Deer me #phenology

Today the suet feeders went up. It'll be interesting to see how long it takes before they're "discovered." Three blue jays have been feeding under the front sunflower seed feeder, joined from time to time by a red-bellied woodpecker at the feeder.

Most of the snow that fell has melted, but it's dreary, cloudy and damp (still or again). Are we in for a long Winter? NOAA doesn't seem to cover that aspect but their Winter Outlook suggests we'll be wetter than normal and have a coin toss for temperatures above or below average.

a pair of October whitetail does

Photo by J. Harrington

Yesterday and today the local roadsides have been filled with parked pickup trucks and SUVs as deer hunter fill the woods. Today's Star Tribune has an article that claims the size of Minnesota's deer herd is responsible for the decline in moose numbers. Once upon a time I used to go deer hunting but I've always been more of a hunter of grouse and waterfowl. I get fidgety sitting in a tree stand. If moose numbers continue to decline, I wonder if that will affect the popularity of our North Country as a recreational destination in the Summer. When we've stayed in resorts near the BWCA, the chance to see a moose was always one of the major reasons for going. When the neighborhood isn't full of deer hunters, it's often full of deer. Whatever happened to valuing something for it's relative rarity?

Hunter's moon / freezing moon, 2016

Photo by J. Harrington

We didn't get to see last night's full Hunter's moon, but the 98.9% full waxing gibbous moon the night before was gorgeous. The Anishnaabe (Chippewa, Ojibwe) call November's full moon gashkadino-giizis(oog), freezing moon. We've already noted that the smaller, shallower ponds are now ice covered, even if the ice is too thin to walk on. The probably helps explain why we're seeing more blue jays drinking from the bird bath at this time of year.

                     November

By Maggie Dietz

Show's over, folks. And didn't October do

A bang-up job? Crisp breezes, full-throated cries

Of migrating geese, low-floating coral moon.

Nothing left but fool's gold in the trees.

Did I love it enough, the full-throttle foliage,

While it lasted? Was I dazzled? The bees

Have up and quit their last-ditch flights of forage

And gone to shiver in their winter clusters.

Field mice hit the barns, big squirrels gorge

On busted chestnuts. A sky like hardened plaster

Hovers. The pasty river, its next of kin,

Coughs up reed grass fat as feather dusters.

Even the swarms of kids have given in

To winter's big excuse, boxed-in allure:

TVs ricochet light behind pulled curtains.

The days throw up a closed sign around four.

The hapless customer who'd wanted something

Arrives to find lights out, a bolted door.

********************************************
Thanks for visiting. Come again when you can.
Please be kind to each other while you can.