Nature

[Loresinger]

Getting a cool shower? But seriously can Mother Nature turn down the water works a bit?

[Thumper]

2018: The wettest year in recorded history. Columbus Ohio broke precipitation records. So far 2019 is on track to beat it.

[Thumper]

The raccoons are back. I'd like for them to just go away on their own. I don't like them so close to the house. We'll see if I can gently convince them to hang out elsewhere.

[geonuc]

I have a .410 shotgun if you need to borrow it.

[Thumper]

I've got several options there. I usually use the .22 Mini Mag. My last choice is to bury them. Gonna try to discourage them first.

[Thumper]

Confirmed Lightning Bugs. Only one or two here and there, but they are out there and starting to blink...

[SciFiFisher]

I wonder if the wetter season helped or hurt the lightning bugs?

[Thumper]

They have come out in force considerably earlier than normal a couple times in the last few years. This year may be an earlier than "normal" initial sighting, but it's just been a trickling.
I would guess it might be more based on if it was a harsh winter or not, and when the last hard frosts were. But that's a big guess.

[Thumper]

It was light enough as I was heading up the driveway, that I could see a sleeping fawn in the front yard raise his head groggily and look at me.

[SciFiFisher]

It was light enough as I was heading up the driveway, that I could see a sleeping fawn in the front yard raise his head groggily and look at me.

Mom was probably not too far off.

[Thumper]

Certainly not. And it might not have been the first time she left him there to sleep a bit longer. It's just lighter earlier.
Several years ago a Mom left one in the flowerbed next to our garage for a few hours in the afternoon. It was the smallest deer I'd ever seen, he was tiny, still had his spots. Basically he was difficult to see because he was hiding behind a 2 gallon watering can. We stayed away from that side of the house and a couple hours later he was gone.

[Swift]

Confirmed Lightning Bugs. Only one or two here and there, but they are out there and starting to blink...

I saw our first couple last week and they really got going last night after the rains left.

[Thumper]

I've been surprised how much they hang around after getting pummeled by torrential rains.
I about took out a little spotted fawn about the size of a large cat this morning. I saw her in time but she just stood there in the middle of my lane. I braked hard and swerved into the other lane which luckily was clear. About the time I got to her, she walked off the road. I hope she gets a little more careful.

[pumpkinpi]

I spotted two young hawks flying from our tree to a neighbor's roof and our power lines. I'm not very good at identifying them, but I know we have a good population of red tailed hawks and eagles around here. Their calls to each other sounded like squeaky little barks! Much more pleasant than the caw of a crow talking to them.

[Thumper]

Certainly could have been Red Tail Hawks. Another strong possibility especially in suburban areas is the slightly smaller Cooper's Hawk.

[Thumper]

The fireflies have started displaying, not too many, but they're there. Also, the hummingbirds are coming around. I just put up the first feeder.

[Rommie]

I am pleased to report that LoonWatch 2021 has begun!

I think I posted last year about how we had loon chicks hatch on the island near us in New Hampshire for the first time ever, but they only survived a few weeks. Things got complicated in that Mr. Loon then died in August of some sort of infection, so we weren't sure what would happen to the territory- if the loons fight too much, no chicks.

We came up Saturday because it was godawful hot, and yesterday while kayaking past (raft they use was a little behind rocks) I saw a loon splash off of it. I didn't want to disturb, so didn't go closer, but F carefully went out yesterday and got a picture of an egg on the raft! And it's definitely a pair of loons- unclear however if it's Mrs. Loon from last year who found a nice young man, or another pair has moved in. However, the one I saw was banded, so we'll learn the story later.

So, hopefully things work out better this year! They're also 10 days earlier than laying last year (assuming it was yesterday or close to- only one egg, and they lay a second 1-3 days after the first, so if we see two later that will help), but if that's true the hatch date should be no later than July 3. Hell of a time for Chickie (as we're currently naming him/her) to enter the world on the busiest weekend of the year, but the loon society people will hopefully put out markers well before then. Fingers crossed!

[Thumper]

We had a first on a walk yesterday: 5 spotted fawns frolicking around together. I fear they may have lost their Mom's but they seem big enough and are in a safe enough area that they could make it.

[pumpkinpi]

A turkey family welcomed me to work on my first "back to the old routine" day. (See the coronavirus thread for more info!)

[Rommie]

Cool! A ton of turkeys around here this year- one of the weird things to me about the Boston area is it's urban, yet you'll just have random turkeys wandering about (versus I never saw an urban turkey where I grew up). Guess it's been good pickings.

[SciFiFisher]

One of the odd things about Sacramento to me when we first moved here was the urban wild turkeys that roam the city in various spots.

[Thumper]

Everything is budding out, flowers are blooming, the peepers are peeping, the skunks are active!

[pumpkinpi]

A turkey family welcomed me to work on my first "back to the old routine" day. (See the coronavirus thread for more info!)

The turkeys are out again (that quote was from last September, further up the thread). I saw the same group of them three times one day. At my work's loading dock when I arrived in the morning, on the golf course on my walk home, and in a neighbor's yard when I was driving that evenings.

And yay, I'm walking to work again. The sidewalks around here are so neglected that I no longer walk them until they have cleared. We had some 50's last week and rain this week so the only snow left is in the piles the plows leave.

[lady_*nix]

@pumpkinpi last spring there were a mother and baby turkey nesting right behind my house! Adorable but I obviously gave them a wide berth. You don't mess around with urban turkeys.

[Thumper]

That's so cool you both see wild turkeys. I've had a few at my place. But every time I see them in a field while driving, I'm enchanted. Saw a Tom trying to entertain a couple hens, just a few weeks ago.