some spring weather.

That's just the nature of things 'round here.

0 Comments

Skunk cabbage: It's what's for dinner?

3/31/2021

0 Comments

Poking up from the ground and the water, the spathes of skunk cabbage blooms started to show their maroon colors last week.

These hood-like leaves that cover the plant's spadix have an almost sculpture-like quality. After photographing several of the burgundy leaves, I noticed that some had the spadixes removed. It wasn't a surgical removal, but for the most part the hoods were still there.

I turned to the internet for what animals might eat skunk cabbage.
What I found didn't really clear up the mystery, but it did provide some insight.

A post on the National Wildlife Federation's website stated, "Most animals avoid skunk cabbage because it causes a burning sensation when eaten, but bears will eat young plants in the spring."

A 2015 article on www.piquenewsmagazine.com provided a possible reason why bears would consume the stinky plants.

"Skunk cabbage is sometimes known as bearweed, as bears are one of the few animals that eat the buds and leaves," the post said.

"When bears awake after hibernating, they haven't defecated in a long time. Prior to hibernation, they ingested leaves, hair, dirt and needles to form a fecal plug up to a foot long in their lower intestine," the site posted.

"Enter skunk cabbage, nature's Ex-Lax. Bears eat the plant to get things moving again," the post claimed.

I doubted it was bears that ate the spadixes out of the cabbages at the neighbor's pond. So I continued to search.

A post on the Cornell Botanical Gardens' website cornellbotanicgardens.org added a few more critters to the list of those who might consume skunk cabbage.

"Most herbivores avoid skunk cabbage foliage, but hungry black bears and snapping turtles may sample the leaves in early spring when they come out of hibernation. Wood ducks, ruffed grouse, ring-necked pheasants, and bobwhite quail eat skunk cabbage seeds," the post stated.

Other posts had mentioned that wood ducks and squirrels may eat the seeds.

However, they made it seem like the animals would only be consuming the spadixes after the fruit or seeds had ripened.

Nonetheless, I believed that wood ducks were the most likely suspects.

Early last Sunday morning, the gang and I spooked about half a dozen wood ducks at the neighbors pond. I always try desperately to get photos, but they are much too skittish.

This week we managed to scare off two Canada geese, three wood ducks and a mallard couple.

I crossed my fingers that maybe the trail camera was able to get something.

The trail camera usually captures better photos then I can of the colorful waterfowl. However, the captures this week were in poor lighting and only showed shapes on the water.

Meanwhile, the trail camera along another path showed some deer on the run.
The next frame showed the reason why they were on the move.

It was a fisher. While it seemed unlikely to me that a fisher could take down a full-size deer, the Pennsylvania Game Commission's website said it was possible.

"There is evidence of fisher predation on white-tailed deer, but the frequency and effects of such predation are thought to be limited," said a Wildlife Note on the commission's site.

One of that camera's other captures was a cute photo of a deer sticking it's tongue out. Perhaps it was to say "Not this time Mr. Fisher."

Also caught on camera was my finger pointing sternly. I surmised that it was most likely a gesture toward Kennedy the goat to leave the camera alone.

I was tired of a week of crooked pictures after Kennedy felt the need to adjust the angle daily.

That's just the nature of things 'round here.

Sponsor

0 Comments

Spring forward slowly

3/21/2021

0 Comments

Last week snow flake flowers dominated my photos.
At least that was preferable to actual snowflakes taking center state.
The reason why the little white flowers were such popular photo subject was because because they were just about the only things blooming in the yard and woodlands.

I was thrilled to find this past week a surviving snow drop flower. I had thought they were all but gone. Later this past weekend I found two more snow drops.

I tried in vain to get a photo of one of my critters with the my patch of snow flakes.

There was no success. I attempt this endeavor every year though so it wasn't a surprise to me that failure was an option.

However, my Facebook memories brought up a photo with a somewhat more cooperative subject.

It was a March 12, 2012, photo of Clyde, the rabbit, who has long since passed on. I was surprised to see crocuses opened up and almost finished blooming in the March photo.

The snow flakes were up and still going strong.

It is funny how spring weather varies year to year.

My crocuses had only started to bloom last week.

However, it only took a few days of warm weather this week to help some the crocuses steal the spotlight from the snow flakes.

The tulips are further up and I am having a hard time waiting for them to bloom and show off their gorgeous colors.

The hybrid pussy willow continued to sport its dark colored catkins.

However, Facebook memories are also good at reminding me that we still may see some of the white stuff before it is all over.

So while I wish to hurry the budding and blooming along, I would rather have the flowers and shrubs survive than get hit by a late frost.

Meanwhile, in the woods the trailing arbutus is budding.

I know from experience that it will be April before those tiny fragrant blooms start to appear.

The chipmunks are up and moving about.

This is something the dogs live for. They go from hole to hole in the woods in search of the striped creatures who easily elude them.

The canines drowned their sorrows in the pond and went swimming as soon as there was a hole in the ice big enough.

The mallard couple had returned to the pond along with the wood ducks. However, not a single one of the waterfowl were kind enough to pose for a photo.

Also appearing are the bugs, the good and the bad. I kept seeing eastern comma butterflies and even a mourning cloak.

However, it was one of those situations where the dogs and goats kept spooking the butterflies and they all took off to parts unknown.

Finally after several days of butterfly stalking, I was able to capture a photo of an eastern comma. Last year, I was fortunate to get a photo of a mourning cloak.

This is the time of year for question mark, eastern comma and mourning cloak butterflies.

Last year's photos showed that my first comma was found on March 29 and a mourning cloak was photographed on April 1.

These are some of the first butterflies of the season. They overwinter as adults and emerge during warmer temperatures to feed on tree sap.

Other insects were starting to fly around. While they might be bothersome, they provide food for birds like the soon arriving Eastern phoebe.

Unfortunately, the ticks were also gearing up for warmer weather. While the dogs have flea and tick medication, I still found two of the nasty little insects on me. Even though I removed them, I still continued to feel their presence hours later.

That's just the nature of things 'round here.

0 Comments

Flighty year-round residents who don't pay taxes, part two

3/13/2021

0 Comments

While researching birds that leave the area in the spring, I was surprised to learn that what I've considered winter birds, are year-round residents.

Northern cardinals, titmice, chickadees, Carolina wrens, downy and red-bellied woodpeckers and white-breasted nuthatches are just a few of my feeder visitors that fit the bill.

One bird that isn't hard to spot in the winter is the northern cardinal. The bird is year-round resident according to a range map provided by Birds of the World and posted on Cornell Lab's All About Birds website.

Longtime Seneca Rocks Audubon Society member and local birder Gary Edwards wrote that this wasn't always the case in his book "Venango County Birds."

"Now a permanent resident, the northern cardinal is a relatively new addition to the area. It is now one of several familiar birds including the tufted titmouse and Carolina Wren, once confined to southern states," Edwards penned.

According to Edwards the earliest record of a cardinal in Venango County was in a March 13, 1916, article in "The Derrick" newspaper that reported an unknown red bird spending the summer in Rouseville.

The All About Birds site provided a couple of other interesting facts about the cardinal.

"Only a few female North American songbirds sing, but

the female northern cardinal does, and often while sitting on the nest," said the post on All About Birds.

The site also posted "a perennial favorite among people, the northern cardinal is the state bird of seven states."

Another bird sighted at my feeder pretty much daily during the winter months was the tufted titmouse.
The tufted titmouse is listed as is a year-round for most states east of the Mississippi.

That is no different for Venango County. Edwards' mentioned in his book that the titmouse was another species that expanded north into Venango County in the 1900s.

However, Edwards wrote about a possible decline in the titmouse population.

"The local titmouse population appears to be have been negatively affected by the West Nile Virus but now is again becoming common at feeders," he penned.

A fairly new winter visitor to my feeder this season was a Carolina wren.

The wren's range map depicts the small bird as a year-round resident for much of the eastern continental United States.

Edwards in his book pegged the wren as an uncommon year-round resident.

"We are in the northern inland boundary of its range.

Populations increase when winter and spring weather is not harsh and decline ... after years with severe spring snows or ice storms. "

In 1940, no Carolina wrens had been reported in the county, according to Edwards.

A dramatic increase in breeding frequency between the two Pennsylvania breeding bird atlas' illustrates the continuing northern advance of the species.

The First Atlas of Breeding Birds in Pennsylvania was released in 1992 and the Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in Pennsylvania was released in 2012.

Another fairly common sight at my feeder this winter was the acrobatic white-breasted nuthatch.

According to range maps the white-breasted nuthatch is a year-round resident of most of the continental United States.

A post on All About Birds said, "The white-breasted nuthatch is normally territorial throughout the year, with pairs staying together."

"In winter, white-breasted nuthatches join foraging flocks led by chickadees or titmice, perhaps partly because it makes food easier to find and partly because more birds can keep an eye out for predators," the post continued.

Regular visitors to the suet this winter included downy and red-bellied woodpeckers.

According to range maps, the downy woodpecker is pretty much year-round pretty much everywhere.

"The downy easily becomes our most common woodpecker during the summer months," Edwards penned in his book.

According to range maps, the red-bellied woodpecker is also a year-round resident for most of the states east of the Mississippi.

Edwards penned that there was a six fold increase in their numbers regionally between the first and second Pennsylvania Breeding Bird Atlas' which would be from 1992 to 2012.

As previously mentioned in other blogs, black-capped chickadees and blue jays are also year-round residents. There are also many more that I have not mentioned that call Venango County home for more than just the spring and summer.

As the some of the county's feathered year-round residents prepare to set up homes, I highly doubt the assessment office is making any visits to these new constructions.

That's just the nature of things 'round here.

0 Comments

Bye bye birdies

3/13/2021

0 Comments

While waiting for the spring arrivals in the birding community, I wondered who might be departing in return.

One of those birds would be the dark-eyed junco.

Dark-eyed juncos include much of the continental United States in their nonbreeding or winter range, according to a map found on The Cornell Lab's All About Birds website.

However, a small swath of their year-round range appears to travel close to Venango County.

According to author and local birder Gary Edwards of Seneca in his book "Birds of Venango County", the dark-eyed junco is an uncommon resident and an abundant visitor.

However, he also mentioned in the book that the border for the juncos' breeding range was very close to Venango County and had expanded over the years.

This statement echoed in my thoughts. During the beginning of winter when other posters on a state birding Facebook group were heralding the juncos' arrival, I couldn't remember ever not seeing them.

I will need to see if I do spot any that linger at my feeder throughout the summer.

As mentioned in a previous blog, Venango County is included in the winter range or nonbreeding range of the American tree sparrow.

However, identification may be tricky this time of year as the chipping sparrow starts its spring arrival.

I was able to photograph a couple of irruptive winter visitors this past season. The common redpoll visitor to my feeder only arrived within the past few weeks.

The All About Birds site listed the redpoll as an irruptive migrant.

"Common redpolls move south irregularly in winter following patterns in food supply. Along with pine siskins they are among the best known finches to do this.

On a roughly two-year cycle, redpolls come far south in winter and occasionally reach the central or southern United States.

The movements generally correspond to the availability of seeds," the post stated.

Edwards listed the redpoll as a scarce winter visitor, but said there were "winters they were some of the birds that had irruptions into the state."

He wrote that the birds arrive mid-November and depart by late April.

"In irruptive years they can be common to abundant," Edwards penned.

Another irruptive highly variable winter visitor, according to Edwards is the pine siskin. The pine siskins that overran my feeders for a period of the time, were there early in the season. Edwards penned that the siskin is an irruptive highly variable winter visitor and probable rare breeder.

He wrote in his book that there were 11 safe record dates (of sightings during breeding season) ... that indicate likely periodic breeding. However, he mentioned there hadn't been any records since 2015.

Evening grosbeaks are also irruptive winter visitors.

This season appeared to be a banner irruption year for them in Pennsylvania if all the posts on a state birding Facebook page was any indication.

My parents' who live next door routinely reported seeing the colorful grosbeaks visiting their feeder throughout this winter.

I only had one female visit my feeder during this past winter and attempted one very blurry photo.

My parents' have seen the grosbeaks for about two seasons now and they continued to avoid my feeder. I continue to be upset with their avoidance.

I will not write about them until they show up at my feeder at a time that is convenient for me.

As the winter birds start to move on, some spring birds have started to arrive.

I had a song sparrow at my feeder this past week. This is another bird that I'm not quite sure if it moved on for the winter or not.

"The song sparrow is an abundant summer resident and uncommon winter resident. However a few overwinter annually," Edwards wrote in his book.

The sparrow is one of the most common species locally and statewide, according to Edwards.

The American robin listed as year-round resident even thought most of us think of them as a sign of spring.

The robin is an abundant summer resident and an uncommon winter visitor, according to Edwards

"Some overwinter annually when then tend to flock in forested areas," he wrote in "Venango County Birds."

It is the same with Canada geese. They are listed as year-round resident. However, they can be seen moving in the fall and spring.

There are normally a pair or two that stop over at the neighbor's pond in early spring. They haven't been spotted yet because there wasn't any open water.

The neighbor's pond has also been a stopping place for wood ducks over the years.

The wood duck according to Edwards is an uncommon migrant and summer resident.

The ducks arrive in late February and has been recorded through mid-November, Edwards wrote.

He also mentioned in his book reports indicated that the waterfowls' numbers have dropped across the Eastern United States.

However he noted that the decline in Pennsylvania was not as significant as in other areas.

Meanwhile, Edwards has a very helpful list with records of spring arrivals. There is a link posted on www.senecarocksaudubon.org.
Edwards has mentioned before that these are the earliest dates these birds have been reported in Venango County.

Killdeer and red-winged black birds have been seen as early as Feb. 10.

The American woodcock and turkey vulture are also listed as late February arrivals.

Those waiting for the hummingbirds and orioles still have a few weeks of waiting.

The earliest date for the reported date in the area for a ruby-throated hummingbird sighting is April 19 and April 24 is the earliest date for the Baltimore oriole.

Coming and going, birds are always great photo subjects who sometimes, or rather most often don't, cooperate.

That's just the nature of things 'round here.

0 Comments

Shimmer and shine

3/7/2021

1 Comment

Weather conditions were right for me to photograph some more of nature's ice sculptures. This was one of those times where I have more photos than prose. So I wrote a poem.

Open water and abundant sunshine made me stop and stare.
Many little stars formed with the help of some lens flare.

Those tired of the cold and ice
will need to click off their device.

Freezing temps and good light
are keys to making ice shots just right.

Is it a bell or a flower?
Nature has such awesome design power.

So many shapes I saw.
Sometimes I just stood in awe.

While I was distracted,
that's when Sadie acted.

Into the water she went.
She was soaked and had no lament.

Sherman will be in dismay
when all the pond ice melts away.

Warmer temps mean the formations will all but disappear.
That's just the nature of things 'round here.

1 Comment

Thinking, no 'Stinking Spring,' the poor under appreciated skunk cabbage

3/5/2021

0 Comments

"Ooh that smell, can't you smell that smell?"
- Lynyrd Skynyrd

One of nature's harbingers of spring is skunk cabbage.

Skunk cabbage emerges from late February through May, according to a post on the National Wildlife Federation's website.

"Skunk cabbage is a flowering perennial plant and is one of the first plants to emerge in the spring.

The flowers appear before the leaves and are characterized by a mottled maroon hoodlike leaf called a spathe, which surrounds a knob-like structure called a spadix.

The spadix is actually a fleshy spike of many petal-less flowers," the post continued.

An article written by Joel Springsteen on the Urban Ecology Center's website explained how sunk cabbage can start to grow so early.

"The whole plant generates heat through cyanide-free cellular respiration ..., making it one of the few plants capable of this 'thermogenesis,'" Springsteen wrote.

"The plants can produce temperatures of ... 55-95 degrees allowing them to grow through frozen ground. The heat may also help them spread the odor of their flowers and attract early spring pollinators which come to eat and take refuge in the flower structure," he continued.

This year so far, only the tops of the cabbages have appeared. Last year it took until late March for the plants to produce their spathes and spadixes. However, I have a photo from mid-April of last year of cabbages with their bright green leaves covered in snow.

What these past pictures showed me is that winter sometimes likes to have the last word.

So is spring here to stay? I will only say it is on the way and that Mother Nature will do things in her own time.
While nature talks to us in many different ways, it is often furtive on exact dates and times.

That's just the nature of things 'round here.

Sponsor

0 Comments

Spring of Deception

3/1/2021

0 Comments

A meme on Facebook that recently sprung up stated that we are now in the Spring of Deception as far as seasons go. It always seems to feel that way during the first good thaw after a long run of winter weather. While we definitely have turned the corner toward spring, how far down the block it is still remains to be seen.

One of the first signs of the season I look for are my early spring flowers, snowdrops and snowflakes.

Snowdrops have a distinctive three petal shape while snowflakes appear more bell-like in their appearance.

Over the years my snowdrops have died off, while the snowflakes have kept blooming on.

The little white flowers have long been a favorite subject. This is evident in photographs over several years. These shots provide a look back at springs past.

I began to search for my little photo subjects

this year after most of the snow pack started to melt. I was able to find the start of the snowdrops just breaking the surface amid a lay of goat hair. Kyle is shedding.

Last year the snowflakes were well on their way by Feb. 24.

By March 5 of last year, they were fully open. However, a photo showed that they appeared to be covered by frost on that date.

In 2019, the snowflakes emerged by Feb. 19.

Facebook memories claimed February 2018 was a rather warm one.
Nonetheless, photographic evidence showed the snowflakes stayed the course and sprung up on Feb. 23.
However, photos of tulips on this date showed their leaves were up by two inches.

A picture from 2017 depicted a fully opened snowflake blossom on Feb. 24 and 2016's photo showed only buds on the little plants.

A look back at several photos from 2015 exhibited that February of that year was very snowy.

The first photo of a snowflake that year wasn't until March 21 and it was surrounded by snow.

On March 21, 2014, the snowdrops were well on their way up with their white blossoms almost ready to appear.
However they still weren't out as far as the flowers in a March 10, 2013, photo where honeybees were visiting.

As far as previous years, the photographic evidence has been erased by a failed hard drive. Nonetheless while looking for photos, I confused myself. There were a couple of very colorful flower photos in the February 2020 file.

I said to myself, "Why are there petunias blooming in February?".

I quickly realized that they were my over-wintering flowers that were enjoying the warmth of the basement under some grow lights. Meanwhile, I still have some of 2020's summer posies still hanging on in the basement. Some are actually opening up. Sadly they will need to wait a few months before they will be able to feel the "real" sun.

My outdoor search for spring flowers this year led me to check up on the peach tree which has buds. Thankfully, the buds are still closed up tight.

I always plead with the tree to try to wait until the middle of May to bloom to no avail. It has been hit by frost over several years.

A photo from mid-April of last year, depicted a tree almost fully in bloom with closed blossoms covered in snow.

While I try in vain to protect the peach tree from frost, it appears some of my other plants may need some shielding from more than just the weather.

I found that there were some catkins forming on a hybrid pussy willow. I went to check

back a few days later for a better photo opportunity and the catkins were mysteriously missing.

Some of the rest of the willow had been "pruned" back as well as an azalea bush. I may need to put up fencing against some deer visitors.

That's just the nature of things 'round here.

0 Comments

Author

"The Nature of Things" features the writings and photographs of Anna Applegate, who is a lifelong resident of Pinegrove Township, Venango County. She is a graduate of Cranberry High School and Clarion University. After a 15-year career in the local news industry, she made a change and now works at a steel finishing plant in Sandycreek Township. She is a avid lover of animals and nature, and a gifted photographer.

Very happy to be able to share Anna's great "The Nature of Things" blog.

Check out Anna's other artwork here!

Author

Archives

Categories