Spotted along Robinson Lane:
A closer look at the same number of pixels:
The little one way over on the left is definitely having an adventure!
I’d read of goats climbing trees, but never turtles.
Tag: Wildlife
Other creatures in our world
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Pedestrian Hazard on the Hudson Valley Rail Trail
I ride slowly and ding my bell when overtaking pedestrians on the Hudson Valley Rail Trail, but this group of walkers paid almost no attention as I rode toward New Paltz:
HVRT New Paltz – Canada geese – Eastbound – 2019-07-16 I contented myself by practicing my slow-riding skills while they ambled along and, eventually, moved far to the left.
A few hours later, they seemed to be having a picnic in the grass:
HVRT New Paltz – Canada geese – Westbound – 2019-07-16 We parted as friends, which is always pleasant.
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Monthly Science: Organ Pipe Mud Dauber Emergence
An industrious pair of Organ Pipe Mud Dauber Wasps assembled their nest last August:
Organ Pipe Mud Dauber Wasp Nest – side view Their offspring began emerging in early July, with our first picture on 3 July. I’ll leave the image file dates in place so you can reach your own conclusions:
IMG_20190703_184657 – Organ Pipe Mud Dauber Nest – right We think a titmouse (a known predator) pecked some holes, including the upper hole on the middle tube, as they seemed to expose solid (and presumably inedible) chitin from the outside:
IMG_20190703_184647 – Organ Pipe Mud Dauber Nest – left More holes appeared in a few days:
IMG_20190709_172632 – Organ Pipe Mud Dauber Nest – right The irregular spacing along each tube suggests they don’t emerge in the reverse order of installation:
IMG_20190709_172623 – Organ Pipe Mud Dauber Nest – left Three days later:
IMG_20190712_181634 – Organ Pipe Mud Dauber Nest – right 
IMG_20190712_181625 – Organ Pipe Mud Dauber Nest – left Two weeks after the first holes appeared:
IMG_20190717_172908 – Organ Pipe Mud Dauber Nest – right 
IMG_20190717_172922 – Organ Pipe Mud Dauber Nest – left No more holes have appeared since then, so it seems one young wasp emerges every few days.
This nest produced about a dozen wasps, with perhaps as many launch failures. We’ll (try to) remove it and examine the contents in a few months.
We expect they’ll start building nests all over the house in another month …
Update: Fortunately for us, no nests appeared before the first freeze, so the wasps are holed up elsewhere for the winter.
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Monthly Image: And Then There Were Two
The turkey hen who once had nine chicks, then seven, now has only two:
Turkey Hen with two chicks We haven’t seen the fox since it nailed the previous chick, but it may be responsible for taking a chick a day, every day, for a week.
We wonder if she misses the rest of her brood as much as we do …
Taken through two layers of 1950s window glass, zoomed all the way in, with a phone camera.
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Chipmunk Shelter
This chipmunk has been hanging out near the collection of yard & garden tools on the patio:
Chipmunk near patio shelter When threats appear, the critter vanishes into the clutter and waits until we go elsewhere. It’s almost as good as the roof gutter pipe!
Those stripes remain surprisingly visible in the shadows between stacks of clay pots, though, if you know where to look.
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Monthly Image: Turkey Hen and Chicks
Mary saw a fox trotting behind the garden, gripping a (dead) turkey chick in its jaws, with the hen in hot pursuit. The fox dropped the chick, circled the pine grove, picked up the chick, and departed stage right. The hen eventually led her remaining chicks into the yard, but gathered them underneath while watching for danger:
Turkey hen with chicks – alert She settled down for a few minutes:
Turkey hen with chicks – resting With the fox safely departed, she released the chicks:
Turkey hen with chicks – emerging Then they returned to foraging, with one chick trying out its wings:
Turkey hen with chicks – dispersing Two days earlier, she led nine chicks through the yard; we think the fox picked off a chick a day. She lost two more during the next four days, suggesting they rapidly improve their ability to scamper out of harm’s way.
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Pileated Woodpecker At Work
A loud rat-a-tat-a-tat drew our attention to a Pileated Woodpecker excavating a tree along Rt 376:
Pileated woodpecker Pileated woodpeckers sculpt their holes with great care, often inspecting their work for smoothness and, perhaps, lunch:
Pileated woodpecker – exploring hole Those holes go deep enough inside the tree to serve as shelters for smaller birds during storms.
We occasionally see and hear them, as well as their smaller relatives, remodeling trees around the house. Good hunting!
Taken with the Pixel XL zoomed all the way tight, cropped and sharpened a smidge.
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 