Cold Day ~ Warm Porch Observations

When we remodeled our house, we added a porch on the south side of the house. It has a sloping roof and a concrete pad. It isn't fancy but extends out 10 feet and runs the width of the house.

In the summer the sun is high enough that I can sit in the shade shuck corn or clean veggies and enjoy being outside at the same time.
In the winter the sun is low and shines on to the porch and sunlight fills our house.

Yesterday with the temperature hoovering at 5 degrees F, I was able to sit out on a stiff back chair in my insulated coveralls and furry hat and be warm! The light wind was from the north. I had to wait for a delivery anyway, so I thought fresh air would be nicer than sitting in the house listening to the TV.

I decided to grab my camera and the binoculars and watch the birds. They weren't really bothered by me sitting on the porch and after I settled in, they resumed their activities.

I was surprised by the visitors I was able to see. The fawns below have come up to the south side of the old red shed to avoid the cold north breeze and graze in one of  Lil' Richard & Sven's summer pens. The other fawn decided to browse through my shady perennial garden for things to eat.

The north hillsides are deep in hard crusty snow and so the deer need to find south facing hillsides to graze. I was very surprised to see them in the middle of the day until I checked the forecast. When the barometer moves, so do the deer.

The mules took naps as did the horse. Some stretched out on their sides. Siera is in this shot below. A dragon Mule! 

She got up and shook. No, she is not pregnant. She is fat. She is such an easy keeper, I think if she looked at hay she would gain weight. I used to ride her nearly every day, but this past year, she has pretty much just been a pasture decoration.

The visit by the crows really surprised me. They are such interesting birds. 

This is a terrible shot, but this is also the reason I went out to sit on the porch. The Titmice birds were absolutely fun with their antics flying to and fro from the pines to the feeder. I wanted to 'catch' one with its wings open.

I kept trying but I kept missing her or his flights to the feeder. I tried rapid fire and always seemed to miss them taking flight.

I did learn that the Titmouse grabs a mouthful of seeds and takes it to the tree branches to eat. As does the Nuthatch.

Twice the Big Birds came through. 
Eagles.

We have two pair that hang around here and have a nest about a mile away [as the crow flies].

The Juncos and Titmice seem to get along just fine, except when they want to fight over the seeds on the ground.

I learned to recognize the Downy Woodpecker by the sound of its wings as it raced from one tree to another and swung low in front of the porch.

I finally decided to just close my eyes and listen to the sounds around me. I was warm, the sun was bright and the noises of the forest were pretty comforting.

I started to wonder why I've never been interested in birds before. I mean, I sort of was. But not like this.

I guess this is a good consequence of being sort of home bound.

Maybe learning more about birds and observing them isn't such a bad thing.

Nature seems patient, it seems I could learn this too.

Of this and that

Well let's start out with a photo of Charlie who is so honest and so wise. He is the Zen Master of Calm unless he meets you for the first time. Then he is all wiggly and happy. He becomes calm again very quickly.

Here he is sitting and watching a vole hole next to the porch. He is listening and waiting. He doesn't kill the vole, he just observes and then sniffs at them to make them feel uncomfortable? 

He sure can be focused. He will spend the afternoon like this. I wonder if he can hear them under the dirt? I know he has done that in other parts of the yard.

Around the side of the yard under the honey locust tree that is dying I found these Inky Caps.

In a way they are kind of cool and interesting. Sort of ugly and beautiful at the same time.

Look at the one above. There is a fly on it! What a surprise it was for me to see it when I opened up the image larger.

And then they turn into inky slime. Certain strange varieties can be eaten and certain ones are poison. People have collected the goo and make an ink from them too. Thus I suppose the reason they are called Inky Caps.

I'm going to hit some trails today and look for Slime Mold and other cool Fungi. September, especially a day after a rainstorm is a great Fungi month!

The colors are also going to be amazing.

If you live where the leaves change, go out and enjoy.